Comments by "doveton sturdee" (@dovetonsturdee7033) on "Horatio Nelson - Britain's Greatest Admiral Documentary" video.

  1. Perhaps the most annoying thing about the recent attacks on Nelson is the fact that the famous letter to Simon Taylor, used as the 'smoking gun' is in fact a forgery. It has been claimed by the 'Nelson must fall' enthusiasts that the original letter was long lost, but that it was accurately copied and used by anti-abolitionists to support their campaign after his death. However, a 'pressed' copy (in effect, a form of carbon copy) of the original does still exist, in Admiralty archives. This clearly shows that the released letter had been extensively altered to 'beef up' the claim that the dead Admiral strongly supported slavery. There are, I understand, some 25 areas where it differs from the Admiralty letter. I assume that the campaigners are aware of this, but choose to ignore it as it does not fit their agenda.
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  2. Actually, on a couple of occasions at least, his successes resulted from him ignoring what he was told to do.
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  3. I wonder which elements of the accepted manner in which society behaves in 2020 will be regarded with appalled astonishment by the society of 2220? Hopefully, the 'woke' lunacy will be one, unless, perhaps, it has been totally forgotten.
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  4. A BBC documentary about Nelson, broadcast recently, made great play about his support for slavery, quoting extensively from the letter to Simon Taylor. At the time, the BBC knew that the famous letter, which allegedly existed only as a copy, had actually been re-written after Nelson's death by anti-abolitionists keen to recruit the memory of the recently deceased victor of Trafalgar to their cause. An actual copy of the original, a so-called 'pressed copy' similar to an early carbon copy, has resided in Admiralty archives since 1805, and has recently been brought to light by a naval historian. There are, I understand, twenty-five differences between the Admiralty copy, and the letter quoted by the BBC. Odd, or perhaps not so odd, that the BBC knew of this, but chose not to mention it? I believe that the Admiralty copy is now with the National Museum of the Royal Navy. Probably safer there, as there was possibly a risk that the National Maritime Museum might 'lose' it.
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  5. I believe that he did not actually lose the eye itself.
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  6. The texts of the letters, both the real one and the doctored one, can be read on the Nelson Society website.
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  7. You forgot 111 as well. I managed 111 a few times, but couldn't have got near 222 without oxygen or an unusually inept set of bowlers.
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