Nelson & His World

I am working on the history of Trafalgar House, its acquisition and the part that Nelson's brother, the 1st Earl, played in these negociations; and I would be grateful for any recommendation of existing books and articles which discuss these matters.

Welcome to the forum, Brian.

I’ve had a look through most of the books on my shelves and can find very little relating to the purchase of Trafalgar House other than the following brief references, all of which you probably know already:

The Times of 13 May 1806 records that it was proposed that £120,000 be granted by Parliament to Earl Nelson to enable him to purchase an estate and the sum was voted in July of that year. Roger Knight, in his biography of Nelson, ‘The Pursuit of Victory’ says that the sum granted was £300,000, but I am sure this is a misprint. He continues: ‘Eventually, in 1815, an estate was found for William Nelson, near Salisbury in Wiltshire, for which Parliament agreed an additional sum; it was renamed Trafalgar House. The grant has been called, not without foundation, as ‘ludicrous over-provision.’

M. Eyre-Matcham, in The Nelsons of Burnham Thorpe (John Lane, Bodley Head 1911) again uses the passive voice to describe William’s acquisition: ‘About this time [1815] the estate of Standlynch, near Salisbury, was bought for William, Earl Nelson and re-christened Trafalgar.

‘Lord and Lady Nelson are gone to Trafalgar,’ Lord Bridport wrote to George [Matcham] in September 1816. ‘The House is not yet furnished, consequently the Earl would not receive us this year.’

The Wiltshire Record Office also holds some papers relating to the estate, (look under ‘Nelson’ and also ‘Eyre-Matcham’) though these might not be relevant to your area of research:

http://www.wshc.eu/about-wshc/archives/232.html

Another possible source of information is the Nelson Society. Something might have been published on the subject in the society’s journal The Nelson Dispatch, or members might have some private material to share. The new editor’s contact details should be in the most recent issue which, I’m sorry to say, I have mislaid. Perhaps another member can supply them.

Tycho/Anna Very many thanks. What you say is most helpful.
Regards Brian

Sorry I'm a bit off topic here but I recall my brother telling me he went to Trafalgar House during the 1990's.

He must have had some sort of business dealings there with the then owner.

Memories are a bit fuzzy as I am sure he mentioned a Swedish chap (that would have been Gunnar Bengtsson) but also the name Tertius which would have been the previous owner Tertius Thriepland.

Have to ask him next time I see him what that was all about??!!

Brian - not much specific about the acquisition for Earl Nelson but Country Life ran a couple of quite nice articles about Trafalgar Park in April 1997. (issues dated 3rd and 10th April)

If you are looking at general background stuff you may care to track them down.

MB

Again, I hesitate to mention sources you may well have already explored; but just in case you haven't, here's a link (third down on the list) to the National Archives listing account books, diaries and correspondence covering much of Earl Nelson's life that might yield something. It appears, though, that they are scattered in various locations.

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/sear ... ryType=ALL

Dear Mark, Many thanks. I'll certainly follow up your suggestions and welcome any further advice in the furture.

Brian, again I am sure much of this is info that you will already have, but there is a brief piece in the Naval Chronicle volume 33 (1815), page 285, which mentions the earl’s involvement in the negotiations. He made an undertaking to pay the excess expenditure over £90,000 in the hope that it would be made good by an additional parliamentary grant. The excess amounted to £6,450 after including £3,000 for repairs.

The Naval Chronicle refers to “The Report of the Proceedings of Earl Nelson's Trustees”. This may be the same document as the “Report of Henry Charles Litchfield, appointed by Trustees under an Act for settling and securing a certain Annuity on the Earl Nelson and the Heirs Male of his body and such persons to whom the title of Earl Neson may descend”. Do copies still exist?

(£30,000 of the original £120,000 had been used for pensions to Nelson’s sisters.)

The debate on the additional £9,000 grant by parliament can of course be found in Hansard.

In 1811 a letter in the Naval Chronicle suggested that Earl Nelson was the cause of the delay in buying an estate. A ‘Naval Country Gentleman’ asked in a letter addressed to the Right Hon. Charles Philip Yorke, First Lord Commissioner of the Admiralty,

Re the trustees reports, in Hampton & Littlewood’s sale on 26 November 2008, one of the lots included four letters of Earl Nelson and ‘a Contemporary copy of a 5th concerning the finding of the future Trafalgar House, with six manuscript instalments of the reports of the treasurer of Nelson’s Trust (set up for the finding of a residence for the Nelson Family), signed by him, each of these instalments being evidently prepared in 5 copies only’.

Dear Tony,

Very many thanks for this specific information, some of which I know; but I have to confess that I hadn't thought of looking at The Naval Chronicle. And I must pursue the reports prepared by Nelson's Trust.

My thanks again,

Brian

Brian

Just out of curiosity are you working on a book or is it some other project.

There is something at the back of my mind about some roof tiles from Trafalgar House which were "recycled" on a building in America.

I might still have the press cutting somewhere.

I will try to look it out.

MB

Dear Mark,

I am hoping that I shall gather material sufficiently substantial to contribute to the third edition of my book Jane Austen and the Navy (2000, 2005 National Maritime Museum). As I explain there, through marriage there was a distant link between the Austens and the Nelsons.

Regards Brian

Brian:

since everyone on this forum is aware that I am an admirer of both Jane Austen and your book (from which I have quoted here on more than one occasion), I am delighted if forum members are able to help you with the forthcoming edition.

All:

I am always happy to promote the books of forum members, so here are the details:

Jane Austen and the Navy, by Brian Southam, pub. National Maritime Museum Publishing 2005, ISBN 0 948065 65 6

Brian's book provides a wonderful insight into the lives of naval officers and their families by drawing on the Austen family papers and naval records of the day as well as the novels of Jane Austen herself.

As Tom Pocock said in his review in the Evening Standard '.... sheds fascinating light on both Jane Austen and the navy of her time.'

Dear Anna,

Many thanks for the unexpected puff!

Reghards Brian

Thanks Brian - I find it helps to understand the context of questions like this.

I appreciate now that my comment about the roof tiles from Trafalgar will be way off your area of interest but I managed to trace the reference I was thinking about.

The tiles are at a place called Salisbury House in Des Moines, Iowa.

The reference reads as follows:



. . . and you can find it about two thirds of the way down this page:

http://www.salisburyhouse.org/history.html

I can only assume there was some sort of refurbishment going on at the Trafalgar estate and these tiles came up for sale.

MB

Dear Mark,

Many thanks for these contact details.

Regards Brian