The title was created on 20 November 1805 for
the Reverend William Nelson, 2nd Baron Nelson, who was a son of the Reverend
Edmund Nelson (1722–1802) and an elder brother of Horatio Nelson. The Nelson family had been settled in
Norfolk for many generations, and the Reverend Edmund Nelson was Rector of Hillborough and of
Burnham Thorpe in that county. He married
Catherine Suckling, whose maternal grandmother Mary was the sister of both
the 1st Earl of Orford and
the 1st Baron Walpole of Wolterton. Their fifth but third-surviving son was the renowned naval commander Horatio Nelson. After defeating the French at the
Battle of the Nile in 1798, Horatio Nelson was raised to the
Peerage of Great Britain on 6 October 1798 as
Baron Nelson, of the
Nile, and of
Burnham Thorpe in the
County of Norfolk, with normal remainder to the
heirs male of his body. In 1799, he was created
Duke of Bronte (Italian:
Duca di Bronte) by King
Ferdinand III of Sicily, which title he was given royal sanction to use in Britain. After defeating the Danish fleet at the
Battle of Copenhagen in April 1801, Nelson was further honoured when he was made
Viscount Nelson, of the Nile, and of Burnham Thorpe in the County of Norfolk, with normal remainder to the heirs male of his body, on 22 May 1801. On 18 August of the same year, he was created
Baron Nelson, of the Nile, and of
Hilborough in the County of Norfolk, with remainder, in default of male issue of his own, to his father and the heirs male of his body, and failing them to the heirs male of the body severally and successively of his sisters Susannah Bolton and Catherine Matcham. Both titles were in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. Nelson was killed at the
Battle of Trafalgar on 21 October 1805. Since he had no legitimate children, the barony of 1798 and the viscountcy became extinct upon his death. He was succeeded in the barony of 1801 according to the special remainder (and also in the dukedom of Bronte) by his elder brother the Reverend William Nelson, who became the second Baron. On 20 November 1805, the second Baron was created
Viscount Merton, of Trafalgar and of
Merton in the
County of Surrey, and
Earl Nelson, of Trafalgar and of Merton in the County of Surrey, in honour of his late brother and with similar remainder to the barony of 1801. Both titles are in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. The first earl died without surviving male issue and was succeeded in the dukedom of Bronte by his daughter
Charlotte. The first earl was succeeded in the British titles (according to the special remainders) by his nephew
Thomas Bolton, the second earl. He was the eldest son of the aforementioned Susannah Bolton, a sister of the first earl. The second earl assumed the surname of Nelson upon succeeding to the peerages. He only held the titles for eight months and on his early death, the titles passed to his eldest son, the third earl. He was succeeded by his third but eldest surviving son, the fourth earl. He never married and on his death in 1947, the titles passed to his eighty-seven-year-old younger brother, the fifth earl. He was succeeded by his eldest son, the sixth earl, who was a lecturer in
astronomy and
anthropology. Two of his younger brothers, the seventh and eighth earls, both succeeded in the titles. , the peerages are held by Simon John Horatio Nelson, 10th Earl Nelson (born 1971), a great-grandson of the fifth earl. He succeeded in 2009 and is the eldest son of Peter John Horatio Nelson, the ninth earl. Two other members of the family also had distinguished naval careers. The Hon. Maurice Horatio Nelson (1832–1914), third son of the second Earl, was a
rear-admiral in the Royal Navy. His eldest son, Maurice Henry Horatio Nelson (1864–1942), was a
captain in the Royal Navy. ==Coat of arms==