Welcome...To the Horatio Nelson Page...

your online guide to Nevis and the caribbean

PO Box 3119, St. James, Barbados, W.I.
Tel: 1 (246) 434 3434 E-mail: info@skyviews.com

Welcome to the Horatio Nelson page

Horatio Nelson's claim to fame is that he is the most famous of all British Naval commanders and widely regarded as one of the greatest in history. His victory and death at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805 marked a turning point in European history and ensured the British Navy's dominance of the high seas for at least another century. Both he and Nevis were lucky enough to share each other's company during Nelson's formative years as a commander in the British Navy and both gained a fondness for each other that persists to this day - at least on Nevis' part. Nelson was born on 29th September 1758 and came from humble beginnings as the third son of a parson from Norfolk. After his mother died the Nelson family became difficult for the parson to manage alone and by thge age of 12 Horatio Nelson found himself in the Navy. His reckless bravery and steadfast determination to acheive his objective (even if it was in one instance to obtain a polar bear skin with the aid of a musket whilst his ship was delayed in some pack-ice) became apparent early on in his luminary career.

He assumed command of his first vessel at age 20 - the frigate Hitchinbroke in June 1779 at Port Royal, Jamaica. He served extensively in the Caribbean, making an utter nuisance of himself to all enemies of The Crown and eventually became the Commander of the Leeward Islands Fleet. He knew how the crews on warships hated their seniors and how the work environment was awful and their pay miserable -despite this he, in particular, learned rapidly how to earn his crew's loyalty and trust. So good was he at this that it later became known as the "Nelson Touch". Although Nelson's years in the Caribbean could not match his later exploits in terms of greatness, they do match them in terms of showing an intimate picture of the great man. This is best captured by his time in Nevis,