WILLIAM LOCKER (1731-1800)
Locker lived in Went House, West Malling between 1783 and 1786. By the end of the Napoleonic wars it was said that “[The British] are lords of the sea, and neither in this dominion nor in world trade have they any rivals left to fear”, and for the first and last time in history a single navy possessed half the world’s warships. Many factors contributed to this, including money, the provisioning of ships, seasoned timber and coppering. Alongside these, a hugely important factor was the professionalization of ship’s crews – William Locker’s career epitomised this professionalization. Coming from an academic and cultured family, he entered the Navy at the age of 15, serving on various ships during the War of the Austrian Succession (1740-48), then with the East India Company after post-war decommissioning (sailing to India and China). He rejoined the Navy just before the Seven Years’ War (1757-63), and he was on board HMS Sapphire at the Battle of Quiberon Bay (1759). By 1777 he rose to command HMS Lowestoffe, sailing her to the West Indies. For a fifteen month period during this command Horatio Nelson was one of his lieutenants, and this proved to be the start of a lifelong friendship.
Locker lived in Went House, West Malling between 1781 and 1786. He ended his career as Lieutenant-Governor of Greenwich Hospital and suggested the creation there of a national gallery of maritime art, subsequently realised by his son, Edward Hawke Locker.
Nelson corresponded with Locker until the latter’s death, describing his naval actions, and famously wrote in 1799 (the Battle of the Nile took place in 1798): ‘I have been your scholar; it is you who taught me to board a Frenchman…’. Importantly, Locker also passed on his hydrography skills. Also, at his expense, Locker arranged for Nelson to sit for a portrait by JF Rigaud.
In 1770 Locker married Lucy Parry (daughter of Admiral William Parry) at St Margaret, Addington and they lived at the Parry home of St Vincent’s, Addington. They moved to the parsonage house at East malling in 1776. After Lucy’s death giving birth to their seventh child in 1780, Locker moved to West Malling and it is likely that Nelson visited him here. He moved to Kensington in 1787 and when he died in 1800 he was buried in the Parry family vault in Addington churchyard. Confirming the high regard in which Locker was held in naval circles and years after his death, William IV (‘Sailor Bill’) who had served under him, described him as ‘the best man I ever knew’
Further reading:
*Nelson’s Hero. The Story of his ‘Sea-Daddy’ Captain William Locker by Victor T Sharman
*The Command of the Ocean. A Naval History of Britain 1649-1815 by NAM Rodger
*Nelson – Love and Fame by Edgar Vincent
*The Pursuit of Victory: the life and achievement of Horatio Nelson by Roger Knight
*Nelson – The Dream of Glory by John Sugden