In recent times Admiral Lord Nelson has been accused of being pro-slavery. This talk investigates those allegations and reveals how the West Indian planters took a private letter from Nelson, written on board HMS Victory in June 1805 and forged it in an attempt to influence debates on abolition of the slave trade in Parliament in 1807. Circulating copies of the forged letter, the planters were preying on Nelson’s burgeoning posthumous reputation in support of their cause. Is the fight for his reputation Nelson’s final battle? A great talk for those wishing to bring fresh postcolonial insight to familiar historical narratives.

Chris Brett is a Norfolk man and Chairman of the Nelson Society, a post he has held for over four years. He is the author of Nelson and the Slave Trade (2023).