Decolonising Nelson

I wrote in an earlier post about Admiral Lord Nelson, who, being a Norfolkman like my Dad, did get talked about in my house growing up.

And I have written a few posts about decolonisation.  

Here is one about both.

Nelson, English (maybe British) hero, victor over the French, standing proud on his famous column in central London.

And Nelson, famous Norfolkman.

Are there other viewpoints from which to view his life?

Well, although he fought in battles against another European power, they were not always in European waters.    He is remembered for Trafalgar, but there was also the Battle of the Nile.    What were we (and the other Europeans, come to that) doing fighting there?    What did we and our opponents want?

Then there are the monuments.

I found an article (1) about monuments to Nelson erected outside England.   Edinburgh has one, although it is an upturned telescope shape and not a statue.    Georgetown in Barbados has one too, which was put up in a new square called Trafalgar Square.  The statue in Georgetown is older than the one in London.   It was paid for by planters and merchants.   The author of the article argues it was put up by people who wanted to show their allegiance to the colonial power.

The artist Yinka Shonibare has made a Nelson's ship in a bottle, which is at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich (2).  It has the same number of guns and sails as Nelson's ship did at the Battle of Trafalgar, but the sails are inspired by Indonesian batik, designs which were sold in markets in West Africa.    This artwork had previously been on the fourth plinth in Trafalgar Square in London.

None of this detracts from Nelson as a Norfolkman, or someone who appears to have supported vaccination, or someone who died in battle.   Or someone who worked with his own disabilities.  But it does ask questions from the point of view of people outside England, from the point of view of people other than white blokes of a certain age with Norfolk connections. 

Nelson was in his historical time, part of what was happening globally, and if we are looking with new eyes at those global things and their consequences, we need to look at Nelson as part of that.

References

(1) Richard Drayton (2019) Rhodes Must Not Fall?, Third Text, 33:4-5, 651-666, DOI: 10.1080/09528822.2019.1653073

(2) https://www.rmg.co.uk/national-maritime-museum/must-see/grab-selfie-nelsons-ship-bottle, accessed 20th February 2021.