SCOTT AND ADMIRAL LORD NELSON
My father amongst others, was proud to have this ancestral link. I find references in his notes to how a Watson ancestor married into the Scott family of which this applies. Unfortunately it is but a family legend. A Scott indeed, but unfortunately not of our ancestry.
Or is the legend just a bit mixed up?
We know that Scotts from our family line were in the navy, perhaps also Watsons, as they lived in Plymouth and nearby, and this seemed to support the story.
A few years ago we had as a guest speaker on a cruise, the retired Commander of Nelson's flagship, Victory. (It still needs a commander even though it is now a museum). This was a good source. He showed me pictures of Dr Scott attending the dying Nelson and gave me guidance on his origins. This, unfortunately, confirmed my suspicions that this Scott had no family connections.
But before we ignore this as irrelevant, lets understand the circumstances. It is a good story after all.
The following is from http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/lordnelson.htm
Dr. William Beatty was a physician aboard the Victory and attended Nelson as he lay dying. The doctor published his account soon after the battle. We join his story as Nelson and the Captain of the Victory observe the battle from the ship's quarter deck:
"Lord Nelson and Captain Hardy walked the quarter-deck in conversation for some time after this, while the enemy kept up an incessant raking fire. A double-headed shot struck one of the parties of Marines drawn up on the poop, and killed eight of them; when his lordship, perceiving this, ordered Captain Adair, to disperse his men round the ship, that they might not suffer so much from being together. In a few minutes afterwards a shot struck the fore-brace-bits on the quarter-deck, and passed between Lord Nelson and Captain Hardy; a splinter from the bits bruising Captain Hardy's foot, and tearing the buckle from his shoe. They both instantly stopped; and were observed by the Officers on deck to survey each other with inquiring looks, each supposing the other to be wounded. His lordship then smiled, and said: 'This is too warm work, Hardy, to last long;' and declared that 'through all the battles he had been in, he had never witnessed more cool courage than was displayed by the Victory's crew on this occasion.'
. . . About fifteen minutes past one o'clock, which was in the heat of the engagement, he was walking the middle of the quarter-deck with Captain Hardy, and in the act of turning near the hatchway with his face towards the stern of the Victory, when the fatal ball was fired from the enemy's mizzen-top. . .
The ball struck the epaulette on his left shoulder, and penetrated his chest. He fell with his face on the deck. Captain Hardy, who was on his right (the side furthest from the enemy) and advanced some steps before his lordship, on turning round, saw the Sergeant Major of Marines with two seamen raising him from the deck; where he had fallen on the same spot on which, a little before, his secretary had breathed his last, with whose blood his lordship's clothes were much soiled. Captain Hardy expressed a hope that he was not severely wounded; to which the gallant Chief replied: 'They have done for me at last, Hardy.' - 'I hope not,' answered Captain Hardy. 'Yes,' replied his lordship; 'my backbone is shot through.' Captain Hardy ordered the seamen to carry the Admiral to the cockpit. . .
His lordship was laid upon a bed, stripped of his clothes, and covered with a sheet. While this was effecting, he said to Doctor Scott, "Doctor, I told you so. Doctor, I am gone;..."
So if Dr. William Beatty was a physician onboard the Victory, what was Dr Scott doing there?
The answer is that he was the chaplain and would have given the wounded and dying in spiritual rather than medical attendance. Alexander John Scott was in fact the Reverend Dr.Scott.
Wiki tells us : "Reverend Dr. Alexander John Scott (1768–1840) was an Anglican chaplain who served in the Royal Navy during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. He served as Horatio Nelson's personal chaplain at the Battle of Trafalgar, and had previously served as his private secretary. Scott was a close friend of Nelson, and was with him as he died aboard HMS Victory".
He appears in the famous paintings of Nelson's death along with Hardy and others.
Scott is prominently depicted in Arthur William Devis's The Death of Nelson, 21 October 1805. Scott is to the immediate left of Nelson in the picture, rubbing Nelson's chest to relieve his pain.
If you are wondering if another Scott was on board who may have been a relative or ancestor, have a look at the muster roll : http://www.memorialsinportsmouth.co.uk/dockyard/victory-muster.htm
The name of Scott does appear, but not with the appropriate initials.
So why the family legend? When we look at our family tree we see very similar names to Alexander John Scott. Understandable wishful thinking that proved incorrect. My father's notes record Alexander Scott Watson's daughter, Agnes (Agnes Catherine Watson b1838 Poland; d1913 Lerwick), as having married Robert Charles Scott M. D. (R. N.) of Melby, a naval surgeon. He was a minor laird and owned the island of Foula. His father was John Scott. My father thought that OUR Scott, Robert Charles was the son of the doctor who attended Admiral Lord Nelson on H. M. S. Victory when he was mortally wounded at the Battle of Trafalgar. (Nelson's religious minister was also a Scott). Wiki tells us that the Dr Scott present at Nelson's death went on to take up the vicarage at Burnham on Crouch and had a son who died shortly after birth and two daughters, Horatia and Margaret. So the Scott at Nelson' death and the name of the doctor don't match. The name combinations and dates don't tie up. Does this end speculation on this family link? I think so, but then ships had more than one doctor....
The Reverend Doctor Alexander Scott, 1768-1840. Painted in 1840, possibly a posthumous portrait.
For more on Reverend Dr. Alexander John Scott see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_John_Scott and for some really fascinating information http://www.essex-family-history.co.uk/Scottalexander.htm
The John Scott of our ancestry had an illustrious career. More of that under SCOTTS OF SHETLAND and SCOTT, ROBERT THOMAS CHARLES. He died on the 20th February 1813 when he drowned in the wreck of the 'Doris' off Cruden Bay, Aberdeenshire. Did this indicate a naval role? Or was he a civilian oon that ill fated ship? I cannot find any details to explain that.
Or is there simply a confusion as to the details. So back to naval records.
I find 3 men named John Scott in the Battle of Trafalgar Muster Roll.
Scott John 17 English Boy. (This would have meant he was born c 1788. Ours was born in 1617)
Scott Alex John 27 English Chaplain WO (He was born c1778)
Scott John 0 unknown Secretary (with no details, this leaves this man open to interpretation).
A forth Scott is Andrew, but this doesn't tally with any other records.
This is a minute chance that the famiy story is true albeit inaccurate.
The second John Scott was born in 1782. He would have been 23 at the time of the Battle of Trafalgar. The John Scott on the Muster Roll certainly served in the battle.
But was he from OUR Scott family? Was he onboard the Victory? Nelson is known to have been close to his secretary. He even died in the blood of one who fell shortly before him. But they were not our family.
This has been an intriguing investigation. But is does the family legend have any validity?
Perhaps we should leave it a mystery.
documents/articles/jeremy-watsons-family-article_-nelson-legend.pdf
