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. In modern Britain, an earl is a member of the peerage, ranking below a marquess and above a viscount. A feminine form of ''earl'' never developed; instead, ''countess'' is used. The titl ...

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 Nelson, 2nd Earl Nelson, Thomas Bolton (a nephew of Vice Admiral (Royal Navy), Vice Admiral Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount ...

. Born at Trafalgar Park in

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated to Wilts) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It borders Gloucestershire to the north, Oxfordshire to the north-east, Berkshire to the east, Hampshire to the south-east, Dorset to the south, and Somerset to ...

, 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 (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

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 first Attlee ministry in the United Kingdom on 26 July 1945, succeeding Winston Churchill as prime minister of the United Kingdom. The Labour Party had won a landslide victory at the 19 ...

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