Fletcher Christian^[1]

1764 - 1793  (29 years)    Has more than 100 ancestors and more than 100 descendants in this family tree.

• Name	Fletcher Christian
  Birth	Sep 1764	Moorland Close, Cumberland, England
  Christening	25 Sep 1764	St Bridget, Brigham, Cumberland, England
  Gender	Male
  Prominent People	28 Apr 1789	HMS Bounty, South Pacific
  Master's mate Acting Lieutenant from March 1788
  Death	Oct 1793	Pitcairn, Pitcairn Islands, British Oversea Territory
  Siblings	9 Siblings
  + 1. John Christian,   c. 27 Aug 1752, England d. 1791, England  (Age ~ 38 years) ▻ Ann,  m. Dec 1773 + 2. Fletcher Christian,   b. Sep 1764, Moorland Close, Cumberland, England d. Oct 1793, Pitcairn, Pitcairn Islands, British Oversea Territory  (Age 29 years) ▻ Maimiti,  m. 16 Jun 1789   3. Ewan Christian,   c. 21 Jul 1754, Man, England bur. 3 May 1757, Iom  (Age ~ 2 years)   4. Jacob Christian,   c. 18 Jun 1756, England bur. 24 Apr 1757, England  (Age ~ 0 years)   5. Edward Christian,   c. 3 Mar 1758, England d. 29 Mar 1823, England  (Age ~ 65 years) ▻ Mary Walmsley,  m. 11 Oct 1809   6. Mary Christian,   c. 1 Oct 1760, England d. 13 Aug 1786, England  (Age ~ 25 years)   7. Charles Christian,   c. 18 Jul 1762, England d. 1822, England  (Age ~ 59 years)   8. Frances Christian,   c. 24 Aug 1766, St Bridget, Brigham, Cumberland, England bur. 7 Sep 1766, St Bridget, Brigham, Cumberland, England  (Age ~ 0 years)   9. Ann Christian,   c. 24 Aug 1766, St Bridget, Brigham, Cumberland, England   10. Humphrey Christian,   c. 23 Dec 1767, St Bridget, Brigham, Cumberland, England d. 1790, England  (Age ~ 22 years)
  Person ID	I32687	Geneagraphie
  Links To	This person is also Fletcher Christian at Wikipedia
  Last Modified	29 Aug 2000

  
  

  Father	Charles Christian,   b. 12 Dec 1729, Ewanrigg, Cumbria, England d. 13 Mar 1768, Brigham, Cumbria, England (Age 38 years)
  Mother	Ann Dixon,   b. 1730, England d. 1820, England (Age 90 years)
  Marriage	1750	England
  Family ID	F13688	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	Maimiti,   b. Tahiti, Polynésie française, France d'outre-mer d. 19 Sep 1841, Pitcairn, Pitcairn Islands, British Oversea Territory
  Marriage	16 Jun 1789	Tahiti, Polynésie française, France d'outre-mer
  Children	+ 1. Thursday October Christian,   b. Oct 1790, Pitcairn, Pitcairn Islands, British Oversea Territory d. 21 Apr 1831, Tahiti, Polynésie française, France d'outre-mer (Age 40 years) + 2. Charles Christian,   b. 1792, Pitcairn, Pitcairn Islands, British Oversea Territory d. 4 Jan 1842, Pitcairn, Pitcairn Islands, British Oversea Territory (Age 50 years)   3. Mary Ann Christian,   b. 1793, Pitcairn, Pitcairn Islands, British Oversea Territory d. 2 Jan 1866, Norfolk Island, Australia (Age 73 years)
  Family ID	F34457	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	29 Aug 2000

  
  

• Event Map	Click to hide
  		Marriage - 16 Jun 1789 - Tahiti, Polynésie française, France d'outre-mer Death - Oct 1793 - Pitcairn, Pitcairn Islands, British Oversea Territory  = Link to Google Earth
  Pin Legend	: Address       : Location       : City/Town       : County/Shire       : State/Province       : Country       : Not Set

  
  

• Photos

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• Notes

  Bounty Master's Mate; leader of the Mutiny on the HMS Bounty in 1789. Christian was descended from a very prominant family. He was born at the farmstead of Moorland Close on 25 Sep 1764, and was carried over the hill to nearby Brigham church for baptism the same day. Not far from Cumbria's Lake district, Moorland Close sits on the summet of a gentle hill that slopes down to the river Derwent and the town of Cockermouth. Moorland Close was inherited from the family of Christian's mother. The family had control of several other properties. Christian's father was born and raised at Ewanrigg in Cumberland, and his mother's mother, Mary Fletcher, was raised at Cockermouth Hall. The ancestral properties also included lands at Douglas on the Isle of Man, and it was this connection that suggests that Christian was a Manxman. According to Bligh, Christian was 5'9" tall, with very dark-brown complexion, dark-brown hair, strong-made, bowlegged, of a nervous disposition, and subject to violent sweating. He had a star tattooed on his left breast. He has been described as having a pleasing countenance and was a commanding figure. He was distantly related to William Wordsworth. A schoolmate, the local poet Isaac Wilkinson, described him as 'mild, generous, open, humane, sincere, and quick of spirit'. In general, even his detractors admit that he had a likeable personality. The fortunes of his family, unfortunately, suffered serious reversal. His father died, and his mother was soon on the edge of bankruptcy, with Moorland Close about the be foreclosed. Christian, at an age where he was looking for adventure, ran away to sea at 16, shipping on the 'Cambridge', on which Bligh was 6th Lieutenant. He later took two trips with Bligh to Jamaica on the 'Britannia'. It is interesting to compare the opinions of the way he was treated. Bligh felt that all his attempts to prepare the young man for eventual command were rejected. The crew, especially among the older officers and petty officers, felt that Bligh gave him too much special treatment. Christian himself felt more severely put upon by his commander than he had apparently ever felt in the past. His conduct, especially after the mutiny, indicate that he was thin-skinned, mercurial, and emotional. Here was a man who felt he had ability, but any criticism made him question his own worth. Did he feel insecure among the older officers, being treated by a commander not too much his senior as a youngster? Would he have fared better with a stronger commander who might have forced him to sink or swim? We will never know. There is little doubt that his feeling for Isabella, in large part, convinced him to take the ship. They were, unquestionably, the most monogamous couple on Pitcairn. Had circumstances been different, one might have expected him to jump ship, which indeed he contemplated at one point, and make his life alone in the south seas. He was not a man who craved company, a loner who could have been a successful island entrepreneur. As it was, fate was not his ally.

  
  

• Sources

  [S317] Karl Rowe Anderson, Mutiny on the HMS Bounty, (1998).