Maurice Suckling

Maurice was born on 4 May 1726 at Barsham Rectory in Suffolk, the second of the four children of Rev. Maurice Shelton Suckling (d.1730) of Barsham (a great grandson of the poet Sir John Suckling) by his wife Mary Anne Turner (1691–1768), a daughter of Sir Charles Turner, 1st Baronet[3] by his wife Mary Walpole (1673–1701) a sister of Robert Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford,[4] the Prime Minister.

Maurice's sister Catherine Suckling (1725–95) was the wife of Rev. Edmund Nelson of Burnham Thorpe in Norfolk, and mother of the great Admiral Horatio Nelson (1758–1805). Maurice's nephew, Lieutenant Maurice William Suckling (1761–1820), also served under him with Horatio Nelson.

His father died in 1730 and the family relocated to Beccles. At the age of thirteen Maurice left home for Sheerness where on 25 November 1739 he enlisted as an ordinary seaman aboard the elderly 54-gun warship Newcastle.[4]

Suckling was the commander of Dreadnought in action in the Battle of Cap-Français off Saint-Domingue on 21 October 1757,[5] during the Seven Years War.

It was Suckling who was responsible for the early training of his nephew Horatio Nelson.[5] Young Nelson was entered on the books of the newly commissioned Raisonnable, commanded by Suckling, and joined the crew several months later, in early 1771.[5] Suckling was transferred to the Nore guardship and arranged for his nephew to sail to the West Indies in a Hibbert, Purrier and Horton merchantman, the Mary Ann captained by John Rathbone,[6] gaining experience of seamanship and life at sea (he sailed from Medway, Kent, on 25 July 1771 sailing to Jamaica and Tobago, returning to Plymouth on 7 July 1772). Suckling also used his influence to have Nelson appointed to the Carcass for a 1773 expedition in search of the Northwest Passage. Suckling became Comptroller of the Navy[5] in 1775 and was able to speed Nelson's career. He continued to use his influence on Nelson's behalf until his death in 1778.

Suckling had a brief career in Parliament, presumably with Admiralty support. He was returned unopposed to represent Portsmouth on 18 May 1776, replacing Sir Edward Hawke who had been created Baron Hawke and called to the House of Lords, but there is no record of Suckling having voted or spoken.[7]

He married Mary Walpole (born 1725),[8] his mother's maternal first cousin, a daughter of Horatio Walpole, 1st Baron Walpole "of Wolterton" (1678–1757), younger brother of Robert Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford, the Prime Minister.

• Syrett, David (22 March 2013). "Nelson's Uncle: Captain Maurice Suckling". The Mariner's Mirror. 88 (1). Retrieved 21 December 2014.