Of course, you’ve heard of Lord Nelson, but did you know he joined the navy at the age of 12, hunted a polar bear, loved natural history, and suffered throughout his life from sea-sickness? Join my tour of Maritime Greenwich to hear all about this national hero, whose voyages ended here.
Horatio Nelson was born into a wealthy family and joined the Navy under the captaincy of his uncle. He soon entered officer-training and (again helped by his uncle) had a meteoric rise through the ranks. He was made captain of his own ship at 20! During his naval career, Nelson served in the West Indies, the Baltic Sea, the Mediterranean, and the Canary Islands and gained a reputation for bravery and imaginative captaincy. He gained national fame through his victory over the French at the Battle of the Nile and became an Admiral at the age of 43. However, during his most famous victory, over the French fleet at the Battle of Trafalgar, he was tragically shot and fatally wounded.
After Nelson’s death on board HMS Victory, steps were quickly taken to preserve his body, ready for a hero’s funeral. Nelson’s last voyage on Victory was inside a barrel filled with brandy and myrrh to preserve it. On arrival in England, at Greenwich, he lay in state for three days in the Painted Hall of the (then) Royal Naval Hospital. The crowds who came to pay their respects were so large that the little town could barely cope with the crush of people.
During our tour of Greenwich we’ll learn more about Nelson, the magnificent Painted Hall, whose fabulous and triumphant ceiling pictures have led to it being called England’s Sistine Chapel, and also the grand ante-room where Nelson’s coffin rested before his lying-in-state. In the National Maritime Museum, we’ll see exactly what Nelson looked like from a life-mask of his face, a ceremonial sword that was presented to him in tribute, his formal naval dress coat – and the clothes he was wearing when he was shot, including the coat with the fatal bullet hole in it. (If you’d like to see the bullet itself, join my tour of Windsor Castle, where it’s kept!). We’ll see how he became a huge celebrity in his lifetime – and even more so after his death.
Step aboard my Greenwich tour to discover Nelson – the man and the myth – and to walk in the footsteps of many others who went to sea when Britannia Ruled the Waves!