Peter Heywood (1772 - 1831)

Born 6 Jun 1772 in Douglas, Isle of Man

Ancestors

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Biography

This profile is part of the Haywood Name Study.

Peter Heywood was an honorary midshipman aboard the HMS Bounty during The Mutiny. He was a distant relative of Fletcher Christian, aged 15 when they left England. Although sentenced to death by hanging for mutiny, he was granted a royal pardon by King George III. He then had a distinguished naval career.

Peter Heywood was born to Peter John Heywood and Elizabeth (Spedding) Heywood. He was baptised on 6 June 1772 in Douglas, Isle of Man.

HMS Bounty II by Dan Kersberger.

When Peter was 14, he left school, and when he was 15, he was recommended to William Bligh by Bligh's father-in-law, Richard Betham. Peter was granted the rank of 'honorary midshipman' and became one of the 'young gentlemen' training for a career in the Navy.

Description by Captain Captain Bligh: [PETER HEYWOOD] Midshipman, 17 years, 5 feet 7 inches high, fair complexion, light-brown hair, well proportioned. Very much tattooed, and on the right leg is tattooed the Legs of Man, as the impression on that coin is. At this time he had not done growing. He speaks with the Isle of Man accent.

When the ship arrived at Tahiti, Fletcher Christian and Peter Heywood were detailed to stay on the island, overseeing the nursery for the breadplants the voyage was to obtain. There is a suggestion from the ship's medical logs that they were both promiscuous, being treated for venereal disease at one point.

Mutiny on the Bounty

Peter Heywood was not a mutineer, although Bligh certainly viewed him as a ringleader, and testimonies differed as to whether he was or not. He maintained he was 'detained against [his] will' and not put into the open boat which contained William Bligh and others. When the ship, now captained by Fletcher Christian, returned to Tahiti, Peter remained on the island and settled there, studying the Tahitian language. He dressed like the natives and was heavily tattooed on his body like them. He married a local girl, and they produced a daughter.

HMS Pandora from a sketch by Peter Heywood

In November 1790, the Admiralty sent HMS Pandora to retrieve the mutineers and the loyalists who had remained with them (Heywood included). However, on the way back to England HMS Pandora ran aground and sank. Heywood and nine others escaped drowning, but were still taken back to England in an open boat.

On 12 September 1792, the prisoners were court-martialled. Heywood maintained his innocence, but was sentenced to death by hanging; he received a royal pardon from King George III. There were rumours in the press that his reprieve had been bought, and that Peter Heywood was in fact heir to a large fortune, but this was completely unfounded. However, there is no doubt that family influence and legal counsel played an important part.

Peter Heywood resumed his naval career and quickly received several promotions, eventually rising to Captain. He worked as a hydrographer during his career, and was in fact offered the position of Admiralty Hydrographer after his retirement. He declined. He produced navigational charts for Ceylon, India, Morocco, South America, parts of the coasts of Sumatra and north-west Australia.

On 30 July 1816, Peter Heywood received a marriage licence, and on 31 July was married to the widowed Frances Joliffe (nee Simpson) in Newington, Surrey, England. The couple moved to Highgate (now a part of London), but had no children. Mention of one child, Mary Gray, is made in his Will, but does not disclose a paternal relationship.

Peter Heywood died in February 1831 of a stroke. He is buried in the vault of Highgate School chapel.

Research Notes

• Heywood mentions a surviving younger brother whose only son died in 1870.
• Hunter calls his wife the widowed daughter of Francis Simpson esq. Wikipedia says she was Frances Joliffe when he married her. Heywood has more details.

Sources

• Hunter, Joseph: F.M.G., Vol 1 of 4, page 386.
• Old Manx Families, Heywoods.
• Heywood, Nathan: article in Lancs & Ches Antiq Soc 9, page 135.
• Whitehaven.org.
• Bounty's Crew Encyclopedia, Pitcairn Islands Study Centre
• Faculty Office Marriage Licences, transcription by Society of Genealogists, viewed via findmypast
• "England, Surrey Parish Registers, 1536-1992," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QGJ4-39B4 : 14 September 2019), Peter Heywood, 31 Jul 1816; citing Marriage, Newington St Mary, Surrey, England, United Kingdom, London Metropolitan Archives, England; FHL microfilm .

See Also:

• Wikipedia: Peter_Heywood
• Mutiny on the Bounty wikitree page