Sir William Bolton

Notes on Officer

This officer has been frequently described to us as a nephew of the late Vice-Admiral Viscount Nelson: such, however, is not the case; he being the eldest son of the Rev. William Bolton, Rector of Hollesby, co. Suffolk, and of Brancaster, in Norfolk; brother of Thomas Bolton, Esq. who married Susannah, eldest sister of that great officer, under whose auspices he commenced his naval career at the commencement of 1793, and with whom he continued to serve, as a Midshipman and Lieutenant, during the greater part of the French revolutionary war. He was advanced to the rank of Commander in 1801, appointed to the Childers sloop Of war in 1803, and posted April 10, 1805.

Captain Bolton subsequently commanded the Eurydice, Druid, Endymion, and Forth frigates, on the Mediterranean, Irish, Channel, and North American stations. Among the captures made by him in those ships were le Basque, French national brig, of 16 guns and 112 men, laden with flour, &c. for the relief of Guadaloupe; le Milan, privateer, of 14 guns and 80 men; and the Regent, American letter of marque, of 5 guns and 35 men.

In May, 1803, Captain Bolton acted as proxy for Lord Nelson at his installation as a K.B., and on that occasion received the honor of knighthood. He married his first cousin, Catherine, second daughter of the above mentioned Thomas Bolton, Esq. of Cranwich, Norfolk, (whose eldest son is presumptive heir to the Nelson Earldom).