![NELSON, Horatio, Admiral (1758-1805). Autograph letter signed ('Horatio Nelson') to William Senhouse with postscript signed with initials, Boreas, Antigua, 18 June 1786, contemporary docket, 4 pages, 4to; [and] letter signed by Nelson and inscribed with Senhouse's name, Boreas, English Harbour, [Antigua], 11 August 1786, contemporary docket, one page, 4to, on a bifolium (some browning and fraying at folds and along upper margin). Provenance. William Senhouse; and by descent.](https://www.christies.com/img/LotImages/1999/CKS/1999_CKS_06222_0230_000(122310).jpg?w=1)
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NELSON, Horatio, Admiral (1758-1805). Autograph letter signed ('Horatio Nelson') to William Senhouse with postscript signed with initials, Boreas, Antigua, 18 June 1786, contemporary docket, 4 pages, 4to; [and] letter signed by Nelson and inscribed with Senhouse's name, Boreas, English Harbour, [Antigua], 11 August 1786, contemporary docket, one page, 4to, on a bifolium (some browning and fraying at folds and along upper margin). Provenance. William Senhouse; and by descent.
The letter refers to a 'publick' letter which he had sent concerning the behaviour of the customs officers at St Kitts towards Captain Collingwood [later Vice-Admiral Collingwood], which had incurred Nelson's 'warmest censure'; he adds that Collingwood himself would vindicate his own character ('I have not the smallest doubt, their Assertion that the Kings Ships were supplied with Fresh Beef from any American is a most infamous calumny'), and relating instances of American masters of ships putting into harbour apparently in distress and thus circumventing the navigation laws, acts which, Nelson warned, would be punished with seizure. The letter signed asks Senhouse to send by return of tender a copy of the King's Order in Council of 1763 which related to the passage of Spanish ships bearing bullion and to clarify certain points concerning the importation of livestock into British colonies.
Lieutenant William Senhouse, RN (1741-1800), was surveyor-general of Barbados and the Leeward Islands.
Nelson's letters refer to the situation which he and Collingwood found in the West Indies after the commander-in-chief, Admiral Sir Richard Hughes, had been persuaded by the local merchants and officials to waive the navigation laws in respect of American vessels trading in the West Indies. Nelson and Collingwood refused to comply, which, Nelson adds, brought 'a load of Persecution on my back'. (2)
The letter refers to a 'publick' letter which he had sent concerning the behaviour of the customs officers at St Kitts towards Captain Collingwood [later Vice-Admiral Collingwood], which had incurred Nelson's 'warmest censure'; he adds that Collingwood himself would vindicate his own character ('I have not the smallest doubt, their Assertion that the Kings Ships were supplied with Fresh Beef from any American is a most infamous calumny'), and relating instances of American masters of ships putting into harbour apparently in distress and thus circumventing the navigation laws, acts which, Nelson warned, would be punished with seizure. The letter signed asks Senhouse to send by return of tender a copy of the King's Order in Council of 1763 which related to the passage of Spanish ships bearing bullion and to clarify certain points concerning the importation of livestock into British colonies.
Lieutenant William Senhouse, RN (1741-1800), was surveyor-general of Barbados and the Leeward Islands.
Nelson's letters refer to the situation which he and Collingwood found in the West Indies after the commander-in-chief, Admiral Sir Richard Hughes, had been persuaded by the local merchants and officials to waive the navigation laws in respect of American vessels trading in the West Indies. Nelson and Collingwood refused to comply, which, Nelson adds, brought 'a load of Persecution on my back'. (2)