Fletcher Christian

About Fletcher Christian

Fletcher Christian (25 September 1764 – 3 October 1793) was a Master's Mate on board the Bounty during William Bligh's fateful voyage to Tahiti for breadfruit plants (see Mutiny on the Bounty). It was Christian who seized command of the Bounty from Bligh on April 28, 1789.

Christian was born on 25 September 1764 at his family home of Moorland Close, near Brigham, Cumbria. Fletcher Christian was the second youngest son of Charles Christian (12 December 1729 - 11 March 1768) and Ann Dixon (1730 - c. 1812) who were to have ten children, six of whom survived infancy. Fletcher's father, Charles Christian, was descended from a long line of Manx gentry, his paternal grandparents were John Christian (14 May 1688 - 20 September 1745) and Bridget Senhouse (c. 1693 - 27 September 1749) John could trace his ancestory back to William the Conqueror. The surname Christian is an anglicisation of the Manx name McCrystyn. Bridget could trace her ancestry back to Edward I. Fletcher's mother, Ann Dixon, was of an old, well-established Cumberland family, her mother being one of the powerful Fletcher clan; it was after his maternal grandmother's family that Fletcher Christian was named. His maternal grandparents were Jacob Dixon and Mary Fletcher.

Charles' marriage to Ann brought with it the small but respectable property of Moorland Close, "a quadrangle pile of buildings...half castle, half farmstead." Charles died in 1768 when Fletcher was not yet four. Ann proved herself grossly irresponsible with money. By 1779, when Fletcher was fifteen, Ann had run up a staggering debt of nearly £6,500, and faced the very real prospect of debtors' prison. Ultimately Moorland Close was lost, and Ann and her three younger children were forced to flee to the Isle of Man where English creditors had no power. The three elder Christian sons managed to arrange a £40 per year annuity for their mother, allowing the family to live in genteel poverty.