William McCoy | |
|---|---|
| Born | c.1763 |
| Died | 20 April 1798 Pitcairn Islands |
| Cause of death | suicide |
| Burial place | HMAS Bounty Mutineers Gravesite Adamstown, Pitcairn Islands |
| Citizenship | Scottish |
| Occupation | Able-bodied Seaman |
William McCoy (c.1763 – 20 April 1798) was a Scottish sailor who was with Fletcher Christian on the voyage from Tahiti to Pitcairn Island, settling 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 men and the mutineers, resulting in the deaths of all the Tahitian men, Fletcher Christian (Manx), and four of the Englishmen. McCoy (Scottish) was one of the survivors.
McCoy discovered how to distill alcohol from the sweet syrup of the ti tree root. He, Matthew Quintal, and some of the women would lie around all day in a drunken stupor. On 20 April 1798, while drunk, he killed himself by tying a stone to his neck and leaping off a cliff.