Nelson & His World

I happened to be doing some corporate research today - at a fairly superficial level I have to confess. I did a double take when I realised for the first time that the Nephew in Smith & Nephew (FTSE 100 Health Care company) was actually the founder's nephew rather than the surname of a partner. Seems obvious when you know but it just never occured to me before.

I then did a triple take when I read that the founder's name was Thomas James Smith and said nephew was Horatio Nelson Smith.

I know for sure I have come across other instances of people named directly after his Lordship.

Maybe this thread could be used to make a cumulative list of any others we come across??!!

MB

Oh crikey - another website says that HN Smith was named after his father.

I wonder if this tradition extended across more than 2 generations of the family??!!

MB

Mark;

I have just typed a long post with some further examples, which has, mysteriously, disappeared. The sources weren't, in fact, verifiable anyway so
I'll re-do it when I'm home and have my library to hand.

A quick trawl of Wikipedia brings up a handful:

Horatio Nelson White (1814 - 1892) was an American architect.
Horatio Nelson Young (1845 – 1913) was a United States Navy sailor who received the Medal of Honor for his actions on the USS Lehigh during the American Civil War.
Horatio Nelson Jackson (1872 – 1955) was the first person to drive an automobile across the United States, an early example of rallying (albeit with just two other competitors).
Horatio Nelson Lay (1832 – 1898, Forest Hill, Kent, England), was a British diplomat, noted for his role in the ill-fated "Lay-Osborne Flotilla" during the Taiping Rebellion.
Horatio Nelson Lay (1903 - 1988) was a Rear Admiral of the Royal Canadian Navy.

Thanks Tony,

An interesting bunch of people.

I never thought to look on Wikipedia.

I was just chuckling to myself here. Wondering how many of these folk found it an advantage in life/badge of honour. Or whether any of them found it a bit of a pain after they had explained for the THOUSANDTH time that NO they were not descended from his Lordship??!!

MB

Don't lets be cynical! Horatio Nelson Atkinson (son of the of the Master of HMS Victory, later Master Attendant at Portsmouth), found it useful: going to sea under Hardy's patronage and making it to Lieutenant but no further. (Well there is a limit - even to those with THE name!)

Brian

Just spotted this one:

Horatio Nelson was a portrait painter who worked as a professional photographer in Princes Street, Edinburgh - 1850-53. He then had three studios in London - 1863-64, 1865 and 1865-72.

The name would appear not to be confined to men. How about "Liln Beatrice Horatio Nelson Kemp" who was born in 1864? She died in 1952 in Caulfield, Victoria, Australia. Parents: Edwin Kemp and Ann Horatio Nelson King. Horatio Nelson King (1830-1905) was a successful photographer represented at the National Portrait Gallery by 41 portraits.

and of course, there was that ill-fated racehorse....!

There was of course Edwin Horatio Nelson Seacole.

He was the husband of the black nurse - Mary Seacole - who served in the Crimea at the same time as Florence Nightingale.

Edwin may have been a godson of Lord Nelson.

In her will Mary bequeathed an item that she said was given to her husband by his godfather Lord Nelson- although I am not certain the godparent function in Nelson's day was exactly as we know it today.

Somewhere in the depths of one of my files are the names of a few others who reputedly had Lord Nelson as their godfather. I believe there may be one or two more "HN's" in there.

I will try and track it down sometime in the next few days.

MB

I'm cheating a bit here - because he's not a Horatio.

But here is a quick snippet of the calypso/soca legend "Lord Nelson".

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=JtrQUmEWev0

MB

There were plenty of Horatio Nelsons in the Caribbean in the 19th century, but in the light of Nelson's views on the abolition of the slave trade, I am not sure how much of a badge of honour they would have considered their name. The following are from the 'Slave Registers of former British Colonial Dependencies, 1812-1834':

Horatio Nelson, Born: abt 1805, St Andrew G-O, Jamaica, 1829, Owner: Henry Lipscomb
Horatio Nelson, Born: abt 1798, St Andrew, Jamaica, 1820, Owner: Thomas Parke
Horatio Nelson, Born: abt 1799, Nevis, 1817, Owner: Elizabeth Hanley
Horatio Nelson, Born: abt 1795, Plantation Slaves, Trinidad, 1813, Owner: Thomas Drape
Horatio Nelson, Born: abt 1782, Berbice, 1818, Owner: William Munro
Horatio Nelson, Born: abt 1805, Personal (Index), Trinidad, 1822, Owner: Helena Henrietta Clera Godet
Horatio Nelson, Born: abt 1807, St Christopher, 1817, Owner: Margt Taylor
Horatio Nelson, St George, Antigua, Owner: Margaret Greenway
Horatio Nelson, Born: abt 1798, Kingston I-M, Jamaica, 1817, Owner: John Johnston
Horatio Nelson, Born: abt 1805, St Catherine, Jamaica, 1817, Owner: John Mitchell
Horatio Nelson, Born: abt 1828, Westmoreland D-G, Jamaica, 1829, Owner: James Boyle Delap
Horatio Nelson, Born: abt 1769, Hanover, Jamaica, 1817, Owner: Neill Malcolm Esquire
Horatio Nelson, Born: abt 1805, Plantation Slaves, Trinidad, 1813, Owner: William Thomhill
Horatio Nelson, Plantation Slaves, Trinidad, Owner: George Armstrong
Horatio Nelson, Born: abt 1796, St Thomas in The Vale, Jamaica, 1832, Owner: John Ewart
Horatio Nelson, Born: abt 1805, St John, Jamaica, 1817, Owner: Huxley Sandow
Horatio Nelson, Born: abt 1789, St Andrew (1), Jamaica, 1832, Owner: Benjamin Mariol Perkins Esquire
Horatio Nelson, Born: abt 1827, Barbados, 1829, Owner: Robert James Haynes
Horatio Nelson, Barbados, Owner: Ward H Oneale
Horatio Nelson, Barbados, Owner: Mary Hayes
Horatio Nelson, Born: abt 1809, Trelawney P-Z, Jamaica, 1829, Owner: Hammett McLachlan
Horatio Nelson, Born: abt 1818, St Christopher, 1825, Owner: Cavendish Lister
Horatio Nelson, Born: abt 1810, St Christopher, 1817, Owner: John Lister
Horatio Nelson, Born: abt 1799, Antigua, 1821, Owner: Susannah Williams Greenway
Horatio Nelson, Born: abt 1809, St Michael, Barbados, 1834, Owner: Charles Moore
Horatio Nelson, St Thomas in The East, Jamaica, 1823, Owner: Charles Murray
Horatio Nelson, Born: abt 1797, St Thomas in The East, Jamaica, 1832, Owner: John Lindsay Senior
Horatio Nelson, Born: abt 1805, St Catherine, Jamaica, 1817, Owner: William Vaughan
Horatio Nelson, Born: abt 1808, St John, Jamaica, 1823, Owner: Huxley Sandon
Horatio Nelson, Barbados, Owner: Henry Moore
Horatio Nelson, Born: abt 1828, St Michael, Barbados, 1834, Owner: Ward H Oneale
Horatio Nelson, Born: abt 1828, "Personal Slaves, Additions, 3635-3698", Mauritius, 1830, Owner: Robert James Haynes
Horatio Nelson, St Thomas in The East, Jamaica, 1823, Owner: Charles Murray
Horatio Nelson, Born: abt 1805, St John, Jamaica, 1817, Owner: Huxley Sandow
Horatio Nelson, Born: abt 1816, Hanover D-H, Jamaica, 1829, Owner: William Hudson Heaven Esquire
Horatio Nelson, Born: abt 1828, Barbados, 1832, Owner: Ward Harris Oneale
Horatio Nelson, Born: abt 1828, St Michael, Barbados, 1829, Owner: Leah S Lobo
Horatio Nelson, Born: abt 1759, St James (1), Jamaica, 1817, Owner: Rays Barrett Waike
Monday Flowers [Horatio Nelson], Born: abt 1807, Honduras, 1834, Owner: Mary Hickey
Horatio Nelson, Born: abt 1806, St Catherine Q-Y, Jamaica, 1829, Owner: Mrs. Caroline Dunn
Horatio Nelson, Born: abt 1787, Manchester, Jamaica, 1817, Owner: Caleb Dickenson
Horatio Nelson, Born: abt 1787, St Andrew, Jamaica, 1817, Owner: Benjamin Marriott Perkins
Horatio Nelson Hedley, Born: abt 1810, St James (2), Jamaica, 1817, Owner: William Hedley
Horatio Nelson, Born: abt 1805, St. Catherine (1), Jamaica, 1823, Owner: William Vaughan Hamilton
Horatio Nelson, Born: abt 1805, St. Catherine (1), Jamaica, 1823, Owner: Shake Spear Hamilton
Horatio Nelson, Born: abt 1789, Westmoreland, Jamaica, 1817, Owner: Jas Bogle Delap
Horatio Nelson, Born: abt 1790, St George, Jamaica, 1817, Owner: Alexander Aikman Senior
Horatio Nelson, Born: abt 1805, St. Catherine (1), Jamaica, 1826, Owner: Mrs. Eliza Singer
Nelson Horatio, Born: abt 1809, Plantation (Index), Trinidad, 1819, Owner: James Taitt
Horatio Nelson, Born: abt 1782, Trelawney (2), Jamaica, 1820, Owner: James Vernon

The following rather charming letter, dated London, July 7th 1801, was written by Nelson to ‘R. Nelson Esq., Plymouth Dockyard, Devon’:

Dear Sir,

I received your very kind letter from Plymouth, and congratulate you on the birth of a grandson, who I am much flattered with your intention to call after me. I trust that the name of Nelson will remain with credit to our Country for many ages, and although I do not yet despair but that I may have fruit from my own loins, yet the honour of the Nelson family will not, I am confident, be lost by yours. I beg my compliments to Colonel Nelson, and that you will believe me, your most obliged servant,

NELSON & BRONTE

I beg my compliments to Mr Marshall.

Quoted in ‘Nelson’s Letters’, selected and edited by Geoffrey Rawson, Everyman’s Library, published by J M Dent & Sons Ltd, 1960

There was also another case of a child being named after Nelson recorded in Frederick Lloyd’s 1806 biography of Nelson.

The account is a long one, but to be brief: a Colonel Tyrwhitt, visiting Plymouth on 12 November 1805, encountered some children playing and heard them call one of their number ‘Nelson’. He enquired further and the child told him that Lord Nelson was his godfather but that he was shot and killed the other day in a great battle. Colonel Tyrwhitt went to the boy’s home and there discovered that the boy’s father had lost a limb in the Minotaur at the Nile. The boy had been born to his wife, a washerwoman on board the Minotaur in the bay of Leghorn. The father produced a birth certificate, naming the child Horatio Nelson, after Lord Nelson, and signed by Lady Hamilton, Sir William Hamilton and Lord Nelson. Nelson had stood sponsor for the boy and promised to give him a nautical education in preparation for a sea career. He had told the parents to write to him when they were settled in England but ‘this, through ignorance, they had neglected to do’. Colonel Tyrwhitt took it upon himself to assume responsibility for the boy’s education.

There is also Henry Horatio Giles, who has his own thread elsewhere, born on HMS Bellerophon, after the battle of the Nile.

Tony - that's an intriguing list.

I wonder about the ones who were born before Lord Nelson acquired his fame/notoriety?

i.e. is the name just a coincidence or were they maybe given a new name when they were taken into slavery??!!

Apologies for again digressing slightly from my original post - but we must not forget the MOST famous Nelson - Nelson Mandela.

In his autobiography he talks of his early schooldays. He had an English lady schoolteacher who gave all her pupils nicknames based on heroes of the British Empire. He wrote "So I can only assume that I was named after the great English admiral Lord Nelson

The thing that I find interesting is that he never gave up this apparently Imperialistic name - when that would surely have been the easier option.

I believe that he had both his birth name and another legitimate African name that he could easily have reverted back to - but chose not to.

MB

P.S. When I had my old About Nelson forum I did email Mr Mandela's website and asked if he would like to become an honourary member of the Forum. Regretably I never received a reply!

I have searched in vain for the location of a story I have read in a Nelson biography somewhere. Just before Nelson left for Trafalgar, he discovered that the wife of one of his servants was due to have a child soon. He ordered a christening robe to be bought for the child and asked that if a boy, it should be named Horatio, if a girl, Emma. Can anyone fill out the details and quote a source?

Nelson also stood godfather to the son of his friend from his West Indies days, Hercules Ross. The boy was named Horatio Ross.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horatio_Ross

Back in the late 1970's I did a bit of work for GEC - the huge electronics company.

Their chairman at the time was Baron Nelson of Stafford.

He was the second baron, having inherited the title from his father.

I just discovered today, in a back-to-front sort of way, that his father had been named George Horatio Nelson.

MB

Horatio Nelson Taft wrote a famous diary of the Civil War years in America.

See here: http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/tafthtml/