1839 - 1929
William Nelson was born in Annan in 1839 and his family moved to Maryport in 1853. He spent five years as an apprentice sailmaker working in the sail lofts of the well-known shipbuilders Ritson’s of Maryport. William’s seafaring career was to span from 1862 until 1909, 47 years in all, 36 of which he was in command. Captain William Nelson never lost a ship during his years at sea, and could be rated as one of the finest sailing ship captains of his era, highly admired by his crews for his honesty and fairness, it was mentioned on many occasions by crew members, that the food on his plate was exactly the same as the man on deck, he was a great believer in teamwork, even though he was the captain he was part of the working team. Captain Nelson was to become known as the master of Cape Horn, because of his fast voyages and his magnificent seamanship; a truly fine skipper.
It was said he had first-hand knowledge of every trade needed on his ships and that he had such a good ‘weather eye’ that he could out-sail the fastest clippers of his day on long voyages, though his ships were not equipped with such a large sail area. He is also credited with caring for his crew by seeing they got fair rations.
