Bligh's Daughter

About the Book

This novel about a high-spirited young woman is set at the time of Australia's Rum Rebellion. Mary Putland, William Bligh's second daughter, was the colony's first lady when her father was Governor of New South Wales. Aged 23, good-looking and musical, Mary was new to public life. She was in the thick of intense conflict for the next few years.

In early January 1808, Mary's husband John Putland died of TB. When 400 bayonet-waving men of the New South Wales Corps attacked Government House less than three weeks later, Mary offered furious resistance.

Bligh and Mary spent a year under house arrest. In 1809, on HMS Porpoise, they sailed south towards Hobart. An extraordinary period of quasi-piracy followed, with the outlawed HMS Porpoise forcing all shipping to stop, supply food, and allow the inspection of the mails. Bligh and his entourage returned to Sydney in 1810, soon after the arrival of the next Governor, Lachlan Macquarie. Bligh wanted to escort his widowed daughter back to her mother and sisters in England. For Mary, loyalty was one thing, compliance quite another.

Bligh's Daughter sheds new light on a controversial period. The Rum Rebellion, an armed coup, was a watershed in Australia's history. Most historians barely mention Mary. Hers is an astonishing story of conflict, loyalty, passion and defiance. Research, wit and imaginative empathy combine in Penelope Nelson's compelling narrative.

About the Author

Penelope Nelson was educated at the University of Sydney, Macquarie University and New Mexico Tech. She lives in Sydney. During her zigzag career, periods of writing have jostled with jobs in TAFE teaching, social policy and leadership development. She is the author of three previous novels, Medium Flyers, Prophesying Backwards and Beyond Berlin, and the memoir Penny Dreadful. While William Bligh's turbulent period as Governor of New South Wales is well known, Penelope first heard of Bligh's daughter Mary at a lecture on the treasures of the Mitchell Library. Penelope writes: I was electrified by Mary's story from the moment I heard it. I thought I knew all about Bligh - my father spearheaded The Bulletin's campaign to acknowledge his achievements as Governor with a statue on the western side of Circular Quay. The more I researched Mary's life, the more excited I became. Nothing beats original documents for immediacy. So many people wrote down vivid accounts of events, personalities and conversations. The interregnum period, largely ignored by historians, provided me with an amazing survival story. I can empathise with Mary's loyalty to a famously short-tempered man. My adored grandfather, Delamore McCay, was described in his journalistic colleagues' memoirs as a "terrifying personage" given to vile and most original oaths. His daughters and grandchildren knew a courteous, affectionate man in the family circle. There is nothing remote or sedate about Mary's life and times.