MARTYN DOWNER

Nelson's Purse

Alexander DavisonBorn in 1750, Alexander Davison was the son of a Northumbrian farmer. As a young man, Davison worked as a clerk in the counting-house of a North American trader in the City of London. In 1773 he moved to Quebec - under British control since General Wolfe's capture of the town from the French in 1759 - where he quickly established a successful business trading in a variety of goods. It was in Quebec that Davison met Nelson in September 1782. Nelson, then a young post-captain, was in Canada escorting supplies to the British army fighting the rebellious American colonists to the south. The two young men became fast friends and in 1798, following his victory at the battle of the Nile, Nelson named Davison - who had continued to build his fortune back in England - as his prize agent. This highly lucrative role made Davison responsible for negotiating the sale to the Admiralty of any enemy ships captured during the action and for distributing the proceeds among Nelson and his men. In return for this favour, Davison lavished gifts on Nelson and arranged for a medal to be given, at his own expense, to every man who had fought the battle - all 6000 of them. Davison fully enjoyed the fruits of his great wealth, buying mansions in London and Northumberland and building a magnificent art collection with which to fill them. However, he would pay a heavy price for his apparently effortless rise through Society. In 1804 he was imprisoned for a year for electoral corruption, having tried to purchase a parliamentary seat through the use of bribes. He returned to prison after Trafalgar, this time convicted of defrauding the government during his extensive dealings with the barrack office. On his release in 1811, Davison lived quietly: his reputation - like his once enormous fortune - had been destroyed fighting the government. He died aged 79 in December 1829.

Image is reproduced by courtesy of Sotheby's Picture Library.