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Program of Events

The Committee has decided to revert to holding our general meetings in the evening (7pm for a 7.30pm start unless otherwise stated) and after April to try a new venue, Heritage House in South Perth (map and directions in the April edition of the Newsletter) Please bring a plate for supper.

Monday 10 February 2014 at 6pm – BYO Picnic at Wireless Hill

Monday 10 March 2014 – AGM at St Michael’s Church Hall, Mt Pleasant

Monday 12 May 2014 – ‘Nelson’s Captains Continued’ Mike Sargeant, Heritage House

Monday 14 July 2014 - 5.30pm visit to Exhibition of Freycinet Maps at State Library

Monday 8 September 2014 - Interview with Emma Hamilton Betty Foster & Gillian Mead. HH.

Friday 17 October 2014 – Trafalgar Lunch at RAAFA, Booragoon

Sunday 19 October 2014 — 3pm Memorial Service at St George’s Cathedral (TBC)

Friday 7 November 2014 – Pickle Night at RAAFA, Booragoon

Monday 24 November 2014 – DVD of talk by Graham Perkins “ Emma Hamilton Famous or Infamous” at Gwen Phillip’s home 4 Carroll St, Ardross.

The Nelson Society of Australia Inc.

Newsletter

January 2014

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Pickle Night Dinner 2013

Mike Sargeant our president presents a

Nelson Society Trafalgar medal to David

Scott in appreciation for his being our

bugler at our Trafalgar Day Commemora-

tions Services over the years.

Our Secretary, Richard Savage took the opportunity of the occasion to present a

silver replica of Nelson’s Chelengk to his friend and fellow Committee

Member, Gillian Mead. The original Cherengk was given by the Sultan of

Turkey to Nelson after the Battle of the Nile. It was eventually donated to Green-

wich Museum where in 1950 it was stolen and broken up. A number of copies

have been recently produced and made available for purchase by the public.

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“ THE LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT AND THE CODICILS OF LORD HORATIO NELSON”

St Michael’s Church Hall, Applecross, WA 9 September 2013

by ROBERT K O’CONNOR QC

The executors of the Will were Nelson’s brother William (a minister of religion) and William Haslewood, the principal of the firm of solicitors who prepared the Will. Nelson started off the Will by saying that if he died in England he wished to be buried at the parish church at Burnham Thorpe, unless the King or the Government decided that he should be buried elsewhere. If he were to be buried at Burnham Thorpe it was to be done in as private manner as possible. This shows two conflicting sides to the question whether Nelson was vain. It could be said that Nelson was vain in that he foresaw what actually happened, ie. that the decision would be taken that Nelson would be buried at St Paul’s Cathedral in one of the biggest funerals ever held in London. Or it could show that Nelson was not vain in that he stated that a funeral at Burnham Thorpe was to be

as private as possible.

The Will made the following provisions for the following

persons.

* 100 pounds to the Poor of the parishes of Burnham Thorpe, Sutton and Norton, all in the County of Norfolk, one-third to each, and to be divided at the discretion of the

curates and ministers.

*To Lady Emma Hamilton, his Diamond Star, and the silver cup which Emma had presented to him. Also his land etc at Merton and up to 70 acres of his land etc in the parishes of Merton, Wimbledon and Mitcham as selected

by Emma.

*To his brother Rev William Nelson, the gold box presented to him by the City of London, and the gold sword presented to him by the Captains who fought with

him in the Nile.

* To his sister Catherine Matcham, the sword presented to

him by the City of London.

* To his sister Susannah Bolton, the silver cup presented

to him by the Turkey Company.

* To Alexander Davison, his Turkish gun and canteen.

* To Captain Thomas Hardy, all his telescopes

and tea glasses, and 100 pounds.

* To each Executor, 100 pounds.

*To his brother William and William Haslewood (Executors), all the residue of his goods, chattels and personal estate except the household goods in his house at Merton as at his death and also except his diamond sword and jewels otherwise bequeathed and any other articles disposed of by a codicil, and to hold these on trust with the following directions. The executors as soon as possible were to

A. INTRODUCTION

The reason why I have chosen this topic is that I have read and heard that Lord Horatio Nelson had stated in his Will that he wished the British Government to pay a pension to his mistress Lady Emma Hamilton but that the Government had not done so, and Emma had died a pauper. I wondered why Nelson had not himself provided for Emma in his Will. This talk sets out

what is revealed by a study of Nelson’s Will and Codicils. A r e m a r k a b l e f e a t u r e o f Nelson’s Last W i l l a n d Testament is that it consists of o n l y o n e paragraph. But

before you form the view that the Will will therefore be very easy to comprehend, I hasten to add that that one paragraph is 15 pages long!!! Fortunately, there are full stops and

separate sentences in the paragraph.

Nevertheless, the Will was prepared by solicitors and written in the legalese language of 210 years ago and is not easy to read. Furthermore, Nelson’s Will was added to at various times by eight Codicils. It is necessary to examine them also, so as to ascertain the full picture as to the contents of Nelson’s testamentary provisions when he died on 21 October 1805 at

Trafalgar.

B. PUBLISHED WILL AND CODICILS

The position is assisted by the fact that, for the purpose of having Nelson’s Will proved in the House of Commons on 23 December 1805 by his Executors, an abstract of his Will and

Codicils was prepared, and this has been published.

Nelson’s Will and eight Codicils have been published in The Despatches and Letters of Vice Admiral Lord Viscount Nelson With Notes by Sir Nicholas Harris Nicolay, Volume 7, published in 1846 by Henry Colburn, at pages ccxxi to ccxl of the Addenda. The Abstract is published in at least two places: The Gentleman’s Magazine, Volume 76, March 1806, at pages 276 to 279, and in Biographical Memoirs of Lord Viscount Nelson With Observations Critical and Explanatory, by John Charnock, at pages 347 to 350.

Strangely, the Abstract does not mention the second Codicil.

C. WILL

Nelson’s Will was made on 10 May 1803, 2 ½ years before his death. The solicitors who prepared it were Booth and Haslewood. Its execution was witnessed by three law clerks of

the law firm.

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convert the personal estate into money and to the money and any other money held as at his death into 3% Consolidated Bank Annuities to earn dividends and interest which would pro-duce the clear yearly sum of 1,000 pounds to his wife Fanny. This was to be in addition to any earlier provisions he had given

to Fanny and the 4,000 pounds which he had recent-ly given to Fanny. The 1,000 pounds per annum was to be in lieu of and in satisfaction of all power and right of title of dower. If the annual in-come from the Annuities was less than 1,000 pounds, the shortfall was to be made up out of his barony, town and lands in Farther Sicily. After Fanny’s death, the 1,000 pounds was to be divided between his brother William and his sisters Su-

sannah and Catherine If the government pension of 1,000 pounds payable to him was to continue but as payable to Fan-ny, then the provision in his Will providing for the 1,000 pounds annuity to Fanny from the funds vested in the Consolidated Bank Annuities shall be void. His brother and sisters, or their

descendants, were to be the residuary beneficiaries.

D. FIRST CODICIL

The first Codicil was made on 13 May 1803, only three days after the Will was made. It provided that instead of Emma taking the fee simple of the land etc at Merton and the up to 70 acres of Nelson’s lands etc in the parishes at Merton, Wimbledon and Mitcham, she would take only a life interest in those lands etc and after her death the lands etc would form part of Nelson’s

residuary estate.

E. SECOND CODICIL

The second Codicil was made on 6 September 1803. It left 4,000 pounds to Horatia, to be invested by Emma so that the interest earned on it could be paid to Emma for Horatia’s education and maintenance. Emma was to be the sole guardian of Horatia until Horatia reached 18 years of age. Emma was to guide Horatia on the paths to religion and virtue. Nelson expressed his wish that his nephew Horatio Nelson would marry Horatia. Nelson said in the Codicil that the legacies in his will and Codicils were to be paid from his personal estate only, and not from his real estates in the United Kingdom and Farther

Sicily.

G. THIRD CODICIL

The document treated as the third Codicil was a letter of 6 September 2013 written by Nelson to his solicitor Haslewood. It provides that if the legacy of 4,000 pounds provided to Horatia in the second Codicil or any other legacies were unable to be met from Nelson’s personal estate, then he “would saddle” Bronte or any other estates with the legacies (thus changing the provision in the Will which said that they were to come from his

personal estate only).

G. FOURTH CODICIL

The fourth Codicil was made on 19 th February 1804. It said that Emma was to receive 500 pounds every six months for the term of her life from rents paid on Nelson’s land at Bronte in Sicily. If the Bronte land was disposed of by his Will, then “I declare this as a Codicil to my said Will, and it is my intent…that the above net sum should be paid to the said Emma

Hamilton’s I have before wrote”.

I presume that this means that the codicil overrode the provision in the Will which provided for the disposal of the

land at Bronte and it could not be sold.

H. FIFTH CODICIL

The fifth Codicil was made on 7 April 1894. It provided for 100 pounds per annum to the widow of his brother Maurice. Nelson stated that, if his estate did not have the means to pay the legacy, he trusts that it will be paid by his friend Alexander Davison and that he will pay it

quarterly as it was paid at that time by Nelson.

I. SIXTH CODICIL

In his sixth Codicil made on 19 December 1804, Nelson left 2,000 pounds to Emma, 100 pounds to his secretary John Scott to buy a ring or some other remembrance, and 200 pounds to Alexander John Scott. He also requested that his secretary John Scott and Captain Hardy take care of his papers and effects for his

Executors.

J. SEVENTH CODICIL

In his seventh Codicil of 11 September1805 Nelson left to Emma all the hay at Merton and on his lands in the parish

of Wimbledon.

K. EIGHTH CODICIL

Nelson’s eighth Codicil was made on 21 October 1805”in sight of the combined fleets of France and Spain, distant about ten miles”. He referred to Emma’s “eminent services [which]… have been of the very greatest service to our King and Country to my knowledge, without her

receiving any reward from either our King or Country.”

Nelson stated two instances to justify those words of praise. “First, that she obtained in 1796 the King of Spain’s letter to his brother the King of Naples, acquainting him of his intention to declare war against England from which letter the Ministry then sent out orders to then Sir John Jervis to strike a stroke, if opportunity offered, against either the Arsenals of Spain or her Fleets; that neither of those was done is not the fault of Lady Hamilton, the opportunity might have been

offered

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”The British Fleet under my command could never have returned the second time to Egypt had not Lady Hamilton’s influence with the Queen of Naples caused letters to be wrote (sic) to the Governor of Syracuse, that he was to encourage the Fleet being supplied with everything, should they put into any Port in Sicily; we put into Syracuse and received every

supply, went to Egypt, and destroyed the French Fleet.”

Nelson then wrote: "I leave Emma Hamilton therefore a legacy to my King and Country, that they will give her an ample provision to maintain her rank in life. I also leave to the beneficence of my Country my adopted daughter Horatia Nelson Thompson. These are the only favours I ask of my King and Country at the moment when I am going to fight

their Battle.”

On the other hand, it is noteworthy that Nelson did not put his requests regarding Emma and Horatia until the very day of his death. He was only 10 miles away from the scene of his death. The requests were not made in his Will or any of the seven previous codicils. Nelson cited only two specific reasons why his requests should be granted and one of them had not actually had any beneficial result in that the opportunity to strike against the Arsenals of Spain or her fleets had not arisen. My own view is that the two reasons given did not justify the grant of a government pension to Emma for life. It should also be realised that Nelson’s request was made 208 years ago, at a time when pensions to families of serving officers who died in the service of their Country were not what they are now. Even today, there are complaints that welfare payments to widows and families of soldiers who die in Afghanistan are insufficient and inadequate.

Nelson provided generously to his wife Fanny in his Will.

.M. EXTENT TO WHICH NELSON PROVIDED FOR EMMA

Contrary to the impression that I had before I researched for this Paper, Nelson also provided well for Emma in his Will and his other Codicils. As pointed out earlier, he bequeathed

to her the following-

1. A life interest in his house and lands etc at Merton and the

furniture etc in the house at Merton;

2. A life interest in the income from 70 acres of Nelson’s land etc in the parishes of Merton, Wimbledon and

Mitcham;

3. An annuity of 1,000 pounds per annum from deposits in Consolidated Bank Annuities with a provision that any shortfall from that source would be made up from in

come from his lands;

4. His Diamond Star;

5. His silver cup which Emma had presented to him;

6. All the hay on his property at Merton and in the parish at

Wimbledon;

7. 500 pounds every six months; and 2,000 pounds.

How Emma came to die a pauper is not a matter for

discussion in this Paper and is a separate topic.

******

Members of the Nelson Society of Australia gathered at the time capsule at St Michael's Church, Mt Pleasant at 11 am on Sunday 5th January to commemorate the Funeral of Lord Nelson on 9th January 1806. Those present were the president of the NSA, Mr Michael Sargeant, Vice President Mr B o b W o o l l e t t , S e c r e t a r y M r Richard Savage, Committee Member Ms Gillian Mead, Treasurer Mr John Lyall, Mrs Cynthia Lyall, Committee Member and Flag Bearer, Mr John Caskey, Committee Member Mr Rob O'Connor QC, Ms Jenny Wakelam and Committee Member Ms Gwen Phillips. The new vicar of St Michael's, Rev Pamela Turner, made the group welcome. Speakers were Mr Savage and Mr Sargeant. Mr Savage gave a preamble to the events leading up to the funeral of Lord Nelson and Mr Sargeant read Nelson's Prayer. All then enjoyed lunch at the Terrazza

Restaurant on Kearns Cres A p p l e c r o s s , fo l lowed by c o f f e e a n d icecreams at Gelare Icecream Shop nearby. Gwen Phillips.

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Trafalgar Day Lunch 2013

A very successful and enjoyable Trafalgar Day Luncheon was held in the Wings Room at The RAAF Association Village

Booragoon on Friday October 18th. Some thirty members and guests attended the function and it was particularly pleasing that

our venerable Life President, Graham Perkins was able to make the journey up from Erskine and join us for the occasion. Before

proposing the Toast to the Immortal Memory Vice Chairman Bob Woollett, gave a brief talk on the origins of the tradition, starting

with the private and informal gatherings in the ‘Ship Inn’ at Greenwich and the ‘Green Man’ at Blackheath in the years after 1805

through to a dinner hosted by Captain John Pascoe on board the ‘Victory’ at Portsmouth in 1846, by which time the toast seems

to have been in general use at Trafalgar Day Celebrations throughout the nation.

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In my research on this aspect of the life of Horatio, Lord

Nelson, I was truly amazed at how much he fitted into his 47

years. I was not able to trace his every Christmas but I will

comment on some, coming at critical times in his life. Being

the son of a vicar was fundamental to his sincere

observation of this Church festival

but being such an incredibly

driven individual also led to his

having experienced some unique

Christmas experiences .

Nelson was born on September

29th 1758 at Burnham on Thorpe,

a village on the east coast of

Norfolk. His father Edmund was

the vicar and Horatio was the

third son of eight children in the

parsonage. In Georgian times,

Christmas would have been

based on Church going and

feasting. In the Nelson household there was little to spare and

certainly no encouragement to any form of excess but they

would have had a Yule log, supposed to burn on until

Epiphany, 6th January. There were few gifts, but certainly alms

for the poor. Horatio’s childhood memory of Christmas would

have been sadly affected by the death of his mother,

Catherine, on 26th December 1767, when he was nine years

old.

His father Edmund Nelson drew on the strength of his family

ties to deal with his motherless family, especially his late wife’s

brother Captain Maurice Suckling. He brought the excitement

of uniforms and swords and stories of the sea to the boys as

well as the promise to help his brother-in-law and it was at

Christmas time in 1770 that Horace (as he liked to call himself)

read in the “Norfolk Chronicle” that the Admiralty was calling

captains from retirement. Britain and Spain were squabbling

over the possession the Falkland Islands. Horatio got his older

brother William to write to their father (who was away at Bath),

asking to join his uncle and to be taken to sea. Subsequently,

Captain Suckling took the twelve year old lad on his ship, the

Raissonable.

From 1784-7, Nelson was in the West Indies. Work was

uppermost in his mind as he sought to enforce the Navigation

Act but Christmas of 1786 would have been quite social for

him as he was in the constant company of the energetic and

autocratic Prince William. It is not impossible that, on Nevis,

during these years he may have witnessed the curious local

Christmas tradition of “blazzarding”. Small troupes of 5 or 6

men, in costumes with one dressed as a woman would

perform skits, using props

and accompanied by string

bands. These skits would

be performed in the streets,

m a k i n g s a t i r i c a l

commentary on events of

the day. If about a promi-

nent person, they might

even have performed in

the person’s front garden!

In March 1787 the now

Captain Nelson married

Frances Nesbitt, returning

to England later that year.

His first Christmas with Fanny was spent in London with her

relations, the Herberts. On his ship the Boreas he had

brought back many gifts of wine, dessert fruit, rum and nuts,

most of which, ironically, he smuggled in, unable to afford the

high cost of customs. Some of these gifts went to his maternal

relations, Lord and Lady Walpole at Wolterton in Norfolk who

received the Nelsons in December 1788. The following five

years were spent quietly at Burnham Thorpe. He was aware

that while his brothers’ and sisters’ families grew, he and his

wife had no children. In December 1792, he was offered a

ship, and by January 26th he was “fixed for the Agamemnon”.

In 1793 Nelson met the Hamiltons at Naples. He was thirty

five, Emma was 28 and Sir William, the Ambassador to

Naples was 63 years old. Christmas saw Nelson at Livorno on

the Agamemnon hearing tales of French revolutionary horrors

from people escaping from Toulon. One of these, M Ronicet,

was to become assistant Surgeon on the Theseus, where

Nelson’s arm was amputated several years later. In July 1794

his right eye was damaged but in September he was still at

sea, blockading off Elba and Corsica while the Suckling family

in Hampstead celebrated his birthday with “a couple of

geese”. Since he would not be home for Christmas, Nelson

sent two hundred pounds to his father to be spent on comforts

for the poor of Burnham Thorpe in the form of “50 good large

Nelson and Christmas Talk given by Gwen Phillips at the Pickle Night Dinner 2013

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blankets”. He said that he thought “a large N could be woven

in the centre”.

His Christmas of 1797 was not looking good. He had lost his

arm on 24th July and suffered badly from a trapped nerve

following the amputation. Silk ligatures had been tied to arteries

and nerves but one of these obstinately held its position. His

stump was swollen and hot and he was in constant pain. He

obtained advice from several doctors but another operation to

cut into the stump was very risky and not advised. However, on

the morning of 8th December, he awoke having slept well and

was free of pain. The ligature holding the nerve came away,

giving him much relief. He immediately wrote to the clergyman

of the church of St George, Hanover Square.

“An Officer desires to return thanks to Almighty God for his

perfect recovery from a severe wound and also for many

mercies bestowed upon him, December 8th for next Sunday.”

He was able to attend the service of thanksgiving for naval

victories in St Paul’s Cathedral on 19th December,

accompanying the flags of Spanish ships captured at the

Battle of St Vincent. He was 39 years old, bearing the title of

Rear Admiral Sir Horatio Nelson and looking forward to his fine

ship, the Vanguard. His Christmas spent at Bath with his wife

and father must indeed have been a very satisfactory one.

On Christmas Day 1798, the Vanguard was in sight of

Palermo with the Royal Family of Naples and Sir William and

Lady Hamilton on board. It had been a traumatic crossing from

Naples during which Sir William held two pistols to his head,

preferring to die that way than drown. Nelson, himself terribly

sea sick, had noticed Emma Hamilton’s courage in dealing with

the wild weather and the death of one of the Royal children. He

sent a somewhat ironic note to the party inviting them to dinner

for “as merry a Christmas as circumstances will admit.”

If he had arrived at Palermo before Dec 24th he may have

witnessed a blind singer with his violin, led about the streets of

Palermo and accompanied by a guitarist. The blind singer

would sing a novena-quite a long carol-like song. At the end of

the novena all would proceed inside the house and kneel

before a Nativity scene. He would then sing of his need to be

paid both in food and money. It seems that blindness in

children was quite prevalent where parents were affected by

syphilis. There were institutions to train these children and

playing music and singing would have been a way to earn a

living. Sometimes boys became castrati in these places.

In December 1800 Nelson returned to London from Palermo

and Naples accompanied by Sir William and Lady Hamilton. He

had greeted his wife Fanny coldly and had to bear her misery

as well as society gossip about the obviously pregnant Emma

Hamilton. As he ended his marriage, Nelson felt the chill wind

of high society.

The King refused to admit Emma to court and the only people

who associated with them were “society outsiders, like the

Prince Augustus who had unwisely married Lady Augusta

Murray, and Foreigners.” For Christmas, he was invited to

the estate of William Beckford, the dilettante second cousin of

Sir William., and godson of William Pitt the Elder, at Fonthill

Splendens, a Palladian mansion near Salisbury in Wiltshire.

At the age of 10, Beckford had been left an enormous fortune

on the death of his father, a West Indian plantation owner and

twice Lord Mayor of London. He was the richest commoner in

England. He had amassed a wonderful collection of paintings

and antiques, no doubt of great Interest to Sir William

Hamilton. Beckford was also hoping to involve Sir William in a

financial scheme whereby somehow he would attain a

peerage. He assured Lady Hamilton that they would enjoy “a

few comfortable days of repose-uncontaminated by the sight

and prattle of drawing room parasites”. This was certainly true

as William Beckford himself was a complete social outcast.

He had spent 10 years abroad as a result of a homosexual

scandal but had returned and was creating a huge Gothic

building to rival Salisbury Cathedral based on a Swiss

monastery he had visited. Nelson and the Hamiltons were

there to celebrate the opening of Fonthill Abbey. They were

the most prominent visitors to ever attend his house, which

was fenced around by a twelve feet high, eight mile long wall.

Lady Hamilton’s mother Mrs Cadogan was invited but not

Lady Nelson who spent a gloomy Christmas in London with

her father in law. Nelson however still had the hearts of the

people.

On 19th December the tria juncta in uno set off and spent the

night at the Star and Garter in Andover. On the border of

Wiltshire, Yeomen Cavalry escorted them into Salisbury. The

Mayor and Corporation presented Nelson with the freedom

of the city and they sat down to lunch. Nelson left twenty

pounds for the poor.

The sight of Nelson, thin and mutilated, was a shock to many

but he was soon cheered by two sailors, possibly old

Agamemnons. One had lost his right arm and the other

claimed to have been at his lordship’s amputation. He waved

a piece of lace taken from Nelson’s shirt to prove it. They

were both rewarded with a guinea.

As they drove on to Fonthill, fog descended The carriage

proceeded silently over damp leaves until they saw the

orange glow of torches glistening on a Gothic archway. (This

gatehouse still exists, unlike the bulk of the Abbey). A salute

was fired as they approached the house under a dripping

canopy of trees. They were then accompanied by a military

escort and a thirty piece band playing Rule Brittania. The

door to the house was opened to them by Beckford’s

Portuguese dwarf, the effect being to increase the height of

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the huge doorway. Their 42 year old host waited on top of the

great steps, looking like a dissolute choirboy, according to

one writer. Dinner was then served and during dessert Lady

Hamilton and Madame Brigida Banti, (an opera singer whose

voice was even louder than Emma’s) sang God Save the

King and Rule Brittania followed by duets by the ladies.

Beckford had invited a large group of guests including

Benjamin West, an American painter soon to be the

President of the Royal Academy. He also employed large

numbers of youthful man servants. For a few days the

guests wandered around the house and gardens. Dinner took

up afternoons and the evenings were spent with cards,

singing and conversations. One of these outings was

definitely not to Nelson’s taste when during a drive in

Beckford’s phaeton he asked to be set down, feeling alarmed

and giddy. One wonders what really occurred to upset

Nelson so much.

After dinner on 23rd December the guests entered their

carriages and drove through lantern lit woods to the abbey

which unfinished, already looked like a ruin. They entered the

great hall then processed into the “Cardinal’s parlour”, a large

room hung with purple damask and lit by silver

sconces. In the fireplace were burning pine cones. Servants

in hooded robes took their cloaks and hats. They then

passed into the Library whose hangings were yellow and in

between book shelves (Beckford had bought Edward

Gibbon’s entire library) were candle lit shrines containing

religious statues and reliquaries. Solemn music was playing

and guests sat down at an enormous table covered with

golden and silver baskets of fruit and sweetmeats and

flagons of spiced wine.

When all were seated, Emma appeared like a ghost from the

end of the room dressed in a white robe and carrying a

golden urn. She acted out the role of Agrippina begging for

vengeance for the death of her husband Germanicus whose

ashes were held in the urn. Apparently the performance

provoked tears in her audience and according to one

member, “she should be rated with the greatest actresses of

the English stage”. As an encore, Emma returned with two

young ladies, perhaps Beckford’s daughters, to act out a

laughable scenario of an abbess receiving two nuns into a

convent. The performance finished at 11 pm. The company

was surely distasteful for Nelson yet the pleasure loving side

of him would have enjoyed the decadent splendour of this

remarkable few days. He “detested poets, fiddlers and

scoundrels” and there seems to have been no church

attendance involved in this celebration. The whole

atmosphere would have truly been like something from

Saturnalia. Beckford formed a negative opinion of Emma

saying she was “artful, affecting sensibility where she felt

none. She would make him (Nelson) believe anything, he was

her dupe.” But then Beckford’s taste was not for women.

( Beckford was however one of the invited visitors to Merton

before Nelson’s departure to Trafalgar in 1805). The party

departed the next day, 26th December.

On the 1st day of the New Year, Nelson was promoted to Vice

Admiral of the Blue. His flagship was to be the San Josef, one

of the prizes taken at the battle of St Vincent. On his way to

the ship at Plymouth, by way of Exeter, he visited the widow

of one of his band of brothers, Captain George Wescott who

had been killed at the Battle of the Nile. Upon hearing that she

had not received her husband’s gold medal, he took his own

from his neck and gave it to her. It is typical of Nelson that the

public display of vanity perceived by others overlay a warm

heart and sincere care for the less fortunate. He was on board

the San Josef on 16th January.

On the 29th January 1801 Emma gave birth to Horatia,

a wonderful late Christmas gift for him. The Christmas of 1801

and 1802 was spent at Merton, the house that he had bought

near Wimbledon. He was “a little man unremarkable in his

plain dark suit” wrote one visitor. Sir William Hamilton found

the comings and goings at Merton something to endure. He

was “aggrieved that his last days should not pass off

agreeably and comfortably.” But it was his presence which

allowed Emma and Nelson to be together. The house was full

of people coming and going, full of Emma rushing about and

pressing food and presents on them and full of Nelson

trophies and portraits and pictures of battles. His father

commented that Nelson was indeed happy. 1802 was his last

Christmas at home, surrounded by his family and some

visitors.

Christmas 1803 and 1804 were both years spent at sea doing

the remarkable and persistent work of locating and tracking

the French fleet. He ate his Christmas dinner in 1803 on

board Victory off Toulon. Emma was in the last stages of

another pregnancy; the baby was probably born in February

but died soon afterwards. She received letters and presents

from Nelson sent in January, a beautiful small French watch

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The Nelson Society of Australia Inc

Patron: Commodore David J Orr. RAN (Ret’d ) Honorary Life President: Graham Perkins

COMMITTEE 2013-2014 Chairman: Mike Sargeant

Vice Chairman: Bob Woollett Secretary Richard Savage Treasurer/Membership Secretary John Lyall Minutes Secretary Gillian Mead Members: Gwen Phillips and Rob O’Connor

OTHER POSITIONS Newsletter: Betty Foster, (editor), Bob Woollett,

(assistant editor) Rob O'Connor, (photos) Nelson Dispatch Distribution: Gwen Phillips SUBCOMMITTEES Memorial Service: Richard Savage (Chair), Gwen Phillips . Bob Woollett

Any enquiries ring Richard Savage 9310 6365

Pickle Night: Bob Woollett, (coordinator)

Betty Foster and John Caskey

Reception: Cynthia and John Lyall

CaterIng: Volunteers required

set with pearls, a chain and seals attached, a comb and other

presents, including a letter for Horatia enclosing a lock of his

hair and a one pound note to buy a locket to put it in. In late

August, 1804 he wrote to Emma that he hoped to eat his

Christmas dinner at Merton. He sent one hundred pounds to

the spendthrift Emma for her present, a trifle to the servants

and something for the poor of Merton.

He had pterygiums on both eyes caused by exposure to ultra

violet light. Mr Beatty the Surgeon encouraged him to wear a

green eye shade but this was of little value when he persisted

in standing in the Mediterranean glare looking through a

telescope for a fleet which refused to be found. His permission

to return home eventually came on Christmas Day but he took

the chance to reconnoitre at Toulon and by January 19th the

French fleet was spotted out at sea heading towards the south.

Thus began the long chase of the French fleet to the West

Indies and back. Nelson had instructed Dr Scott his chaplain on

one of his trips to Barcelona to make a bid for a large store of

church plate and vestments advertised in a Spanish

newspaper.

As the fleet quitted Agincourt Sound on the Sardinian coast on

the afternoon of 19th January, 1805 where many times

Nelson’s ships had been given assistance, churches in the little

towns were in possession of personally signed letters, church

vestments and relics, testifying to Nelson’s pious gratitude.

As foretold by a West Indian clairvoyant, there was nothing past

1805 for him.. His body was brought back to England on the

Main Sources

Bradford, Ernle 1977 Nelson the Essential Hero

London McMillan

Callo, Joseph 2003 Nelson in the Caribbean Annapo-

lis Naval Institute Press

Hibbert, Christopher 1994 Nelson A Personal History

London Penguin Books

Oman, Carola 1950 Nelson London The Reprint So-

ciety

Russell, Jack 1969 Nelson and the Hamiltons London

Anthony Blond

Sugden, John 2004 The Dream of Glory London Jon-

athan Cape

Sugden, John 2012 The Sword of Albion London

Bodley Head

,

Internet Norton Ricktor The Fool of Fonthill

December 8th 1805 for his funeral on 9th January 1806,

surely the saddest and most memorable Christmas

season of all for his family and the nation. He had concerns

about spending another winter at sea and knew his eye-

sight was deteriorating.