Bligh Had a Daughter

{{Infobox radio show

| name = Bligh Had a Daughter

| format = drama play

|image = Blight_Had_a_Daughter.png

|caption = ABC Weekly 24 April 1948

| runtime = 60 mins{{Citation

| title=SATURDAY, May 15 A.B.C. Programmes

| journal=ABC Weekly

| date= May 1948

| location=Sydney

| url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-1549912065

| access-date=2 February 2024

| via=Trove

}}

| start_time = 8pm

| end_time = 9pm

| runtime_note =

| country = Australia

| language = English

| home_station =

| syndicates = Australian Broadcasting Commission

| starring = Patricia Kennedy

| announcer =

| creator =

| writer = Rex Rienits

| director =

| producer =

| narrated =

| record_location =

| remote_location =

| other_location =

| first_aired = {{Start date|1948|05|15}}{{Citation

| title=A.B.C. Play-Lovers' Guide

| journal=ABC Weekly

| volume=10 |issue=19 |date=8 May 1848

| location=Sydney

| publisher=Australian Broadcasting Commission

| url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-1549912543

| id=nla.obj-1549912543

| access-date=18 October 2023

| via=Trove

}}

| podcast =

}}

Bligh Had a Daughter is a 1948 Australia radio play by Rex Rienits about Mary Bligh, daughter of William Bligh, who was living with her father at the time of the Rum Rebellion.

It was one of the most highly regarded Australian radio plays of the 1940s{{cite book|page=147|url=https://archive.org/details/towardsaustralia0000lesl/page/147/mode/1up?q=%22burke+and+wills%22+%22colin+thiele%22|first=Leslie|last=Rees|year=1953|title=Towards an Australian Drama}}

The play was repeated later in 1948{{Citation

| title=For Play-Lovers

| journal=ABC Weekly

| volume=10 |issue=22 |date=29 May 1948

| location=Sydney

| publisher=Australian Broadcasting Commission

| url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-1549930364

| access-date=18 October 2023

| via=Trove

}} and in 1949.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article93750510 |title=Broadcasting Programmes |newspaper=Chronicle |volume=92 |issue=5,211 |location=South Australia |date=3 November 1949 |accessdate=18 October 2023 |page=37 |via=National Library of Australia}} and produced again by the ABC in 1954 (in Brisbane, directed by Raymond Menmuir).

Rienits used elements of the play in his 1960 mini series Stormy Petrel, based on his radio serial of the same name. In that the role of Mary Bligh was played by Delia Williams.{{cite web|first=Stephen|last=Vagg|magazine=Filmink|url=https://www.filmink.com.au/forgotten-australian-tv-plays-stormy-petrel/|date=17 October 2021|title=Forgotten Australian TV Plays: Stormy Petrel}}

Premise

According to the ABC Weekly "Bligh, when appointed Governor of New South Wales 17 years after the 'Bounty' affair, had a wife and six daughters, but only Mary, his second daughter, accompanied him to his new place of appointment. There she acted as his Governor's lady until almost simultaneously she lost her husband and played a part in resisting the deposition of Bligh by the Rum Corps. Later she became a permanent resident of New South Wales, where her descendants are still living."{{Citation

| title=Radio Plays for Next Week A.B.C.

| journal=ABC Weekly

| volume=16 |issue=36 |date=4 September 1954

| location=Sydney

| publisher=Australian Broadcasting Commission

| url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-1694175195

| id=nla.obj-1694175195

| access-date=18 October 2023

| via=Trove

}}