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The life of
Horatio Nelson
Early Years: 1758-1771
Life
at Sea: 1771-1797
A
Man of History: 1793-1805
 1744:
Nelson's father, Edmund, graduated from Caius College,
Cambridge, and took a curacy at Beccles
1749: Marries Catherine Suckling, the daughter
of the late Rector of Woodton and Barsham and great
niece of Sir Robert Walpole of Houghton Hall.
1755: Appointed Rector of Burnham Thorpe. All
Saints church, where Nelson was christened, is pictured.
Brothers and sisters
Edmund - died in infancy
Horatio - died in infancy
Maurice - born 1753, clerk in the Navy Office
William - succeeded to the living of Burnham
Thorpe on his father's death. Became Canon of Canterbury,
made a peer after Trafalgar.
Horatio - born 1758
| After
Horatio's mother died in 1767, her daughter Susannah
said she had 'bred herself to death'. |
Anne
Edmund - born 1762, died aged 28 of consumption
Suckling - born 1764, became Rector of Burnham
Sutton
George - died in infancy
Susannah - who married a coal and corn merchant,
Thomas Bolton of Wells, and whose son, also Thomas,
succeeded to the Nelson title in 1835
Catherine
The
Early Years, 1758-71
1758
Horatio was born in the now demolished rectory that
stood near to the site of the present one at Burnham
Thorpe, although some say he was born at the Shooting
Box on Creake Road as the rectory was being redecorated.
Born seven weeks prematurely, he was baptised within
hours of being born as it was thought he would not live.
Boxing
Day 1767
Nelson's mother died on Boxing Day 1767. Nelson, then
nine, was sent away to school at Downham Market, then
to the Norwich School, and finally to Paston Grammar
School at North Walsham.
1770
"What
has poor Horatio done, who is so weak, that he above
all the rest should be sent to rough it at sea?
But let him come and the first time we go into action
a cannon-ball may knock off his head"
Suckling's comments on getting Nelson's application |
At the age of 12, Nelson read in the Norwich Mercury
that his mother's brother, Maurice Suckling, had been
appointed to the Raisonnable, a 60-gun ship captured
from the French.
Spring 1771
Horatio left for the Raisonnable, as 'captain's servant'.
He accompanied his father to London and was there put
on the Chatham stage. On its arrival he was left to
find his own way on board as best he could.
Life
At Sea, 1771-97
1771
Horatio spent less than a year on the Raisonnable, off
the Medway. After war with Spain was averted, the crew
was paid off and Nelson went to sea on a West Indiaman,
under John Rathbone.
He came back a better sailor, but with a dislike of
the Royal Navy, which had a code of brutality, bullying
and flogging.
Nelson also served under Suckling on the Triumph, a
guardship at Chatham, where he learned the difficult
pilotage of the Thames estuary.
April
1773
| Nelson
and a companion set off on a reckless pursuit of
a polar bear. He ignored a signal to return to the
ship, although his musket misfired and his ammunition
was spent. Only when the bear was frightened away
by a gun fired from the Carcass did he return -
to a reprimand. His reply: "Sir, I wished to kill
the bear that I might carry his skin to my father."
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Nelson joined the Carcass as Captain's coxswain on
an Arctic expedition to discover a orth-East Passage.
For the next thirteen years, Nelson sailed on a
number of ships, in the East and West Indies, America
and the North Sea, slowly climbing the promotional ladder.
January 1780
Nelson led an expedition against the inland
Spanish Fort San Juan, Nicaragua. In the report of the
action, it was said that he was "first on every service,
whether by day or night."
December 1787
The Boreas, which Nelson captained, was paid off. He
returned to England with his new wife, Mrs Frances Nisbet,
widow of a doctor on the West Indian island of Nevis,
and her young son, Josiah. For five years Nelson showered
the Admiralty with letters for a new command - to no
avail.
January 30 1793
At the outbreak of the French Revolutionary War, Nelson
was given the Agamemnon (64 guns) to sail in the Mediterranean.
On August 27 he arrived at Naples, where he met Sir
William and Lady Hamilton.
July 12 1794
Loses sight of right eye at Siege of Calvi.
April 4 1796
Appointed Commodore 2nd Class.
June 11, 1796
Transfers to HMS Captain.
Aug 11, 1796
Commodore 1st Class.
Feb
14, 1797
The Battle of St. Vincent - Nelson's first
great battle.
Nelson gambled by disobeying orders - and got away with
it. The battle was won.
Story
of the battle
At this time Nelson was made Rear Admiral of the Blue.
July 24 1797
Nelson is shot in the right arm in an ill-fated attack
on Santa Cruz de Teneriffe. His step-son Josiah Nisbet
helped save his life by stemming the flow of blood.
The arm had to be amputated at the elbow.
A
Man Of History, 1798-1805
On land the revolutionary French armies were victorious,
but Britain still ruled the waves. Nelson proved that
old-style sea battles, formal and indecisive, could
be transformed into raging melees, with victory going
to the boldest.
April 1798
In April 1798 Nelson, on Vanguard, sailed for the Mediterranean
to find and attack Napoleon's fleet...
August
1 1798
Battle of the Nile: For the first time, Napoleon
was dealt a reverse. After the English victory King
George III made Nelson a peer: he was now Lord Nelson
of the Nile and Burnham Thorpe.
Story
of the battle
September 22 1798
Returns to Naples, begins affair with Lady Hamilton,
amid the opulent surroundings of the court - avoiding
a return to sea or to England.
June 26 1799
Newly-promoted to Rear Admiral of the Red, Nelson wins
back Naples from French forces and local Jacobins. Created
Duke of Brontė in Sicily by King Ferdinand of Naples.
June
1800
Leaves for England with the Hamiltons, travelling overland
via Vienna and Prague, arriving at Yarmouth on November
6. The scandal of his affair means tha polite society
is cool towards him - but the public love him.
February 1801
Now a Vice-Admiral of the Blue, he is made Second-in-Command
of the Baltic Squadron. Daughter Horatia born in secret
to Lady Hamilton.
April 2 1801
The Battle of Copenhagen: Under heavy bombardment
from the Danes, commander Sir Hyde Parker flew the flag
to withdraw. Nelson refused. 'Leave off action! Now
damn me if I do.' And raising his telescope to his blind
eye, he said: 'I really do not see the signal'. A truce
was negotiated, and Nelson made Commander-in-Chief.
March 1802
Settles at Merton in Surrey with the Hamiltons.
April 6 1803
Death of Sir William Hamilton.
May 16 1803
Commander-in-Chief Mediterranean forces, aboard Victory
(100 guns).
Sept 15
1805
Having learnt that the French and Spanish fleet was
in Cadiz, Nelson sailed from Portsmouth for the Cape
of Trafalgar . . .
Story
of the battle of Trafalgar
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