Rum Rebellion
Upon his return to Sydney, Laycock discovered that the Rum Rebellion was in full-swing, and the New South Wales Corps, under the leadership of Major George Johnston, and former soldier turned pastoralist John Macarthur had enacted a military coup and had arrested Governor William Bligh. Laycock was appointed to the criminal court that tried Macarthur for his involvement in the plot, and in so doing, he became the only physical casualty of the bloodless rebellion, when he was sent to search Government House for evidence, and fell through a manhole. As a reward for his duties and his discoveries in Van Diemen's Land, Laycock was granted 500 acres (2.0 km2) of land in the Cabramatta region of southwestern Sydney, but like all officers involved in the Rum Rebellion, he had this land confiscated upon the appointment of the next Governor, Lachlan Macquarie.
On 1 June 1809 he marries Isabella Bunker, daughter of Eber Bunker Following Macquarie's arrival, the newly married Laycock departed from New South Wales with wife Isabella, aboard HMS Dromedary on 18 March 1810, sailing for England.
Read more about this topic: Thomas Laycock
Famous quotes containing the words rum and/or rebellion:
“There’s nought, no doubt, so much the spirit calms
As rum and true religion.”
—George Gordon Noel Byron (1788–1824)
“Men must be capable of imagining and executing and insisting on social change if they are to reform or even maintain civilization, and capable too of furnishing the rebellion which is sometimes necessary if society is not to perish of immobility.”
—Rebecca West (1892–1983)