Nelson & His World

Hello Margaret,

The only information I can find about Nelson's birth, beyond the usual one of the date, 29 September 1758, is Carola Oman's opening sentence which notes that he was born 'on a fine day in an autumn described as fair.' Now for a little speculation! It's usually quite dark until about 7.30 am at that time of year, and morning mists, heralding good weather, are common ('Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness' as the poet Keats writes in his 'Ode to Autumn'.) So it might have been 10 am or so before the mists faded and the 'fine day' began to emerge. It's usually getting cooler by late afternoon and darkening by seven in the evening, so I'm speculating that Nelson was born between about 11 in the morning and late-ish in the afternoon - about 4 pm.