Cyprus mutiny Cyprus mutiny The "Cyprus" mutiny took place in 1829 off the British penal settlement of Van Diemen's Land (now Tasmania, Australia). Convicts seized the brig and sailed her to Canton, China, where they scuttled her and claimed to be castaways from another vessel. On the way, "Cyprus" visited Japan during the height of the period of severe Japanese restrictions on the entry of foreigners, the first Australian ship to do so. The mutineers were eventually captured. Two of them, George James Davis and William Watts, were hanged at Execution Dock, London on 16 December 1830, the last men hanged for
William Watts Lord of the Manor. Watts died in August 1764 and is buried in the Watts vault in Hanslope parish church. His "Memoirs of the Revolution in Bengal" was published in the year of his death. He had three surviving children (one child, William, died in infancy). These were also the only surviving children of Frances. All had notable descendants in politics and empire-building. Their daughter Amelia married George III's close adviser Charles Jenkinson, later the first Earl of Liverpool. An early portrait by Joshua Reynolds is thought to have been of her. She died aged 19, shortly after giving birth