Catherine Suckling

Catherine Suckling

Infobox Person
name = Catherine Suckling



caption = The 18 year old Catherine Suckling, a copy of a portrait by John Theodore Heins
birth_date = 9 May 1725
birth_place = Barsham, Suffolk
death_date = 26 December 1767
death_place = Burnham Thorpe, Norfolk
other_names =
known_for =
occupation =
nationality = British

Catherine Suckling (9 May 1725 – 26 December 1767) was the mother of Horatio Nelson. Catherine had 11 children of which Nelson was the third surviving son.

Family and marriage

Catherine was born on 9 May 1725 in Barsham, Norfolk, the oldest child and only daughter of the Reverend Dr Maurice Suckling, the rector of Barsham and Woodton, and a prebendary of Westminster.cite book |last=Sugden |title=Dream of Glory |pages=p. 33] Her father died when Catherine was five, and her mother Ann took the family to live at Beccles. There Catherine met the former curate of Beccles, the Reverend Edmund Nelson. They were married on 11 May 1749.

The marriage was a good one for Edmund, for Catherine was related through her father to the poet Sir John Suckling, and through her mother to the powerful Walpole family, by now elevated to the peerage as the Earls of Orford. She was a grandniece of Sir Robert Walpole, and the Walpoles' influence had helped her brothers Maurice and William embark on successful careers.cite book |last=Sugden |title=Dream of Glory |pages=p. 34]

Children

The couple moved to Swaffham after their marriage where Catherine bore Edmund three children. Two died in infancy, a third, Maurice, survived.cite book |last=Sugden |title=Dream of Glory |pages=p. 34] They then moved to Sporle, where on 12 June 1755 Catherine gave birth to the couple's first daughter, Susanna. Also in 1755 Horace Walpole offered Edmund the position of rector at Burnham Thorpe. Edmund accepted and the two settled at the rectory.cite book |last=Sugden |title=Dream of Glory |pages=p. 35] William was born on 20 April 1757, and on 29 September 1758, Catherine gave birth to Horatio, naming him after their benefactor and the young Horatio's godparent, Horace Walpole.cite book |last=Sugden |title=Dream of Glory |pages=p. 36] Horatio was a sickly child, and Edmund feared he would not live long enough to be baptised at the public ceremony arranged for 15 November. Horatio was baptised at a private ceremony on 8 October. The last of the Nelson children followed, Ann on 20 September 1760, Edmund on 4 June 1762, Suckling on 5 January 1764, and Catherine on 19 March 1767. Another boy, George, was born in 1765 but died three months later.

Death and legacy

Catherine died on 26 December 1767 at the age of 42, leaving Edmund with eight children. A grief-stricken Edmund buried her four days later in the church at Burnham Thorpe.cite book |last=Sugden |title=Dream of Glory |pages=p. 40] He never remarried. Catherine's mother, Ann, died shortly afterwards. Maurice Suckling, Edmund's brother-in-law, visited the rectory to attend the funerals, and found Edmund heart-broken, and fearing for the future for his children. He had begun to call in favours with relatives to ensure that educations and positions could be found for them, and Suckling promised to do what he could for one of the boys, using the patronage available to him as a naval captain. This saw the start of Horatio's successful career in the Royal Navy.

Horatio was nine when his mother died, but remembered her with fondness. He recalled a line from "Henry V" when he did so and said that it could be seen in the tears in his eyes.cite book |last=Sugden |title=Dream of Glory |pages=p. 41] He would also recall her hatred for the French.

Notes

References

*citebook|author=Sugden, John|title=Nelson - A Dream of Glory|location=London|publisher=Jonathan Cape|year=2004|isbn=0-224-06097-X


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать курсовую

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Catherine Suckling — à 18 ans sur un portrait de John Theodore Heins. Catherine Suckling (9 mai 1725, Barsham 26 décembre 1767, Burnham Thorpe) est la mère de l amiral Horatio Nelson. Fille du révérend Maurice Suckling, Catherine e …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Suckling (disambiguation) — Suckling is the feeding of an infant or young child with breast milk directly from a woman s breasts.Suckling may also refer to:* Mount Suckling, the highest peak of the Goropu Mountains * The Suckling , a 1989 horror filmPeople with the surname… …   Wikipedia

  • Maurice Suckling — Maurice Suckling, by Thomas Bardwell, 1764 Born 1726 …   Wikipedia

  • Maurice Suckling — Maurice Suckling, par Thomas Bardwell. Maurice Suckling (1726 1788) est un officier de la Royal Navy, qui a joué un rôle important dans la formation de son neveu Horatio Nelson. Il commande le 60 canons cap Français, le 21 octobre 1757 …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Hours of Catherine of Cleves — The Hours of Catherine of Cleves (The Hours, Morgan Library and Museum, M. 917; and M. 945, less widely known as the Guennol Hours, and rarely known as the Arenberg Hours) is an ornately illustrated manuscript, produced by the anonymous Dutch… …   Wikipedia

  • Amiral Nelson — Horatio Nelson Pour les articles homonymes, voir Nelson. Horatio Nelson Naissance 29 s …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Horatio Lord Nelson — Horatio Nelson Pour les articles homonymes, voir Nelson. Horatio Nelson Naissance 29 s …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Horatio Nelson — Pour les articles homonymes, voir Nelson. Horatio Nelson 1er vicomte Nelson …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Merton Place — Horatio Nelson Pour les articles homonymes, voir Nelson. Horatio Nelson Naissance 29 s …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Edmund Nelson — Pour les articles homonymes, voir Nelson. Edmund Nelson sur un portrait de William Beechey. Edmund Nelson (19 mars  …   Wikipédia en Français

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”