Letter signed ("William R"), written as King, to the widow of the Hon Sir Henry Blackwood, sending condolences on the death of her husband ("...the sad event which has deprived You of a most affectionate and exemplary Husband and me of a valuable, attached and loyal servant, distinguished also by a gallant and meritorious Service in the Profession..."), subscribing himself "Yours Affectionately", 2 pages, very slight dust-staining, 4to (227 x 185mm.), Brighton, 24 December 1832; with a stipple engraving by W. Bromley of The right Honourable Lord Viscount Nelson, 1809, on laid paper, published by R Bowyer, London, dust staining, 660 x 410mm., framed and glazed, unexamined out of frame (2)

Footnotes

Provenance:
Bonhams, Nelson & The Royal Navy 1750-1815, 5 July 2005, lots 285 and 148
Private collection UK

'DISTINGUISHED ALSO BY A GALLANT AND MERITORIOUS SERVICE': A fine letter with links with both Nelson's early and late career.

William IV, as Prince William, had extended his royal patronage to Nelson when both men served in the West Indies, giving away the bride when Nelson married Fanny Nisbet, and retaining a close interest in his career. Indeed, after the Hero's death, he went so far as to claim that they had lived together as brothers. He nearly usurped Nelson in one respect: Trafalgar Square was due to be called King William Square, with a statue of the Sailor King designated for the site of the present column, until an Admiralty architect suggested that it be dedicated to Nelson instead; a plan to which William himself gave his royal assent (see Flora Fraser, 'If You Seek His Monument' in The Nelson Companion, edited by Colin White, 1995, pp.129-30). The subject of this letter, Henry Blackwood, had commanded the Euryalus, the chief of Nelson's frigates keeping watch on the Combined Fleet before Trafalgar. It was he who with Captain Hardy witnessed Nelson's so-called 'Last Codicil' just before the battle. When Blackwood left the Victory, Nelson's last words to him were "God bless you, Blackwood; I shall never speak to you again".

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WILLIAM IV & NELSON Letter signed ("William R"), written as King, to the widow of the Hon Sir Henry Blackwood, sending condolences, December 1832; and an engraving of Lord Viscount Nelson by W. Bromley, framed and glazed

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