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Lord Nelson, my hero
Madame Toastmaster, fellow toastmasters and most welcome guests …
I wonder how many of us in this room will still be remembered and revered in 200 years time? The chances are none of us.
History dictates whose fame will last for posterity. And there is one special person who I particularly admire, whose masterly skill and leadership in the 18th ad 19th centuries is still second to none, and that is Admiral Lord Nelson.
Each summer my family and I spend a week walking along the same country paths he once trod in North Norfolk, along country lanes lined with lacy cowslips and sturdy hedgerows. I avidly read local history books about his life and can feel his presence close to me, like a whispering wind lightly caressing my skin.
Horatio Nelson was a puny child born to a country parson in 1758 in Burnham Thorpe. He was the 6th of 11th children and enjoyed watching the ships sail in at Burnham Overy Staithe, an unspoilt spot where my sons have spent countless hours crabbing.
His mother died when he was only 9 years and three years later he joined his uncle’s ship. His uncle was a navy captain who was very dismissive about Nelson’s chances of survival, believing his feeble demeanour would make him unable to stomach the tough life on the ocean waves.
Despite suffering constantly from sea sickness, this couldn’t have been further from the truth. By the age of 21, Nelson had travelled the world and become a captain – one of the youngest in the history of the Royal Navy. Those early experiences laid the foundation for his successful career and great future victories against France, Spain and the Netherlands.
Included in his most memorable victories was the Battle of the Nile which took place in 1798 when he fought against Napoleon, who was forced to flee and leave his men stranded in Egypt.
Three years later, Napoleon was massing forces to invade England. Nelson was placed in charge of defending the English Channel in order to thwart any such invasion. This led to the historic Battle of Trafalgar, where Nelson sadly lost his life, but saved England from French domination. A sniper’s bullet had entered his shoulder, pierced his lung and ended at the base of his spine. Nelson retained consciousness for four hours, but died soon after learning that the battle had ended with a British victory.
At his own request, his body was placed in a cask and preserved in spirits. When it returned to England, it was taken to Greenwich, where it rested in state for three days. Then on the 8 January, 1806, his loyal seamen from HMS Victory carried his coffin to the funeral barge for a procession up the River Thames for his funeral at St Paul’s Cathedral. His funeral barge was accompanied by 60 boats. Nothing had ever been seen like it before – or since. His body lies in a magnificent tomb in the cathedral’s crypt and is a testament to his heroics. The 165ft column in Trafalgar Square is one of many memorials throughout the country in his honour.
It was not just Nelson’s unique strategic skill that earned him a place in our history books, but his complex character too. For Nelson seemed all things to all men; fearless but vulnerable; vain but insecure; morally upright yet flawed; ruthless yet humane; classless but ambitious; both superman and everyman.
He was the first senior naval officer who truly cared for the health and well being of his seamen, he introduced new humane standards, he wanted all his crew to be treated well.
But while Nelson triumphed on the waves, his private life was not plain sailing, it was one of deeply troubled waters. He had a scandalous long standing love affair with Lady Emma Hamilton, the beautiful wife of an English diplomat. The three of them even set up a ménage a trios together, with Nelson abandoning his wife Fanny. While this was truly shocking behaviour, it demonstrated that he truly had the heart of a lion, both personally and professionally.
His dying wish was that the country should look after Lady Hamilton and their daughter Horatia, but this was ignored and Lady Hamilton later became an alcoholic and died a lonely, squalid death, while his wife reaped all the honours.
I love visiting his village pub in Norfolk, sitting in the same the same bar which he used to drink in himself. I always order a glass of Nelson’s Blood, a secret recipe created 200 years ago following his death, and I toast Lord Nelson and HMS Victory for the freedom our country has enjoyed as a result of his unflagging valour.
Lord Nelson, my hero….
20 February 2007
