ADMIRAL LORD NELSON
HORATIO NELSON
Born in 1758 at Burnham Thorpe, Nelson was educated at Norwich Grammar School and later at the Paston School in North Walsham. He went to sea as a midshipman when scarcely into his teens. He made his way up to command his own ship at the age of 20. The ending of the American War of Independence meant a temporary halt to his advance, but the outbreak of the war with France led to his continued success in battle. He lost his right arm in action, and was victorious at the Battle of the Nile. After the Battle of Trafalgar France never recovered at sea, but Nelson was fatally wounded.
He was immensely popular among his sailors, and with the people of Norfolk, but among the aristocracy his amour with Lady Hamilton posed problems. His great esteem among the people could not be denied, but Lady Hamilton was thrown to the wolves after his death.
HUMPHRY REPTON
Born in Bury St Edmunds in 1752, his family moved to Norwich where (like Nelson) he attended the Free Grammar School (now Norwich School). Intended for a career as a merchant, he was sent to the Netherlands to learn Dutch with regard to following this career. He pursued several business ventures, none of which were successful. A childhood friend, (Sir) James Edward Smith, encouraged him to study botany (Smith’s speciality) and gardening.
He determined to replace the recently deceased Capabilty Brown, and wrote to landowners across the land promoting his abilities as a landscape gardener – a phrase he invented. His attempts to branch out in this way met with success, particularly among Norfolk estate owners, where he was to a degree known. His ability to illustrate his plans with delightful water colours must have done much to persuade his prospects to employ him.
His best work can be seen at Sheringham Park, which can be enjoyed as a National Trust property. Although he did work in many other counties, he remained a Norfolk man at heart to the end, and was buried in Aylsham churchyard when he died in 1818.
ELIZABETH FRY
Elizabeth Fry
Elizabeth Fry was born to the Gurney family of bankers in Norwich and spent much of her childhood in the idyllic setting of Bramerton by the river Yare. She married Joseph Fry; he also was a banker, but not a successful one – in middle age the family was made bankrupt. Elizabeth Fry had 11 children, but devoted her life to ameliorating the lives of female convicts, and trying to place them on a better course of life when released.
Elizabeth Fry came from the banking arm of the Quaker tradition, and so it is appropriate that the £5 note should have appeared in 2001 with her likeness on it; but it was as social reformer rather for her connections with financiers that her name is remembered in the 21st century.
One of Elizabeth Fry’s sons lived into the 20th century; you can see why some of her contemporaries accused her of neglecting her duties as a wife and mother by spending so much time looking after the female inmates of the London gaols. She had moved to the London area upon her marriage and found the dreadful conditions of the prisons there offended her social conscience.
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