A print of an original oil painting by William Heysham Overend, completed in 1891 - 86 years after the Battle of Trafalgar.
A print of an original oil painting by William Heysham Overend, completed in 1891 - 86 years after the Battle of Trafalgar.
When a person's actions exceed expectation, their name and endeavours can be memorialised for centuries, recorded on monuments and shopping centres long after their death. Horatio Nelson was one such man.
Horatio Nelson was born on September 29, 1758, the sixth of 11 children of the Reverend Edmund Nelson and his wife, Catherine Suckling.
The family lived comfortably and was well connected; his godfather Horatio Walpole was the 2nd Baron of Walpole, and his mother's great-uncle Robert Walpole was the 1st Earl of Orford and the de facto first Prime Minister of Great Britain.
His uncle, Maurice Suckling, was a high-ranking naval officer and encouraged the boy to join the navy.
Nelson boarded his first ship as an Ordinary Seaman on January 1, 1771, aged 12. This ship was the HMS Raisonnable under the command of his uncle, and Nelson was soon promoted to midshipman and began officer training.
He also discovered that he suffered seasickness but didn't let it deter him as he rose quickly through the ranks and took command of his own ship at age 20.
Nelson became known as an inspirational leader with a cunning grasp of strategy, using unconventional tactics to his advantage and acclaim.
His personal valour was also well noted and he was greatly admired by the men he led and worked with. His success on the sea inspired public imagination and admiration and his endeavours were followed by mariners and landlubbers alike.
In 1783 the American War of Independence ended and Nelson was faced with unemployment and bouts of illness, but he was back in action at the beginning of the French Revolutionary Wars in 1792.
The next year he was in command of the Agamemnon when his right eye was damaged by debris from a shot sandbag, resulting in blindness in that eye. In 1797, while captain of the HMS Theseus in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, a gunshot to his right arm shattered the bone in several places.
He was taken to the ship's surgeon and instructed him to amputate, declaring "the sooner it was off the better", and was giving orders again half an hour after surgery. The British lost the battle and Nelson returned to England to recover.
A hand-coloured engraved print of Vice Admiral Lord Nelson, printed in 1853 by George Baxter.
He was back on active service in 1798, then with several battles and victories under his belt, he engaged the French and Spanish fleets at the Battle of Trafalgar on October 21,1805. His ship, the HMS Victory, carried the signal "England expects that every man will do his duty".
During the battle he was shot by a French sharpshooter and died three hours later, his last words reputed to be "Thank God I have done my duty" followed by a muttered "God and my country" before his last breath.
But his efforts helped earn a spectacular British victory. He was transported back to England and received a state funeral.
Vice-Admiral Horatio Lord Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, 1st Duke of Bronte remains one of Britain's most heroic figures, and the Victory's signal is often quoted today.
He is well remembered with monuments around the world – even inspiring our own shopping centre here in Whanganui – and with romanticised prints in many public and private collections.
•Sandi Black is the archivist at Whanganui Regional Museum.
