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 of a visiting British ship that the story of Cook and Bligh founding a settlement in Aitutaki was a fabrication, and that Cook had been long dead. Christian worried that their reaction might turn violent, and did not stay long. Of the 16 men who had voted to settle in Tahiti, he allowed 15 ashore; Joseph Coleman was detained on the ship, as Christian required his skills as an armourer. That evening, Christian inveigled aboard "Bounty" a party of Tahitians, mainly women, for a social gathering. With the festivities under way, he cut the anchor rope and "Bounty" sailed away