John Fryer was the sailing master on HMS Bounty and was second-in-command to Lieutenant William Bligh. HMS Bounty was classed by the Royal Navy as cutter, so although still a warship, she was too small to be commanded by a Captain.
She had originally been a private merchant ship and was purchased by the Royal Navy and refitted to carry four cannon and ten swivel guns. She was also without a detachment of Royal Marines, who would have usually provided a means of security to the commander in charge. Bounty departed England in December of 1787. The mutiny which made her famous occurred in April of 1789. Fryer was no friend to Bligh nor the mutiny leader Fletcher Christian, but he did remain loyal and became one of the 19 men cast adrift following the mutiny.
He survived the journey back to safety and although Bligh’s account of the mutiny vilified Fryer, he would give a fair account of the incident at Bligh’s court martial in 1792. Fryer remained in the Royal Navy until 1812, when he retired to Wells.
He died in 1817 and was buried here. The
plaque in the graveyard is modern and his original headstone is preserved in
the porch of the church.
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