Nelson

by John Sugden

  28. Logs of the Dolphin, ADM 51/259 and ADM 52/1701[2]; O. Pryce-Lewis, ‘Horatio Nelson and Simon’s Bay’; ND, 2 (1985), pp. 35–7.

  29. Pigott return, 30/8/1776, enclosed in Pigott to Stephens, 30/8/1776, ADM 1/2303.

  30. Clarke and McArthur, Life and Services, 1, p. 23. The story was told by R. W. Spencer.

  31. Suckling to Sandwich, 28/1/1777, NMM: SAN/F/10; John E. Talbott, Pen and Ink Sailor, p. 25.

  32. For the comptroller and his influence see Daniel A. Baugh, British Naval Administration, pp. 32–48; J. H. Broomfield, ‘Lord Sandwich at the Admiralty Board’; and R. J. B. Knight, ‘Sandwich, Middleton, and Dockyard Appointments’.

  33. NMM: SAN/3, pp. 39, 53; J. M. Collinge, Navy Board Officials, p. 125.

  34. Dolphin pay book, ADM 33/635.

  35. D&L, 1, p. 4.

  VI Lieutenant Nelson (pp. 107–32)

  1. Suckling to Stephens, 2/9/1771, ADM 1/2481.

  2. D&L, 1, p. 4; muster of the Worcester, ADM 36/8677.

  3. D&L, 1, p. 4.

  4. Nelson to Fanny Nelson, 18/1/1794, Monmouth MSS, E806.

  5. Robinson to Stephens, 24/10/1776, 7 and 12/12/1776, 2/4/1777, ADM 1/2390; Worcester logs, ADM 51/1085 and ADM 52/2095.

  6. Nelson to William, 20/2/1777, Add. MSS 34988.

  7. Porten to Stephens, 3/4/1777, WO 1/683.

  8. Brian Lavery, Nelson’s Navy, p. 93.

  9. James S. Clarke and John McArthur, Life and Services, 1, p. 25.

  10. Nelson’s passing certificate, 9/4/1777, ADM 107/6.

  11. Patronage book, NMM: SAN/3, p. 39; D&L, 1, p. 4; Nelson to Stephens, 11/4/1777, ADM 1/2222.

  12. Nelson to William, 14/4/1777, Add. MSS 34988.

  13. Thomas Foley, Nelson Centenary, p. 16; will of Maurice Suckling, 3/8/1774, PRO: PROB 11/1044, no. 302.

  14. Edmund Nelson mentioned the apprenticeship in his account of the family without actually identifying it: Ron C. Fiske, Notices of Nelson, p. 7. I was unable to find any references to Ann in the city of London freedom papers in the Corporation Record Office or the records of livery companies at the Guildhall Library, probably because she did not complete her apprenticeship. Her placement was finally traced through the apprentice lists in PRO: IR 1/28, and Apprentice Book 8, p. 268, Goldsmiths’ Company, London. See two articles by John Sugden, ‘Tragic or Tainted? The Mystery of Ann Nelson’ and ‘New Light on Ann Nelson’. Thanks are due to David Beasley of the Goldsmiths’ Company.

  15. Apprentice Books 7 and 8, Goldsmiths’ Company. Alice Lilly served her apprenticeship with Ann Jacquin in 1746–54. Alice’s premises were identified from London trades directories, 1769–76, especially Kent’s Directory, 1769, p. 110, and 1776, p. 112, though the proprietors are listed as A. and M. Lilly. The latter was probably Mary Lilly, a niece or cousin apprenticed to Alice in 1757. Information on London trades and Ludgate Street comes from R. Campbell, London Tradesman, and Peter Jackson, ed., John Tallis’s London Street Views, pp. 52, 293–4.

  16. Will of Maurice Suckling, 3/8/1774, PRO: PROB 11/1044, no. 302. I have not identified the second legacy Ann received, but it was not from John Norris, who left £500 to Ann’s sister, Susanna (Norris will, 26/1/1770, PRO: PROB/11/1031: no. 229).

  The story that the noted antiquary Dr William Robinson (1777–1848) was the illegitimate son of Ann Nelson and William Robinson of Tottenham (1737–1811) appears to have originated in the twentieth century with his daughter, Agnes Laetitia FitzPatrick (1820–1912), and first published in 1904. See Jessie Nelson Ward to FitzPatrick, 11/2/1902 and 3/11/1903, Madden papers, City Museum and Records Office, Portsmouth; ‘J.W.B.’, ‘Nelson’s Sister Anne’, Notes and Queries, 10th series, 1 (1904), p. 170; Notes and Queries, 9th series, 12 (1903), p. 428. The claim has no dependable foundation. Though Dr Robinson was illegitimate, and his belated baptismal entry of 10 November 1789 describes his parents as William Robinson ‘and Anne’, the mother’s surname is omitted (registers of St Luke’s Old Street, Guildhall Library, Aldermanbury, London). Moreover, neither the older nor younger William Robinson appears to have ever claimed a relationship with Ann Nelson (will of William Robinson, 3/8/1808, PRO: PROB 11/1518: no. 39; Gentleman’s Magazine, 1848, ii, p. 211; Aleck Abrahams and John Ardagh, William Robinson; and documents in Alfred Morrison, Hamilton and Nelson Papers, 2, pp. 312, 332, 335, 336). Mrs FitzPatrick had a portrait that she says John Opie had painted of Ann Nelson: not only does the painting apparently fail to identify its subject as Ann or anybody else, but she was not in London at the same time as Opie. Opie arrived in London from his native Cornwall in 1783, three or four years after Ann had left. For a full discussion see Sugden, ‘Tragic or Tainted? The Mystery of Ann Nelson’, pp. 50–4.

  17. Richard Walker, Nelson Portraits, p. 194; Nelson to Locker, 15 and 21/2/1781, D&L, 1, pp. 38, 39.

  18. Lowestoffe muster, ADM 36/10047; Locker to Stephens, 2, 28 and 29/4/1777, ADM 1/2054; Nelson to Locker, 27/9/1786, D&L, 1, p. 197; Joseph Bromwich, passing certificate, 7/8/1783, ADM 107/9; and Clarke and McArthur, Life and Services, 1, p. 25.

  19. Admiralty orders to Locker, 10/5/1777, ADM 2/102.

  20. Lowestoffe log, ADM 51/4247; Locker to Stephens, 5/7/1777, ADM 1/2054; Gayton to Stephens, 24/7/1777, ADM 1/240, pt 3. Nelson’s log is filed with that of the other lieutenant in NMM: ADM/L/L220. It covers the period 10 April 1777 to 1 July 1778, but was copied from the master’s log.

  21. Richard Vesey Hamilton, ed., Sir Thomas Byam Martin, 1, pp. 124–5; Nelson to Locker, 24/9/1784, 16/3/1785, D&L, 1, pp. 110, 127.

  22. John Charnock, Biographical Memoirs, p. 27; Patricia Richardson, ‘Captain William Locker’; and Victor Sharman, ‘Nelson’s “Sea-Daddy”’. Charnock knew Locker personally.

  23. Nelson to Locker, 9/2/1799, D&L, 3, p. 260.

  24. Brian Tunstall and Nicholas Tracy, Naval Warfare, pp. 98–9, 105, 115–16; Nicholas Tracy, Nelson’s Battles, pp. 66–70. Locker’s admiration for Hawke led him to name his third son for the admiral.

  25. Nelson to Locker, 12/8/1777, D&L, 1, p. 23.

  26. In addition to the captain’s log see the list of prizes, 1775 to 26/2/1778, ADM 1/240, pt 3.

  27. Sources for the capture of the privateer are the ship’s log for 20–21/11/1777; list of prizes up to 26/2/1778, ADM 1/240, pt 3; D&L, 1, p. 5; and Bromwich’s account in Clarke and McArthur, Life and Services, 1, pp. 27–8.

  28. Nelson to Locker, 9/2/1778, D&L, 1, p. 24, names the prize taken early in February as the Abigail, but the official list of captures (ADM 1/240, pt 3) credits the Lowestoffe with only six in the period up to 26 February: the four already mentioned, the Phoenix of South Carolina, laden with rice, and an unnamed Boston sloop with a cargo of molasses and dry goods. I have assumed the latter must have been Nelson’s Abigail. For the Swan see list of prizes, 3/3/1778 to 21/6/1778, ADM 1/241.

  29. In addition to the captain’s log see Clarke and McArthur, Life and Services, 1, p. 29.

  30. Anne Fremantle, ed., Wynne Diaries (1935–40), 2, p. 91.

  31. Nelson to his father, 24/10/1778, Add. MSS 34988; Thomas Foley, Nelson Centenary, pp. 9, 18.

  32. Lady Parker to Nelson, 15/3/1797, 29/10/1798, Add. MSS 34905, and D&L, 3, p. 83; Nelson to Parker, 21/5/1801, D&L, 4, p. 377. Later in life the positions of Sir Peter Parker and Nelson were reversed, and the latter reciprocated the early favours he had received. Acknowledging Nelson’s generosity, Sir Peter trusted that his son, Lieutenant Peter Parker, would ‘be ever mindful of your goodness to him and unparalleled friendship to me’ (Parker to Nelson, 4/2/1804, NMM: CRK/10).

  33. Bristol muster, ADM 36/8118. Joshua Doberry, Nelson’s servant on the Lowestoffe, followed him into the Bristol and Badger. Nelson’s certificate of service on the Bristol, issued by Caulfield on 20 December 1778, misdates his arrival on the flagship by a month: Nelson’s log, NMM: ADM/L/B175A.

  34. Cochrane to Chatham, 9/1/1795, ADM 1/1620; W. H. Smyth, Captain Philip Beaver.

  35. Nelson to Locker, 31/8/1778, D&L, 1, p. 24. Two masters, Abraham R
ose and Thomas Harvey, served on the Bristol during Nelson’s occupancy, and the surgeon was Archibald Bruce.

  36. Bristol log, ADM 51/137; Parker to Deane, 2/9/1778, Parker to Stephens, 9 and 24/10/1778 and 19/11/1778, all in ADM 1/241; list of prizes, 1778, ADM 1/241; Nelson to his father, 24/10/1778, Add. MSS 34988. Nelson’s log differs slightly from his captain’s. He notes the ‘rebel [American] ship’ on 3 December 1778.

  37. Nelson to his father, 24/10/1778, Add. MSS 34988; appointment book, NMM: SAN/3, p. 33.

  38. Nelson to Locker, 31/8/1778, D&L, 1, p. 24.

  39. Suckling’s will, 3/8/1774, PRO: PROB 11/1044, no. 302, disproves William Nelson’s story in Clarke and McArthur, Life and Services, 1, p. 40.

  40. Clarke and McArthur, Life of Admiral Lord Nelson, 1, appendix 2, p. 366. The Suckling notes were deleted from the 1840 edition of this work.

  41. Nelson to William Suckling, 5/7/1786, D&L, 1, p. 186.

  VII The First Commands (pp. 133–48)

  1. Parker to Stephens, 12/1/1779, ADM 1/241.

  2. Badger muster, ADM 36/9883; Nelson to Locker, 30/4/1779, D&L, 1, p. 25.

  3. The Badger muster records Lepee’s age as eighteen in 1779, but when he was enrolled on the Boreas in 1784 his age was given as twenty-one (Boreas muster, ADM 36/10525). See also the pay book of the Lowestoffe, ADM 34/137.

  4. For the voyages of the Badger see her logs, ADM 51/78 and ADM 52/1591. The lieutenants’ log (NMM: ADM/L/B5) was also signed by Nelson, though his post was that of commander.

  5. Nelson to Locker, 23/1/1780, D&L, 1, p. 32.

  6. Public Characters, p. 8. Contemporary descriptions of Nelson’s appearance are scanty and imprecise. An informed debate between Colin White and Lesley Edwards, drawing on examinations of surviving uniforms and locks of Nelson’s hair, can be found in ND, 4 (1992), pp. 93, 157, 197, and ND, 6 (1999), pp. 492–5. See also ND, 2 (1985), pp. 33–5; ND, 7 (2000), p. 130; Otto Erich Deutsch, Admiral Nelson and Joseph Haydn, pp. 70, 98; and Richard Walker, Nelson Portraits, p. 257.

  7. In addition to the logs and muster see D&L, 1, p. 6.

  8. For the young William Locker I have additionally consulted the Badger pay book (ADM 34/137) and am indebted to Victor Sharman, who informs me that the boy eventually opted for an army career and became a lieutenant in the 8th Regiment of Light Dragoons.

  9. Nelson to Locker, 30/4/1779, D&L, 1, p. 25; list of prizes taken on the Jamaica station, ADM 1/241; E. Arnot Robertson, Spanish Town Papers, pp. 41–3.

  10. Nelson to Locker, 3, 13/5/1779, D&L, 1, pp. 26, 27, seem to refer to this incident. Writing to his father on 28 May 1779 (Add. MSS 34988) Nelson also mentioned his failure to capture a privateer, but the logs also record a futile chase of 18 May and the letter may have been related to this later episode.

  11. Nelson to Locker, 13/5/1779, D&L, 1, p. 27.

  12. Nelson to Locker, 13/5/1779, D&L, 1, 27.

  13. The logs of the Badger are identical on the destruction of the Glasgow. See in addition the Badger muster: Nelson’s accounts in D&L, 1, pp. 6, 29; Parker to Stephens, 14/6/1779 and 26/7/1779, ADM 1/241; D&L, 7, p. 423; James S. Clarke and John McArthur, Life and Services, 1, p. 43; Nelson to Lloyd, 24/4/1801, in Thomas Pettigrew, Memoirs, 1, p. 10; and especially the minutes of Lloyd’s court martial, 24 July 1779, ADM 1/5311. This was probably Nelson’s first experience of courts martial. The court consisted of Captains Joseph Deane, William Waldegrave, Toby Caulfield, William Cornwallis and Christopher Atkins, with Charles Hamilton serving as Deputy Judge Advocate.

  14. Tom Pocock, Young Nelson in the Americas, p. 25.

  15. Nelson to Locker, 28/7/1779, D&L, 1, p. 30.

  16. Nelson to Locker, 23/1/1780, D&L, 1, p. 32. Collingwood said that he first met Nelson in 1773. He would then have been serving on the Lenox ship of the line in the Thames and Medway, when Nelson, of course, was with the Triumph and Carcass. See Oliver Warner, ‘Collingwood and Nelson’, p. 318.

  17. Dalling to Clinton, 13/8/1779, and Parker’s letters of 12 and 18/8/1779, published in the London Chronicle of 11–13/1/1780; Dalling to Germain, 6–23/8/1779, CO 137/75; letter of Samuel Joyce, 10/9/1779, Shelburne papers, William L. Clements Library, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

  18. Dalling to Germain, 28/8 to 9/9/1779, CO 135/75.

  19. Nelson to Locker, 12/8/1779, D&L, 1, p. 31; Parker to Stephens, 23/8/1779, and Parker, ‘Arrangement of the Squadron in Port Royal and Kingston Harbours’, ADM 1/241.

  20. Nelson to Locker, 12/8/1779, D&L, 1, p. 31.

  21. Parker to Stephens, 13/9/1779, ADM 1/241; Dalling to Germain, 28/8 to 9/9/1779, CO 137/75.

  22. Hinchingbroke muster, ADM 36/9510–9511; Hinchingbroke pay book, ADM 34/405.

  23. Gentleman’s Magazine (1834), ii, pp. 104–6; Bullen’s return of service, 1817, ADM 9/2, no. 22; William O’Byrne, Naval Biographical Dictionary, pp. 142–3, 1391.

  24. Hinchingbroke log, ADM 51/442. Lieutenant Bullen’s log, running from 18 January 1780, is filed in NMM: ADM/L/H113. There were ten floggings on board the ship, but one was of a sailor convicted by a court martial of an offence unconnected to the Hinchingbroke.

  25. Parker to Stephens, 13/9/1779, ADM 1/241.

  26. In addition to the log see ‘List of Vessels Taken’, ADM 1/241, and Nelson to Locker, 23/1/1780, D&L, 1, p. 32. Daniel Ross was related to Hercules Ross, the merchant of Jamaica, who unsuccessfully tried to intervene in the subsequent legal proceedings. The log of the Niger frigate (ADM 51/637) incorrectly identifies the ships as French.

  27. Nelson to Locker, 23/1/1780, D&L, 1, p. 32.

  28. Nelson to Locker, 23/1/1780, D&L, 1, p. 32; Robertson, Spanish Town Papers, p. 142.

  VIII In the Wake of the Buccaneers (pp. 149–75)

  1. Thomas Jefferys, West Indian Atlas, p. 10.

  2. Dalling to Germain, 4 and 7/2/1780, CO 137/76. See additionally George Metcalf, Royal Government, chap. 8, and Andrew Jackson O’Shaughnessy, An Empire Divided.

  3. Benjamin Moseley, Treatise on Tropical Diseases, p. 148.

  4. Ernest A. Cruikshank, Life of Sir Henry Morgan, pp. 57–8; Lawrie to Dalling, 2/9/1779, CO 137/76.

  5. Dalling to Germain, 13/11/1779, 4/2/1780, CO 137/76; Dalling’s instructions to John Polson, 1780, CO 137/76:220.

  6. Nelson to Locker, 23/1/1780, D&L, 1, p. 32.

  7. Dalling to Germain, 4/1/1780, 28/1/1780, CO 137/76; Thomas Dancer, A Brief History, pp. 7–8; testimony in the ‘Report of a Committee’ of the Jamaican assembly, 1780, CO 137/79: 177.

  8. Nelson, 18/1/1780, NMM: Mon/1; order book of the expedition, 15/2/1780, Collections of the New York Historical Society (hereafter Collections), p. 68; M. Eyre Matcham, Nelsons of Burnham Thorpe, p. 284.

  9. Narrative of Robert Hodgson, CO 137/80:322. A political opponent of Lawrie, Hodgson gave a prejudiced assessment of the expedition benefiting from hindsight, but there are valuable details.

  10. For the expedition I have principally relied upon reports and correspondence in CO 137/vols 76–81. Particularly useful are Polson to Dalling, 30/4/1780 (the official report), CO 137/77; Polson’s journal, the best single source for events between 3 February and 29 April 1780, in CO 137/77:166; various statements in ‘Report of a Committee’, CO 137/79: 177; Hodgson’s narrative, CO 137/80: 322; and Dalling’s ‘Narrative of the Late Expedition’, with its numerous enclosures, CO 137/81: 198. Other major sources are the Hinchingbroke log; Dancer, A Brief History; various documents in Collections, including Polson’s order book and Kemble’s journal; and three sets of papers in the William L. Clements Library, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor: the George Germain papers, the Earl of Shelburne papers, vol. 79, and the Stephen Kemble papers. Nelson made some remarks in ‘Sketch of My Life’, D&L, 1, pp. 7–8, and his memorandum, NMM: STW/2. See also Hist. MSS Commission, Stopford-Sackville, 2, pp. 272–96; C. N. Robinson, ‘Nelson at Nicaragua’; and C. J. Britton, ‘Nelson and the River San Juan’. Secondary accounts have been given by John W. Fortescue, History of the British Army, 3, pp. 338–42, and Tom P
ocock, Young Nelson in the Americas, a comprehensive and well-researched account.

  11. For the Indians and Sandy Bay blacks see Lawrie, ‘General Account of the Mosquito Shore’, 1779, CO 137/76: 208; Dalling to Gleadow, CO 137/78: 172; and The Present State of the West Indies (1778).

  12. Order book, 20/2/1780, 1/3/1780, Collections, pp. 71, 75.

  13. Dancer, A Brief History, p. 10.

  14. Kemble journal, Collections, p. 5.

  15. Dalling to Polson, 17/3/1780, and Dalling to Parker, 17/3/1780, CO 137/77.

  16. James Harrison, Life, 1, pp. 62–3.

  17. Order book, 21/3/1780, Collections, p. 76; information of Todd, 25/8/1780, CO 137/78: 239.

  18. Details of Bartola and the Spanish fort of San Juan are drawn from the journal of Lieutenant Colonel Kemble, who eventually followed Polson upriver. See his journal, Collections, pp. 10, 14.

  19. Dancer, A Brief History, p. 13; Moseley, Treatise on Tropical Diseases, pp. 33–4; James S. Clarke and John McArthur, Life and Services, 1. p. 53.

  20. List of prisoners, CO 137/77: 154.

  21. De Galvez to D’Ayssa, 14/4/1781, CO 137/81: 276; Moseley, Treatise on Tropical Diseases, p. 167; Pocock, Young Nelson in the Americas, p. 156. Dalling subsequently criticised Polson for not storming the fort. He made no reference to Nelson in this context, but in his ‘Narrative of the Late Expedition’ (CO 137/81) said that when MacDonald arrived at the fort with the second division of Polson’s force he offered to storm it with his volunteers.