The directory «Plots of stamps in the catalogue»
Nisbet Josiah
(1780—1830)
Josiah Nisbet was entered and appeared on the Muster List from the 15th August, 1798. Frances Nisbet, later to become Lady Nelson, had returned to Nevis with her infant son Josiah after the death in Salisbury of her husband Dr. Josiah Nisbet. In Nevis she was to manage the household of the President of Nevis, her uncle, Mr. Herbert and it was he who would find, to his amazement, Nelson playing on all fours under the dining room table with the young Josiah during a visit. Married in 1787 Nelson, Frances and the young Josiah returned to England for the 'five years on the beach' although Josiah attended a boarding school arranged by the Revd. William Nelson.
On Nelson's appointment to the Agamemnon in January 1793 Josiah joined him as a Midshipman and his subsequent meteoric rise in the Navy was not entirely due to patronage but to ability and demonstrated courage. With Nelson at the Battle of Cape St. Vincent he was a Lieutenant of the Theseus at the time of the failed Santa Cruz expedition but he was instrumental in saving his stepfather's life when he applied a tourniquet to the shattered right arm.
In the Mediterranean in 1797 he was Captain of the Dolphin (24) (hospital ship)and La Bonne Citoyenne (20) a sloop with a complement of 120, and Buona Ventura (hired brig). Josiah arrived at Aboukir Bay on the 15th August, 1798, on the same day the Mutine sailed carrying Nelson's dispatch to Naples. He had been sent by St. Vincent with a message for Nelson to return to Minorca if he had not made contact with the French fleet. He also carried a sealed letter for Nelson from the Commander-in-Chief to the effect that whilst he had met Nelson's request regarding his son-in-law. "It would be a breach of friendship to conceal from you that he loves drink and low company, is thoroughly ignorant of all forms of service, inattentive, obstinate, and wrong-headed beyond measure, and had he not been your son-in-law must have been annihilated months ago. With all this, he is honest and truth telling, and, I dare say, will, if you ask him, subscribe to every word I have written." After two weeks exhilarating activity with his 'band of brothers' the letter must have come as a great shock and hurt Nelson deeply.
Later Josiah sailed in the Buona Ventura to Naples and joined in the festivities orchestrated by the Ambassador's wife, Lady Hamilton. Josiah had met the Hamilton's in 1793 but he was to be affected by Emma's charms and to be well aware of the effect she was having on Nelson. In his cups he vented his feelings and relations between stepfather and son became strained. Nevertheless he was given command of the frigate Thalia (36) and sent on various missions but news of his unsatisfactory conduct became known. Thalia was ordered back to Portsmouth for a refit and was paid off on arrival in 1800. Nelson was to recommend to the Admiralty that he should not be given another ship and this terminated Josiah's naval career.
Ashore he partook of the fast life for a while but eventually settled with his mother in Exmouth. His joy there was his ownership of a gaff rigged yacht, an interest shared with Frances Evans, who became his wife at Littleham Church on the 31st March 1819. Subsequently he moved to Paris, became a successful dealer in Government Stocks and Bonds, and was joined by Lady Nelson. A chill, which turned to pleurisy, proved fatal and he died aged fifty. A tomb was arranged in Littleham, which contains his body, and family members and it is there that Lady Nelson lies.
Solomon Islands, 2005, Nelson wounded at Tenerife, 24 July 1797
