The Rum Rebellion was both dramatic and influential, yet it remains curiously low key in public memory. As our only military coup orchestrated by the volatile, brilliant, and opportunistic Macarthur against the justified but unlikeable Bounty hero and villain, Bligh, it was a time when the limits of power – personal, legal, and imperial – were pushed to extremes. We will re trace the causes and motivations, discovering where Macarthur, the Rum Corps, and Bligh all lived, the places of imprisonment and escape, and the memorials to Macquarie’s eventual solutions to the rum problem.
This walk will go ahead whatever the weather, except where the guide deems there to be a threat to health and safety. In this situation you will be contacted with an alternative date. Please ensure your mobile phone number is up-to-date with WEA before enrolling and ensure that you have it with you on the day in case the tutor needs to contact you.
Meet at the Cenotaph, Martin Place 10 minutes before the tour starts.
- GPO, Martin Place: John Macarthur
- Barracks Lane: William Bligh
- Wynyard Park: the Rum Corps
- George St: legal escalation
- Museum of Sydney: 26 January 1808.
- Morning tea break.
- Church Hill: imprisoned governor
- Cadman’s Cottage: loyalists and usurpers
- Circular Quay: escape
- Macquarie’s solutions: Bent St, Sydney Hospital, Mint, Parliament House.
- Finish near Martin Place station
By the end of this course, students should be able to:
- The causes, consequences, personalities, and sequence of events of the Rum Rebellion
- The location of significant Rum Rebellion events
