Governors Bligh and Nightingall
After the first, and so far only, military coup in Australia's history, the New South Wales Corps (or Rum Corps) and its suspiciously wealthy officers overthrew the Governor of the time in 1808. The Governor, one Bligh by name, had the damned cheek to try and limit these officers' and their mates' power, which was the basis of their wealth. Unfortunately, while he was a brilliant navigator, Bligh was a charmless, extremely poorly tempered, lousy manager of people, as was shown on the good ship Bounty some years before.
The British government seems to have admitted its mistake in appointing Bligh, and had no intention of meeting Bligh's demands that troops be sent to restore him to his rightful position. They decided that what was needed was some savage Scots, and an army bloke to command them, after the significant lack of success of all the naval blokes appointed so far. So the government appointed Major-General Miles Nightingall to sail for Sydney with the Black Watch. Macquarie was to be his deputy.
Now, our guess is that those of you who remember what little Australian history is taught these days don't remember any mention of Governor Nightingall. That's not because you were staring out the window checking out the good looking members of the opposite sex, or, indeed, the same sex, whatever gets your fancy, passing by when your Australian History teacher covered this topic. No, it is because as soon as he was appointed he came down with an awful pain in his wrist that lasted until his replacement passed over the horizon on his way to Sydney.
The British government seems to have admitted its mistake in appointing Bligh, and had no intention of meeting Bligh's demands that troops be sent to restore him to his rightful position. They decided that what was needed was some savage Scots, and an army bloke to command them, after the significant lack of success of all the naval blokes appointed so far. So the government appointed Major-General Miles Nightingall to sail for Sydney with the Black Watch. Macquarie was to be his deputy.
Now, our guess is that those of you who remember what little Australian history is taught these days don't remember any mention of Governor Nightingall. That's not because you were staring out the window checking out the good looking members of the opposite sex, or, indeed, the same sex, whatever gets your fancy, passing by when your Australian History teacher covered this topic. No, it is because as soon as he was appointed he came down with an awful pain in his wrist that lasted until his replacement passed over the horizon on his way to Sydney.