See Also: Bligh, William(encyclopedia)
BLIGH VENTURES Limited(finance)
Bligh, Captain William(dictionary)
Canterbury(dictionary)
Canterbury(tourism)
Canterbury(encyclopedia)
Canterbury(2)(dictionary)
Canterbury(1)(dictionary)
Archbishop of Canterbury, the(dictionary)
Canterbury flights(tourism)

Bligh, William (sh) and Canterbury (sh)


Bligh, William (sh)




born Sept. 9, 1754, county of Cornwall, Eng.
died Dec. 7, 1817, London

English admiral.

He went to sea at the age of seven and joined the Royal Navy in 1770. After serving as the sailing master on Capt. James Cook's final voyage (1776-80), he was named to command the HMS Bounty in 1787. While en route from Tahiti to Jamaica, the ship was seized by Fletcher Christian, the master's mate, and Bligh and loyal crew members were set adrift; some two months later, they reached Timor. The mutiny made little difference to Bligh's career, though he had two more encounters with mutineers, including one while he was governor of New South Wales, Australia (1805-08). Described as overbearing, he was unpopular as a commander but was also courageous and a greatly skilled navigator.


Canterbury (sh)




Historic city and administrative district (pop., 2001: 135,287), southeastern England.

Located on the River Great Stour, the site has been occupied since pre-Roman times; the Roman town of Durovernum Cantiacorum was established after Claudius invaded Britain in AD 43. It has been an ecclesiastical metropolis of England since St. Augustine of Canterbury founded a monastery there in 602 and later established a cathedral. The cathedral was the scene of the murder of Archbishop St. Thomas Becket in 1170. After his canonization in 1172, it became a pilgrimage shrine; it is the destination of the pilgrims in Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. Canterbury was heavily bombed in World War II, but the cathedral largely escaped damage. The cathedral and Other historic buildings were designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1988.