Free Nelson by John Sugden Page B

acknowledgements made elsewhere, I must thank the Society of Authorsas the literary representatives of the estate of Alfred Noyes; PFD, on behalf of the Estate of Hilaire Belloc, for use of the ‘Ballade of Unsuccessful Men’; and Carcanet Press Ltd for permission to quote from ‘1805’ from the Complete Poems of Robert Graves.
    All authors need, but rarely get, sympathetic editors and publishers. I had the good fortune to meet Will Sulkin of Jonathan Cape and Pimlico. His vision and understanding have been exceptional, and it was his faith in the project that ultimately turned it into a reality. Throughout long years of toil his support has never wavered. I have also benefited from the valuable observations of Jörg Hensgen and Richard Collins, who read the entire manuscript, and from the assistance of Rosalind Porter. Once again it has been a pleasure to work with Jack Macrae of Henry Holt and Company, New York, who safely piloted two of my previous projects into port. The maps were drawn by Malcolm Ward.
    Finally, my debts to two individuals are incalculable. Without the unfailing support and enthusiasm of my partner, Terri Egginton, who has lived cheerfully with the spirit of Nelson, and the advice of my brother, Philip Sugden, whose knowledge of some aspects of the eighteenth century is second to none, the book would have been impossible to complete.
    Serious biographical and historical research is a punishing business, especially when the subject is an internationally public figure about whom a mass of documentation survives. In Nelson’s case the mythological dimension is another complication, and it is unreasonable to believe that there will ever be one standard view of the man, no matter how dispassionately the evidence is weighed. The views of scholars will vary according to the information they read and the interests, dispositions and purposes of the student. Since writing about Nelson is rather like wading in deep water, I have tried to avoid being sent one way or another by preconceived notions of what I wanted to find. Instead I have tried to keep an open mind, allowing conclusions to form and evolve in the light of the growing body of material, whether fashionable or not. I hope readers are served that way. But while the opinions expressed are my own, they rest upon findings uncovered only with the help and encouragement of many who have made this a rewarding social as well as an intellectual journey.
    John Sugden
    Cumbria, 2003

ABBREVIATIONS
    Published sources are cited by short titles that key to the select bibliography. Abbreviations commonly used are as follows:
Add. MSS
Additional Manuscripts at the British Library
ADM
Admiralty papers, Public Record Office
BL
British Library, London
CBS
Centre for Buckinghamshire Studies, Aylesbury
CO
Colonial Office papers, PRO
D&L
Nicolas, ed., Dispatches and Letters . . . of Nelson
DNB
Dictionary of National Biography
FO
Foreign Office papers, PRO
HCA
High Court of Admiralty papers, PRO
MM
Mariner’s Mirror (Journal of the Society of Nautical
Research)
Monmouth MSS
Manuscripts at the Nelson Museum, Monmouth
NC
Clarke and McArthur, eds, The Naval Chronicle
ND
Nelson Dispatch (Journal of the Nelson Society)
NLS
National Library of Scotland, Edinburgh
NMM
National Maritime Museum, Greenwich
NLTHW
Naish, ed., Nelson’s Letters to his Wife
PRO
Public Record Office, Kew
SRRC
Shropshire Records and Research Centre, Shrewsbury
TC
Trafalgar Chronicle (Yearbook of the 1805 Club)
WO
War Office papers, PRO

SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY
    A: Manuscripts
    Centre for Buckinghamshire Studies, Aylesbury
    Fremantle papers (D-FR/32/2/3; D-FR/41/6; D-FR/45/2)
    Berwick-upon-Tweed Record Office
    Parish registers of Berwick-upon-Tweed and Belford
    National Library of Scotland, Edinburgh
    Copies of Collingwood papers (NLS 1811)
    Lynedoch papers (NLS 3596)
    Minto papers (NLS 9819, 11049–51, 11072, 11083, 11111, 11139, 11193, 11209–14, 11221)
    Norfolk Nelson Museum, Great Yarmouth
    Ben Burgess