Nelson & His World

I was interested to see the 'envoi' of a letter (ADM 34905 f312) from William Locker to Nelson, written on 17 March 1797 in which he writes:

'I am,
My Dear Horace,
Yours ever most truly,
Wm Locker'

Did any of his brother officers or superiors ever address him in this familiar way, using the version of 'Horatio' used by his family?

St Vincent refers to him as 'Nelson' or 'Sir Horatio'.

When he obtained a peerage, he was 'My Lord' even to his closest friends like Collingwood and Troubridge.

To Emma, he was, I think, always 'Nelson'. His siblings address him in letters as 'Dear Brother', though I recall quotations in which Catherine Matcham refers to him as 'Horace'. His father used the abbreviation, 'My Dear Hor:'

Is Locker the only person, outside his immediate family, to address Nelson so intimately? If so, it serves to emphasise the bond, almost father-and-son like, between them.

Incidentally, the letter records that Locker intended to heed Nelson's hint that he should send his account of the action of the 'Captain' at the battle of Cape St Vincent to the newspapers: 'I am sending this narrative to the Editor of the Sun - a paper much read all over the Kingdom...' In a later letter dated 27 March, he adds that his narrative had been published in The True Briton 'about ten days ago....'

Anna,

I don't remember Nelson being addressed as 'Horace' outside of his family by his brother officers. I would imagine that they wouldn't have become that 'familiar', after all he was also their superior officer and entitled to some deference, even had they been aware of the use of the name by his own family.

Locker was perhaps an exception and as you say, it was very likely an indication of the closeness between them.

The letter would seem to indicate once again Nelson's preoccupation with his making sure he was known about. I believe the Sun, although presumably not the same paper, is still 'much read all over the kingdom'!