Maurice Suckling

Maurice Suckling
Maurice Suckling, by Thomas Bardwell, 1764
Born	4 May 1726 Barsham, Suffolk
Died	July 1778 (aged 52)
Allegiance	Kingdom of Great Britain
Service/branch	Royal Navy
Rank	Captain
Battles/wars	Seven Years' War

Captain Maurice Suckling (4 May 1726 – 14 July 1778) was a Royal Navy officer who was instrumental in the training of his nephew, Horatio Nelson.

Maurice Suckling was born on 4 May 1726 at the rectory house in Barsham, Suffolk. He was the second of four children to the Reverend Maurice Suckling of Barsham, and Anne Suckling, a niece of Robert Walpole. Reverend Suckling 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.

Suckling was the commander of Dreadnought in action in the Battle of Cap-Français off Saint-Domingue on 21 October 1757.

It was Suckling who was responsible for Nelson's early training. 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. 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, 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 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.