Fletcher Christian

Fletcher Christian (September 25, 1764 - 1793) was an English seaman on HMS Bounty when it sailed to Tahiti to collect breadfruit trees in 1787. He led a mutiny (take over) to stop Lieutenant William Bligh returning to England. (See Mutiny on the Bounty). He left Bligh and 18 seaman in a small boat, and went back to Tahiti in the Bounty. Christian and some of the other sailors then sailed to Pitcairn Island to live. Christian was later killed in a fight between the Tahitian men and the seamen and he was also the first ruler of the Pitcairn Islands.

 Early life 
Christian was born in 1764 at the family home of Moorland Close, near Brigham, Cumbria. He was one of 10 children of Charles Christian and Ann Dixon. He could trace his ancestry back to William the Conqueror. The name Christian is an English way of saying the Manx name "McCrystyn". Fletcher's mother came from Cumberland and he was named after his grandmother, Mary Fletcher. After his father died, Christian went to sea. He was 18 years old. He was a sailor on the ship 'Cambridge'. William Bligh was also on the ship. Christian later sailed on two trips with Bligh to Jamaica on the ship 'Britannia'.

 After the mutiny 
After the mutiny, Christian wanted to settle on the island of Tubuai. The sailors were scared of the natives who lived on the island. The sailors went back to Tahiti. Christian married Maimiti, the daughter of one of the chiefs on June 16, 1789. He then left Tahiti with 8 of the mutineers, 13 Tahitian women and six men. They sailed to the remote Pitcairn Island. Sixteen sailors from the Bounty stayed at Tahiti. At Pitcairn they took everything they could from the Bounty. After that Matthew Quintal set it on fire. The sexual imbalance (more men than women) and the slavery of the Tahitian men by the mutineers led to fighting and the deaths of most of the men. Fletcher Christian was killed in the fighting. He had a son with Maimiti, Thursday October Christian and two additional children.

Related pages
 Mutiny on the Bounty
 Pitcairn Island

 References 

Category:1764 births
Category:1793 deaths
Category:British military people
Category:Mutiny on the Bounty
Category:HMS Bounty mutineers