That Time an Australian Naval Got Greedy and Almost Blew Up the Queensland Government
Not even kidding.
The Fragmented Australia of the Late 1800s
Now back in the late 1800s, Australia was not the country we know and love today. The entire continent was broken up into individual British Colonies that had their own government and interestingly, their own Militaries.
What had once been an oversized penal colony was now shaping out to be some of the more wealthy colonies in the British Empire. But there were fears other European powers would want to take over the Australian colonies and claim them as their own. As a result, the Australian colonies began to invest in defense and even formed their own navies to counter any potential naval invasion.
The Queensland Maritime Defence Force
The colony of Queensland had bought two gunboats and a Torpedo Boat from the UK, and they soon became the backbone of the newly formed Queensland Maritime Defence Force. One of these gunboats, the HMQS Gayundah, was under the command of Captain Henry Townley Wright, who himself was also the overall commander of Queensland’s naval forces and would almost blow up the government he worked for.
Captain Henry Townley Wright and His Spending Habits
Now Wright was not a rich man, but boy did he like to act like one. To say he had a spending habit would be an understatement; he did not like to live within his means and would often embezzle funds from the Force to pay off his debts. Needless to say, certain people began to notice Wright was spending more than he should have for his flagship, the Gayundah, and it was not long before the Queensland Government banned him from spending any more money. Unless the Government approved, that is.
Needless to say, Wright was a tad bit miffed by this and even demanded he get an “advance in pay” for his remaining service. But this was denied and soon the Government ordered Wright to be removed from command.
The Dramatic Conclusion
After throwing his second in command in the brig for trying to remove him from duty (he had actually been ordered to take command of the ship), Wright then went on another spending spree, buying three months’ worth of supplies before sailing towards Sydney. Oddly enough, it was the Queensland police who gave chase and almost caught up to him but were forced to hold back when Wright aimed his guns towards the Queensland Parliament building and threatened to bombard it. Yep… all for money.
Thankfully though, cooler heads prevailed and Wright surrendered. But what happened to him after he left Australia is unknown, though I think it’s safe to say his military career was over. ~NC
