In That Bligh Girl, Sue Williams blends historical fact with a fictionalised narrative to tell the story of Mary Bligh, the daughter of New South Wales fourth Governor.

The controversial role of Captain William Bligh (of Mutiny on the Bounty fame) in Australia’s colonial history is well known. Appointed the 4th Governor of NSW in 1806, Bligh was ousted by a coup, known as the Rum Corps Rebellion led by grazier and officer John Macarthur, less than two years later. But few probably remember that while Bligh hid under a bed from the 300 armed soldiers who stormed Government House, his daughter, Mary Putland (née Bligh), who had reluctantly accompanied her father to Australia, stood bravely at the gates wielding only a parasol, indignantly refusing them entry.

Mary’s courageous stand may be mentioned in historical records, which tend to favour men, but generally only in the context of her father’s biography. In That Bligh Girl Williams draws on meticulous research to give Mary her own voice and place in history.

Bright, spirited, stubborn, and a little spoilt, Mary had been planning on making a home with her new husband, Lieutenant John Putland, in Ireland when her father imperiously announced the couple would be accompanying him to New South Wales, where Mary would serve as the Lady of Government House in her mother’s stead.

Williams’s novel, unfolding from the perspective of Mary, and her convict maid, Meg Hill, stretches from Mary’s arduous six month journey to Australia, past the events of the Rum Corps Rebellion, to her eventual death in Paris in 1864. It shares her complicated relationship with her father, the tragic death of John Putland, and her life with her second husband, who later also served as the (acting) governor of NSW. I enjoyed learning more about Mary and admired her fortitude.

The character of Meg is mostly based on one of Mary’s maids, Susannah Harrison, but is more properly an amalgamation of several. Meg’s perspective provides additional context to Mary and her life in NSW, as well as information about the experience of female convicts in the colony.

Well written and interesting, That Bligh Girl is an engaging historical novel about adversity, courage, friendship, and love. ( )