The webpage Wikipedia has following to say about Nelson 's early life:
Horatio Nelson was born on 29 September 1758 in a rectory in Burnham Thorpe, Norfolk, England, the sixth of eleven children of the ReverendEdmund Nelson and his wife Catherine. His mother, who died on 26 December 1767 when he was nine years old, was a grandniece of Robert Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford, the de facto first Prime Minister of Great Britain. She lived in the village of Barsham, Suffolk, and married the Reverend Edmund Nelson at Beccles church, Suffolk, in 1749.
Nelson attended Paston Grammar School, North Walsham, until he was 12 years old, and also attended King Edward VI’s Grammar School in Norwich. His naval career began on 1 January 1771, when he reported to the third-rate HMS Raisonnable as an Ordinary Seaman and coxswain under his maternal uncle, Captain Maurice Suckling, who commanded the vessel. Shortly after reporting aboard, Nelson was appointed a midshipman and began officer training. Early in his service, Nelson discovered that he suffered from seasickness, a chronic complaint that dogged him for the rest of his life.
Nelson 's life
Nelson 's two great qualities as a naval officer were his courage and his humanity. He was a leader so inspirational that when he died, the men of his fleet did 'nothing but Blast their eyes and cry ever since he was killed. God bless you! ', as one wrote, continuing, 'Chaps that fought like the devil, sit down and cry like a wench! '
Beloved from his loyal band of captains down to the most junior of cabin boys, his men knew they could rely on him to protect their interests. Discipline was essential to maintain order on board a ship that carried up to 850 men, sometimes for years at a time without leave, and Nelson was no soft touch. Most crucially, though, he recognised that treating his sailors well was the key to a well-run ship. He was always ready with a kind word or a joke to encourage his men, and equally
Bibliography: Wikipedia: Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horatio_Nelson,_1st_Viscount_Nelson COOPER, J. Great Britons: The Great Debate. London : National Portrait Gallery Publications, 2002. 172 p. ISBN 1-85514-507-3. MCDOWALL, D. An Illustrated History of Britain. Harlow : Longman, 2003. 188 p. ISBN 0-582-74914-X.