John Hallett - Midshipman

Loyalist, age 15

Recommended by Bligh's wife, he was the brother of a friend of hers from London. Like his friend and fellow midshipman, Hayward, Hallett was not popular with the crew of the Bounty nor its officers. He seems to have been of upper class background, and was not prepared for the rigors of naval life. Like Hayward, this seems to have been more a result of his youth than any inherent character defect.

Forced by Christian to go with Bligh, he had the navigation textbook in his pack which proved invaluable to the survival of the Launch. During the voyage of the Launch, he appears to have sided with Bligh in the disputes with Fryer.

During the trials of the mutineers, Hallett proved to be a willing, if not particularly believable witness. His testimony, aimed at many, but especially damaging to Morrison, was seldom corroborated by the testimony of others. He and Hayward were virtually the only persons to testify against Heywood.

Hallett, after his return to England, was promoted to Lieutenant. What happened to him after that point seems to be a matter of great speculation. There are two long standing versions, and one more recent version.

The first version is that he was attached to the 'Pandora', along with Hayward, to assist in the search for his former crewmembers. Upon his return to England after the Pandora' shipwreck, he continued his naval career until he was killed some years later in the sinking of the 'Penelope'. Historians have disputed that he served on the Pandora with Hayward and there appears to be no documentary evidence for this, but his death on the Penelope' is a popular belief based on the presence of a Lieutenant John Hallett on that ship's roll.

The second version is that he suffered some temporary paralysis in his limbs, but recovered in time to sail with Bligh on his second, successful, breadfruit voyage. Unfortunately, the rigors of that voyage brought about a recurrence of his paralysis, and he returned to his family home in Bedford, where, on December 1, 1794, according to "The Gentleman's Magazine", he passed away, and was buried in St. Mary's churchyard some 8 days later. The injuries and paralysis described seem consistant with a serious back or spinal injury.

A third, more fanciful verson, based on an oral history recorded in the United States during the 1930's, purports that John Hallett indeed was serving on the Penelope', but that his performance on that ship was much below par, and realizing that upon his return to England, he would likely be disciplined and eliminated from the Navy, he jumped ship while the Penelope' was in an American port prior to the storm and shipwreck. The records of his action, of course, would have been lost with the ship. Hallett was then said to have signed on to an American merchant vessel, served honorably for many years in the American merchant fleet, rising to the rank of Captain, and owner of several ships. Upon his retirement, he was the pioneer settler of the town of Hallettsville, Texas (USA), where his descendants live today.

Caroline Alexander, in "The Bounty", notes that after the court-martial John Hallett joined the 'Penelope' as third lieutenant, and a little over a year later, while the ship was in the West Indies, the muster indicates that he was "Invalided" for the remainder of the voyage. Hallett died in Bedford in December 1794, "after a long and severe illness," as the 'Times reported. Another obituary indicated he had lost the use of his limbs following the open boat voyage," and although recovered sufficiently to make another voyage "again lost the use of his limbs, and recovered them no more." Hallett was only twenty-two years old at the time of his death. His parish church registry noted he had been a "gentleman." Added Note: St. Mary's, Bedford. "A later tradition put out by the Heywood family represented that Mr. Hallett had died on board the 'Penelope'--.............. Doubtless, the rumor of Hallett's "death on board," instead of by slow and dreadful paralysis resulting from his ordeals in the open boat, was intended to deflect invidious attention from those persons who had made him suffer. An elaborate memorial tablet of white marble in the chancel of St. Mary's, Bedford, reflected both his proud parents' grief and their social retensions: admid engrailed sable arms and a demi-lion rampant was inscribed his epithet: Juvenis Laboris patiens, Virtute praeditus, nec Tempestate nec Fama nec Periculo Fracta: A youth patient in his duties, outstanding in his valour, broken neither by tempest, nor rumour nor, danger." (Caroline Alexander, The Bounty")