Ned Young Ned Young Edward "Ned" Young (c. 1762 – 25 December 1800), was a British sailor, mutineer from the famous HMS "Bounty" incident, and co-founder of the mutineers' Pitcairn Island settlement. Young was born on the West Indian island of St. Kitts. He apparently came from a poor family, but he did attend school. He joined the crew of HMS "Bounty" as a midshipman in 1787 when she sailed from England to Tahiti. After the "Bounty" departed from Tahiti in 1789 several sailors and officers, including Fletcher Christian, mutinied against its captain, Lieutenant William Bligh. Young was asleep during the mutiny,
Mutiny on the Bounty Undeterred, Christian and an armed party surveyed the island, and decided it would be suitable for their purposes. However, to create a permanent settlement, they needed compliant native labour and women. The most likely source for these was Tahiti, to which "Bounty" returned on 6 June. To ensure the co-operation of the Tahiti chiefs, Christian concocted a story that he, Bligh, and Captain Cook were founding a new settlement at Aitutaki. Cook's name ensured generous gifts of livestock and other goods and, on 16 June, the well-provisioned "Bounty" sailed back to Tubuai. On board were nearly 30 Tahitian men and