Horatio Nelson, 1807 by William Beechey. Reproduced with the kind permission of The Worshipful Company of Drapers of which Nelson was an illustrious memberLord Nelson was not, as is often suggested, a very short man.

Recent research has concluded that he was about 5 ft 6 in. tall, very much an average height for men at that period.

In some pictures of the Battle of Trafalgar he does look small, but since he is generally standing beside Captain Hardy (6 ft 4 in. and heavily built) this is scarcely surprising. In fact, a contemporary diarist described him as ‘of middle height, or rather above’.