Fletcher Christian – leader of the mutineers on HMS Bounty and founder of Pitcairn Island manuscript document signed by John Christian and Ann Christian, the mother of Fletcher Christian, dated 1776, being an obligation bond in the sum of &pound800 [say &pound50,000 in today’s money]. An important and exceedingly rare document in the life of Fletcher Christian, who led the famous mutiny on the Bounty and who took his fellow mutineers to Pitcairn Island where they remained – and where their descendants still live today. Fletcher’s father, a barrister, had died in 1768 when Fletcher was only four. His mother, Ann, was profligate with money, and this document bears testimony to the huge loans she took on, leading to debts in excess of &pound6,500 [equivalent to about &pound700,000 in today’s money] by 1779 – just three years after this document was drawn up. The family home – listed on this document – at Moorland Close, Eaglesfield, near Cockermouth in Cumbria, was lost and Ann, together with her three children, fled to the Isle of Man where English Creditors had no power – from the evidence of this document, Ann’s creditors included members of her own family. At the time of this document, Fletcher Christian was 12 years old, and was attending Cockermouth Free School, where one of his school mates was the poet William Wordsworth. The family debts and forced impoverished lifestyle doubtless had a crucial effect of Fletcher’s decision to go to sea – with his ultimate encounter with the fate which has made his name famous throughout history. A rare document.