I’ve loved the place and story behind Pitcairn Island ever since reading about it as a child. So well done the FT for such a splendid article (Travel, Life & Arts, February 3). A rare treat indeed.
If like me you are never going to visit such a remote outpost of Britishness, but have an interest in one of the main characters, I can reveal my version of a mini pilgrimage. William Bligh, captain of the Bounty cast adrift with his 18 shipmates off the coast of Samoa in 1789, was a good man — the films are inaccurate. As a career sailor he rose to be vice-admiral of the blue, now a defunct rank. He lived for a few years in a house on Lambeth Road opposite what is now the Imperial War Museum. There is a well-deserved blue plaque on the house. If one continues towards the Thames you arrive at the Garden Museum, which was once the church of St Mary-at-Lambeth.
There you will find Bligh’s last resting place (died 1817) in a large clearly-inscribed tomb. The museum is well worth a visit even for those who have no nautical interests. Finally, there is a good recent biography if one thirsts for more information on a fascinating man.
Robert Boston
Kingshill, Kent, UK
