Trafalgar Medal. (P)

Matthew Boulton struck a fine medal as his personal gift to commemorate Nelson's victory over the French at the Battle of Trafalgar on 21 October 1805, during which Nelson himself died. The letters in these files relate the lengthy efforts made to produce a die to give a good enough likeness of Nelson to satisfy Emma Hamilton and the Nelson family, which delayed production. Nearly 18,000 copies of the medal were struck and distributed during 1806-7 to members of the nobility and gentry, and to all the surviving sailors and marines who had taken part in the battle. A number of the letters refer to problems with the distribution of the medals which did not go entirely to plan. See Nicholas Goodison: Matthew Boulton's Trafalgar Medal (Birmingham, 2007).

The first folder of the eight in this series also contains some letters from 1798 relating to the Battle of the Nile. The letters have been listed in chronological order, with undated letters at the end.

These documents do not appear to have been individually listed previously, therefore there are no old reference numbers beyond the box number 'MBP 421' in the Matthew Boulton Papers where they were formerly placed.

Information in italics is taken from the contemporary dockets on the documents. Information in square brackets is provided by the cataloguer.