E27: Road to the Rum Rebellion

As 1807 unfolded, the little British colony of New South Wales was politically charged. Previous governors had attempted to reassert official authority by writing to letters to London and saying mean words about John Macarthur and his ‘trading faction.’ Governor Bligh arrived knowing the job of bringing down Macarthur was his job and his alone. There were a series of scandals that erupted across 1807. Almost all involved John Macarthur and Governor Bligh. Each dispute got more acrimimonus until Governor Bligh ordered the arrest of John Macarthur. The criminal trial took place in the heart of Sydney on 25 January 1808. There were a thousand spectators thronged around the court … and then the court dramatically erupted. Governor Bligh was given an out … he was asked to appoint a new presiding judge … but Bligh declared the court chaos seditious. There was no going back. The die was cast.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Please leave a comment, share and rate the show ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐Also listen and subscribe at Youtube and Rumble here 👉@politicalhistoryofaustraliaThe Hon. John Ruddick MLC is a member of the NSW Legislative Council. johnruddick.com.auhttps://www.tiktok.com/@johnruddickmlchttps://x.com/JohnRuddick2https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnruddickmlc/https://www.facebook.com/johnruddickmlc https://www.instagram.com/john.ruddick/Produced by Sean Masters(All voices in this series are AI generated bar the narrator.) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.