Mutiny on the Bounty house: south London home of Captain William Bligh for sale for £2.5m
The south London family home of Captain William Bligh, the naval commander who was set adrift by his crew in the Mutiny on the Bounty, is on sale for £2.5 million.
The officer was the first owner of the six-bedroom Georgian townhouse, which was built in 1794.
After the 1789 mutiny he lived there for more than a decade with his wife Elizabeth and their children, until being appointed Governor of New South Wales in 1805.
It is currently run as a £130 a night bed and breakfast and divided into five apartment-style suites but agents Frank Harris & co say it could be returned to a single family home with planning permission.
The 3,332 sq ft house also has a home cinema, gymnasium and staff studio on the lower ground floor as well as a 35ft garden and a 141 sq ft terrace on the first floor.
Bligh was 33 when he took command of the Bounty for the ill-fated voyage to Tahiti.
On 28 April 1789, less than a month into the return journey, master’s mate Fletcher Christian led a mutiny, overpowered Bligh and set him and a handful of loyal crew members afloat in a small boat.
Bligh navigated the boat more than 4,000 miles over 47 days to Timor, with all but one surviving the voyage.
Christian and the other mutineers made for Tahiti before some continued to Pitcairn Island, where descendants live to this day.
The mutiny has inspired five films and a West End musical. In the most recent version in 1984 Sir Anthony Hopkins played Bligh and Mel Gibson was cast as Christian.
Emma Lyall, sales manager at Frank Harris & Co, says: “With its quirky interiors and rich history this magnificent property is located opposite the grounds of the Imperial War Museum.
"The property could be used as a rental investment or returned into a single family home as it was when Captain Bligh, Elizabeth and their seven children lived at the house.”