Nelson’s Hero: the story of his ‘Sea-Daddy’, Captain William Locker by Victor T. Sharman (pub. Pen & Sword Military 2005)
The details of William Locker’s life are sketchy which presents a difficulty to anyone wishing to write a full-length biography. Locker’s sea service has ended by page 47, but his friendship and correspondence with Nelson continued until Locker's death. The author focuses on the many letters Nelson wrote to his old friend and mentor, amplified by a commentary on the events Nelson narrates in them. Nelson's continued attentions to Locker, even though his sea service meant they rarely had a chance to meet, serve to show the high esteem in which Nelson held him, and how highly he valued his good opinion. Enhanced by a few anecdotes and family reminiscences, a picture emerges of a totally admirable character: brave, honourable, cultured, devout and kindly.
Nelson’s letter to Locker after the Nile gracefully attributes to him the skills that enabled him to achieve his victory: ‘I have been your scholar; it was you who taught me to board a Frenchman by your conduct in the ‘Experiment…’ Here, we learn just how resolute and heroic Locker was in that action. It is unsurprising that he made such a profound impression on the young Nelson and indeed, on many who knew him. King William 1V, who had served under him, described him many years later as ‘The best man I ever knew’.
In his declining years, Locker, working with Admiral John Forbes, compiled a repository of naval anecdotes and histories, both oral and written, which he ultimately handed over to John Charnock who used them as the basis of his ‘Biographia Navalis’.
Locker was a man much loved, not only by Nelson, but also by his family, his servants and even his horse. His chief companion of his old age was his servant , Boswell, a retired seaman, who, of an evening, would ask Locker if he had further commands. ‘No, Boswell, I think not,’ Locker would reply, ‘unless you are disposed for a glass of grog before you go.’ Boswell was given to wild tales of reminiscence: ‘Does your honour remember when we were up the Mississippi in the ‘Nautilus’...and saw a rattlesnake that your Honour killed with his cane, five and forty foot?’ ‘Avast, Boswell,’ Locker would respond, ‘mind your reckoning there. ‘Twas but twelve feet, you rogue, and that’s long enough in all conscience.’
Victor Sharman has done all enthusiasts of the period a service in collating what is known of this admirable man; and by bringing together in one volume the many letters that Nelson wrote to him, he creates a charming record of an enduring friendship in which the pupil never forgot his debt to his mentor, even as he eclipsed him in fame.
_________________ Anna
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