E29: The Rebel Administration
From Political History of Australia by John Ruddick
June 3, 2026 · 55 min · Season 1 · Episode 29
About this episode
This episode explores the extraordinary events surrounding the Rebel Administration in New South Wales, including the deposition of Governor William Bligh and the subsequent governance by the New South Wales Corps.
On the evening of 26 January 1808 the New South Wales Corps marched on Government House and did something extraordinary: they deposed Governor William Bligh at gunpoint. It remains the only successful armed overthrow of government in Australian history. What followed was one of the strangest and most revealing chapters in our early colonial story — the Rebel Administration. For nearly two years the colony was run by the very men who had arrested Bligh. John Macarthur effectively became the de facto ruler for a time, land grants flowed freely, regulations were slashed, and the rebels insisted this wasn’t a revolution at all — they were simply protecting the King’s loyal subjects from a dangerous tyrant. Then senior officers Joseph Foveaux and William Paterson arrived to steady the ship, while the entire colony held its breath waiting for London’s reaction. All the while the deposed and defiant William Bligh refused to go quietly. From house arrest in Sydney to his own audacious mutiny aboard the Porpoise and a long, bitter standoff in Hobart, he kept plotting and scheming to reclaim power. In this episode we go deep inside the Rebel Administration - its…
People in this episode
Host: John Ruddick
Topics covered
- Australian history
- colonial governance
- political rebellion
- William Bligh
- John Macarthur
- New South Wales Corps
- early colonial administration
Keywords
- Rebel Administration
- William Bligh
- John Macarthur
- New South Wales Corps
- armed overthrow
- colonial history
- political turmoil
- Australian politics
Mentioned in this episode
Books & works: Porpoise
Places: New South Wales, Sydney, Hobart
More episodes of Political History of Australia
- E30: London's Verdict on the Rum Rebellion · June 10, 2026 · 52 min
- E28: The Day of the Rum Rebellion · May 20, 2026 · 59 min
- E27: Road to the Rum Rebellion · May 13, 2026 · 47 min
- E26: Governor Bligh Arrives on a Warpath · May 6, 2026 · 37 min
- E25: How the 'Mutiny on the Bounty' Remade Australia · April 29, 2026 · 40 min
- E24: John Macarthur's Back Baby - Bigger and Bolder than Ever! · April 22, 2026 · 38 min
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