Letter signed by Lord Nelson could fetch up to £3,500

A letter signed by Horatio Nelson will be the star lot when it goes under the hammer at a militaria sale tomorrow.

TW Gaze in Diss will be selling the item, which was written in 1803, as part of its VE Day 75th anniversary sale, which was postponed due to coronavirus.

Auction rooms director Elizabeth Talbot said: “In this time of struggle, endurance and national strife, this lot reflects the current mood of doing what we all can for the good of the homeland and the greater good of all.”

The letter to Ross Donnelly, captain of the Narcissus, is hand-written and additionally signed by Alexander John Scott, Nelson’s faithful official secretary, who was with him when he died on-board HMS Victory in 1805.

Estimates believe it could sell for between £2,500 and £3,500.

Vice-Admiral Nelson was born in Burnham Thorpe, Norfolk, in 1758, and learned to sail around Burnham Overy Staithe.

The British naval commander, famous for his victories in the Napoleonic Wars, including at the Battle of Trafalgar, was once said to have declared: “I am myself a Norfolk man and glory in being so.”

For more information on the sale tomorrow, go to the T W Gaze website.