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Title: Rare Captain Bligh medals to be auctioned in Australia
Source:
The Telegraph
URL Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/wor ... be-auctioned-in-Australia.html
Published: Jul 25, 2011
Author: Bonnie Malkin
Post Date: 2011-07-25 14:03:35 by X-15
Keywords: None
Views: 155
Comments: 10
Two gold medals earned by Captain William Bligh during his exploits at sea during the late 1700s are to be auctioned in Australia and are expected to fetch more than AU$250,000 (£165,000). Captain Bligh, who is best known for being ousted from his post aboard the HMS Bounty by a mutinous crew, won the medals during his long and distinguished career in the Royal Navy. The medals themselves, which have been handed down by Capt Bligh's descendants for generations, have been described as "extremely rare", but it is their association with the renowned seafarer that lends them special value. Capt Bligh was on a mission to bring back breadfruit, which the British empire hoped it could cultivate to feed to slaves in the West Indies, in 1789 when the famous mutiny took place and he and a group of his men were set adrift in a 22ft launch without navigation equipment in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. In a remarkable feat of endurance, the celebrated British seaman and his crew spent 47 days at sea, catching fish and seabirds and drinking rainwater to survive while navigating thousands of nautical miles by memory. After eventually making land in West Timor, Capt Bligh returned to Britain, where he was subject to a Court Martial over the loss of the Bounty. He later returned to seafaring and went on to be appointed Governor of New South Wales in Australia. He won the first medal, estimated to be worth AU$50,000 (£30,000) from The Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce when he finally completed his original mission and succeeded in bringing breadfruit back from Tahiti in 1794. The other medal, named the Naval Gold Medal 1795, was awarded in recognition of his actions during the successful 1797 Battle of Camperdown against the Dutch, in which the British fleet captured 11 Dutch vessels without losing any of their own. A spokesman for the Melbourne auction house that is selling the medals, said they were part of the most significant offerings of maritime history in recent years. "You'll never see the likes of the Bligh medals again. They're so historical," a spokesman for Noble Numismatics said. "He's one of the most famous sea captains in history and I doubt there would be many other gold medals around from that period." The medals are conservatively expected to fetch $250,000 when they go under the hammer this week, but could sell for significantly more.
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#1. To: X-15 (#0)
Bligh was also distinguished by having not one but two crews mutiny against his draconian and oppressive leadership.
======================================================= I guess he got a medal for surviving mutiny.
#3. To: HAPPY2BME-4UM (#2)
Bligh, like too many Officers, had no regard for the wellbeing of his men. He was just more extreme than some.
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#2. To: Original_Intent (#1)
Bligh was also distinguished by having not one but two crews mutiny against his draconian and oppressive leadership.
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