William Peckover
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

William Peckover was a gunner in the Royal Navy and served on several vessels most notably commanded by
James Cook James Cook (7 November 1728 Old Style date: 27 October – 14 February 1779) was a British explorer, navigator, cartographer, and captain in the British Royal Navy, famous for his three voyages between 1768 and 1779 in the Pacific Ocean an ...
and
William Bligh Vice-Admiral William Bligh (9 September 1754 – 7 December 1817) was an officer of the Royal Navy and a colonial administrator. The mutiny on the HMS ''Bounty'' occurred in 1789 when the ship was under his command; after being set adrift i ...
. He was born 17 June 1748, son of Daniel Peckover and Mary Avies in
Aynho Aynho (, formerly spelt ''Aynhoe'') is a village and civil parish in West Northamptonshire, England, on the edge of the Cherwell valley south-east of the north Oxfordshire town of Banbury and southwest of Brackley. Along with its neighbour C ...
in the
Cherwell Valley The River Cherwell ( or ) is a tributary of the River Thames in central England. It rises near Hellidon, Northamptonshire and flows southwards for to meet the Thames at Oxford in Oxfordshire. The river gives its name to the Cherwell local ...
, Northamptonshire.


Early navy career

Peckover joined Captain Cook's Endeavour expedition aged 21, on 25 July 1768 as an Able-bodied seaman. On the return to Britain, he petitioned
Joseph Banks Sir Joseph Banks, 1st Baronet, (19 June 1820) was an English naturalist, botanist, and patron of the natural sciences. Banks made his name on the 1766 natural-history expedition to Newfoundland and Labrador. He took part in Captain James ...
requesting to gain him a berth as a
midshipman A midshipman is an officer of the lowest rank, in the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and many Commonwealth navies. Commonwealth countries which use the rank include Canada (Naval Cadet), Australia, Bangladesh, Namibia, New Zealand, South Afr ...
on Cook's next voyage. Peckover wrote "as you were so good to me During your last Voyage & so generous sinc your Return I am Determined to haxard my Life… I ham now Emboldend to solicit your Goodness to have me appointed Supernumery Midshipman in one of the Ships newly Commissioned for the South Seas". He was unsuccessful, but was appointed on 4 February 1772 as gunner's mate in
Resolution Resolution(s) may refer to: Common meanings * Resolution (debate), the statement which is debated in policy debate * Resolution (law), a written motion adopted by a deliberative body * New Year's resolution, a commitment that an individual mak ...
. On Cook's third and final voyage (on the ''
Discovery Discovery may refer to: * Discovery (observation), observing or finding something unknown * Discovery (fiction), a character's learning something unknown * Discovery (law), a process in courts of law relating to evidence Discovery, The Discovery ...
''), which he joined on 16 February 1776, Peckover was appointed ships gunner.


Bounty voyage

By the time Peckover was a crewmember on HMAV Bounty he was one of the most experienced on the vessel. He sailed on all three of Captain James Cook's pacific expeditions, had already visited
Tahiti Tahiti (; Tahitian ; ; previously also known as Otaheite) is the largest island of the Windward group of the Society Islands in French Polynesia. It is located in the central part of the Pacific Ocean and the nearest major landmass is Austr ...
four times and was fluent in the
Polynesian language The Polynesian languages form a genealogical group of languages, itself part of the Oceanic branch of the Austronesian family. There are 38 Polynesian languages, representing 7 percent of the 522 Oceanic languages, and 3 percent of the Austron ...
. Bounty landed at Tahiti October 1788, where Bligh had Peckover supervise trading negotiations with the islanders while
breadfruit Breadfruit (''Artocarpus altilis'') is a species of flowering tree in the mulberry and jackfruit family (Moraceae) believed to be a domesticated descendant of ''Artocarpus camansi'' originating in New Guinea, the Maluku Islands, and the Philippi ...
plants were collected for transportation.


During the mutiny and subsequent events

On 28 April 1789, during the return voyage to England, Peckover had been on watch duty from midnight to 4:00 am and was still asleep when
Fletcher Christian Fletcher Christian (25 September 1764 – 20 September 1793) was master's mate on board HMS ''Bounty'' during Lieutenant William Bligh's voyage to Tahiti during 1787–1789 for breadfruit plants. In the mutiny on the ''Bounty'', Christian sei ...
seized control of the ship. Peckover was confined to his cabin during the mutiny, and not allowed up on deck until Bligh and his loyalists were being cast off the ship into the 23-foot launch. Peckover was able to smuggle off The Bounty a pocket watch and with this Bligh was able to navigate until 2 June 1788, when Bligh's log records "The Gunner when he left the ship brought his watch with him and had regulated our time until today when unfortunately I found it stopt".: to Coupang; the watch became corroded by the sea water and in appreciation Bligh gave Peckover a replacement. and had it inscribed "Wm Peckover H.M.S. Bounty 1788 Cap. Bligh" Peckover survived the 3,500 nautical mile voyage in Bounty's launch to the
Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies ( nl, Nederlands(ch)-Indië; ), was a Dutch colony consisting of what is now Indonesia. It was formed from the nationalised trading posts of the Dutch East India Company, which ...
port of
Coupang Coupang ( ko, 쿠팡) is a South Korean e-commerce company based in Seoul, South Korea, and incorporated in Delaware, United States. Founded in 2010 by Bom Kim, the company expanded to become the largest online marketplace in South Korea. It ...
on
Timor Timor is an island at the southern end of Maritime Southeast Asia, in the north of the Timor Sea. The island is East Timor–Indonesia border, divided between the sovereign states of East Timor on the eastern part and Indonesia on the western p ...
and later during the mutineer's court martial in Britain, testified in favour of Midshipman
Peter Heywood Peter Heywood (6 June 1772 – 10 February 1831) was a British naval officer who was on board during mutiny on the Bounty, the mutiny of 28 April 1789. He was later captured in Tahiti, tried and condemned to death as a mutineer, but subseq ...
. In July 1792, Commodore Pasley, (Peter Heywood's uncle) planned to contact Peckover, who at the time was living in Woolwich.  According to a footnote to the "Report of the Court Martial of Ten of the Mutineers", in May 1794, he was living at No. 13 Gun Alley, in Wapping, London.


Later navy career

Peckover served on various ships during Britain's involvement in the
American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revolut ...
and
Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...
. Royal Navy records state Peckover served as a gunner on the following vessels: * 30 Oct 1780 - HMS Dictator * 15 Jul 1782 - HMS Resistance * 11 Jun 1784 - HMS Recovery * 16 Dec 1784 - HMS Warspite * 27 Jan 1785 - HMS Amphitrite * 24 Aug 1787 - HMAV Bounty * 1 Dec 1790 - HMS Antelope * 6 Jun 1791 - HMS Sultan * 23 Jan 1792 - HMS Antelope * 6 Feb 1792 - HMS Ocean * 23 May 1798 -
HMS Bedford Three ships of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS ''Bedford'', named initially after William Russell, 1st Duke of Bedford, William Russell, created Duke of Bedford in May 1694 and ''not'' after the town of Bedford: * was a 70-gun third rate ...
* 30 Aug 1798 -
HMS Irresistible Four ships of the Royal Navy have been named HMS ''Irresistible''. A fifth was planned but later renamed: * was a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line launched in 1782 and broken up in 1806. * HMS ''Irresistible'' was a prison ship, launched as in ...
* 14 May 1801 - HMS Gelykheid Peckover applied for a position as gunner on HMS Providence (the second breadfruit expedition to Tahiti) but was refused by Bligh. In a letter to Sir Joseph Banks, 17 July 1791 (two weeks before departure), Bligh wrote: ''‘‘Should Peckover my late Gunner ever trouble you to render him further services I shall esteem it a favour if you will tell him I informed you he was a vicious and worthless fellow – He applied to me to render him service & wanted to be appointed Gunner of the Providence but as I had determined never to suffer an officer who was with me in the Bounty to sail with again, it was for the cause I did not apply for him.’’'' Bligh’s refusal to appoint Peckover was partly due to Edward Christian’s polemic testimony against Bligh in an effort to clear his brother’s name.  Christian states in his appendix: ''"In the evidence of Mr. Peckover and Mr. Fryer, it is proved that Mr. Nelson the botanist said, upon hearing the commencement of the mutiny, "We know whose fault this is, or who is to blame, Mr. Fryer, what have we brought upon ourselves?" In addition to this, it ought to be known that Mr. Nelson, in conversation afterwards with an officer (Peckover) at Timor, who was speaking of returning with Captain Bligh if he got another ship, observed, "I am surprized that you should think of going a second time with (Bligh), (using a term of abuse), who has been the cause of all our losses."'' The last known record of Peckover mentions him serving on HMS Gelykheid; he was superannuated on 10 June 1801; and is not mentioned any further in navy records. Gunner William Peckover, Gentleman of HMS Irresistible was created a Governor of the
Chatham Chest The Chatham Chest was a fund set up in 1588 to pay pensions to disabled seamen from the Royal Navy. It was financed by regular deductions from seamen's pay, which were deposited in a chest held at Chatham Dockyard and disbursed upon proof of a sai ...
.{{citation needed, date=August 2022 National Archive records show that Peckover made provision in his pension for a widows pension: He was married to Sarah. Colchester Records Office show that Sarah Peckover was buried at Holy Trinity Church Colchester on 11 March 1819 aged 62 as was William Peckover a few months later on 16 May 1819 aged 70.


References


External links


A Voyage to the South Seas
(William Bligh) Project Gutenberg
Bounty crew list
(Pacific Island Study Center)

(Fateful Voyage)
Testimony of William Peckover at Mutineers trial
Crew of HMS Bounty 18th-century Royal Navy personnel 1748 births