 Horatio Nelson was born in England on
September 29, 1758, along the shallow Norfolk shore at
Burnham Thorpe. With the loss of his mother, Catherine
Suckling Nelson, in 1767, rearing of the eight Nelson
children was left to Horatio's father, the Reverend
Edmund Nelson. This loss, added to the heavy workload of
overseeing the Parish at Burnham Thorpe and farming the
surrounding land, made life rather difficult for the
family. Three years later, at the ripe old age of twelve,
young Horatio enlisted in the Royal Navy. On the first day of 1771, Nelson reported for duty, joining the 64-gun warship Raissonable, commanded by his uncle, Captain Maurice Suckling. By the time he was 20, the boy had been in naval and merchant service all over the world and had distinguished himself as both seaman and pilot. In June of 1779 he was made Captain, taking command of the frigate Hitchinbroke at Port Royal, Jamaica. During these years Nelson served extensively in the West Indies, as well as in Canada and the Baltic. Click here for books on caribbean history...
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