William McCoy (mutineer) William McCoy (mutineer) William McCoy (c.1763 – 20 April 1798) was a Scottish sailor and a mutineer on board HMS "Bounty". Following the mutiny led by Fletcher Christian, the "Bounty" was taken to Tahiti for a few days before being compelled to set sail. McCoy joined Christian and seven other mutineers. They took eleven Tahitian women and six men with them. After months at sea, the mutineers discovered the uninhabited Pitcairn Island and settled there in January 1790. McCoy had one consort, Teio, and fathered two children, Daniel and Catherine. After three years, a conflict broke out between the Tahitian
HMS Pandora (1779) learning of the mutiny on HMS "Bounty", the First Lord of the Admiralty, John Pitt, 2nd Earl of Chatham, decided to despatch her to recover the "Bounty", capture the mutineers, and return them to England for trial. She was refitted, and her 9-pounder guns were reduced to 20 in number, though she gained four 18-pounder carronades. "Pandora" sailed from The Solent on 7 November 1790, commanded by Captain Edward Edwards and manned by a crew of 134 men. With his crew was Thomas Hayward, who had been on the "Bounty" at the time of the mutiny, and left with Bligh