Thomas Horatio Nelson, 4th Earl Nelson (21 December 1857 – 30 September 1947), styled Viscount Merton until 1913, was a British peer, inheriting the

earldom Earl () is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. The title originates in the Old English word ''eorl'', meaning "a man of noble birth or rank". The word is cognate with the Scandinavian form ''jarl'', and meant "chieftain", particular ...

on 25 February 1913 from his father,

Horatio Nelson, 3rd Earl Nelson Horatio Nelson, 3rd Earl Nelson, (7 August 1823 – 25 February 1913), was a British politician. He was the son of Thomas Bolton (a nephew of Vice Admiral The 1st Viscount Nelson) by his wife Frances Elizabeth Eyre. On 28 February 1835 his ...

. Born at Trafalgar Park in

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...

, he was the son of Horatio Nelson, 3rd Earl Nelson of Trafalgar and of Merton and Lady Mary Jane Diana (née Agar, 1823–1904). A Roman Catholic through his mother, Lady Mary Nelson, in 1914 he had Standlynch Church rededicated to Mary Queen of Angels and St. Michael and All the Angels, served by a resident priest. In 1930, Lord Nelson purchased the panelling of the Captain's Cabin of , built in 1821, which was being broken up, installing the panelling in the main top floor room at Trafalgar Park. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

the North and South Wings of Trafalgar Park, the family seat, were occupied by tenants with Thomas Nelson and his younger brother Edward Agar Nelson living in the main house. In 1946 he complained to the

Attlee Government Clement Attlee was invited by King George VI to form the Attlee ministry in the United Kingdom in July 1945, succeeding Winston Churchill as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. The Labour Party had won a landslide victory at the 1945 gener ...

that much of the £5,000 a year pension granted to his ancestor the 1st Earl was being spent on maintaining the house. The Treasury proposed to create a Bill ending the pension but which would allow the Nelson family to sell the estate, which had been purchased with money raised by public subscription for the descendants of Horatio Nelson. The Bill ending the pension was passed in 1947 after the death of Thomas Nelson and Trafalgar Park was sold in 1948 by Edward Agar Nelson, the 5th Earl.The History of Trafalgar Park
/ref> Thomas Nelson died in September 1947 at age 89. He never married and on his death the title passed to his younger brother Edward, the 5th Earl Nelson.
/ref>Mosley, Charles, editor. ''Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage'', 107th edition, 3 volumes. Wilmington, Delaware, United States.: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003

References

1857 births 1947 deaths Earls Nelson {{UK-earl-stub