Patronage was the oil that kept the wheels of Georgian Britain moving smoothly. It affected most areas of public life, not least the Royal Navy. In his early career, Nelson benefited from the patronage of his uncle Captain Maurice Suckling, and of his uncle's friends and professional allies. When he became influential himself, he passed on the benefits to others – often the sons, or relatives, of those who had helped him earlier.

A significant proportion of the newly located Nelson letters – perhaps as much as 15 per cent – relates to his exercise of patronage. Nicolas prints little of this material and as a result this aspect of Nelson's leadership has not been properly examined in the past. Yet an understanding of Nelson's use of patronage is vital to a full appreciation of his leadership methods: it often informed his decisions about promotions and even had an effect on his operational decisions. For example, he was more likely to give a ‘plum’, such as a potentially lucrative cruise, to an officer who was one of his own protégés, or the protégé of one of his friends or close colleagues.

A number of letters relating to patronage appear later in this book, in their appropriate place in the chronology. But some 40 have been assembled here to highlight the importance of this subject, and they have been organised into sections to illustrate the ways in which this sort of material can throw light into a hitherto dark corner of Nelson's career.

The system

The first group of letters has been chosen to show how the system worked. First, there was political influence, as shown by the sequence relating to the appointment of Midshipman Coleman to the frigate HMS Caroline in December 1802. The Navy had been drastically reduced in size during the Peace of Amiens, and so sea-going appointments were very highly prized – the new material presented here shows how Coleman won his ‘plum’. First, on 19 November, Captain Benjamin Page of HMS Caroline (clearly wishing to ingratiate himself with Nelson) offered to take a Midshipman of his nomination (95). The next day, Nelson wrote to William Windham offering to nominate his protégé Mr Coleman and his letter makes it clear that Windham had already asked him to help the young man (96).