Biography of Fletcher Christian

Fletcher Christian was famous for the leading the mutiny on HMS Bounty.

When and Where was he Born?

1764, Moorland Close, Near Cockermouth, Cumbria, England. (Now owned by Queen’s College, Oxford).

Family Background:

Fletcher Christian was christened in Brigham Church. His mother Ann was widowed when he was four and bankrupted when he was sixteen. His father’s family were the well off Christians of Milntown on the Isle of Man and Ewanrigg Mansion near Maryport, Cumbria.

Education:

Eller Cottage. Cockermouth Free Grammar School at the same time as Wordsworth who was six years his junior. St. Bees School, near Whitehaven, Cumbria.

Timeline of Fletcher Christian:

1782: Christian joins the Royal Navy at the age of eighteen.

1787: He is selected by William Bligh to be a midshipman on the ship the “H.M.S. Britannia” sailing to the West Indies.

1789: He is selected by Bligh as first Mate on “H.M.S. Bounty” on a voyage to Tahiti to collect bread fruit plants for the West Indies. April. He became the leader of the mutiny against Captain William Bligh whom they declared a cruel tyrant. After the mutiny he and eight other mutineers including John Adams took refuge on Pitcairn Island and there founded a colony with some Tahitian men and women.

When and Where did he Die?

Probably shot or clubbed to death by natives in October 1793, Pitcairn Island on the day that his third child Mary was born. (Rumours he returned to England are unlikely)

Age at Death:

29.

Marriage:

To Mauatua, a Tahtian woman whom he took on H.M.S. Bounty to Pitcairn Island.

Site of Grave:

Unknown location on Pitcairn Island.

Places of Interest:

CUMBRIA:

Mayport Maritime Museum, Maryport, holds his sea chest.
Fletcher Christian Tavern, Cockermouth, has story of the “Bounty” on boards outside.