The New South Wales Corps overthrows Governor Bligh in the Rum Rebellion, 1808
Australia's only military coup, fought over land grants more than rum
Quick facts
- Date
- 26 January 1808
- Deposed governor
- William Bligh
- Led by
- Major George Johnston, New South Wales Corps, backed by John Macarthur
- Resolution
- Governor Lachlan Macquarie restores civil rule, 1810
What happened
On the evening of 26 January 1808, soldiers of the New South Wales Corps marched from their parade ground to Government House in Sydney and arrested Governor William Bligh, who had previously survived the mutiny on the Bounty. Bligh had clashed with wealthy officer-turned-landholder John Macarthur over land grants and had Macarthur arrested over a trading-ship dispute; the Corps, nicknamed the 'Rum Corps' for its grip on the colony's liquor trade, used the arrest as its pretext to depose him. Major George Johnston took command, and military rule continued for two years until Lachlan Macquarie arrived as the colony's fifth governor at the start of 1810, immediately declaring the uprising illegal and revoking the appointments and land grants the rebellion's leaders had made.
Why it matters
It remains the only time an Australian government has been overthrown by military coup, and it exposed how thin the colony's civil authority still was twenty years after the First Fleet, when a few hundred soldiers could remove a governor with no resistance. Johnston was later court-martialled and cashiered; Macarthur could not return to the colony until 1817 for fear of prosecution.
How we know
The rebellion is documented in colonial despatches, the subsequent court martial record of Johnston in London, and contemporary accounts held by the State Library of New South Wales.
Sources
- State Library of New South Wales. The 1808 'Rum' Rebellion · Reputable sourcesl.nsw.gov.au · The domain "sl.nsw.gov.au" is on our Reputable source registry. · Link is live and its text matches the event's key terms (Jul 2026)
- State Library of New South Wales. The overthrow and aftermath · Reputable sourcesl.nsw.gov.au · The domain "sl.nsw.gov.au" is on our Reputable source registry. · Link is live and its text matches the event's key terms (Jul 2026)
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