Music, Life and the Hereafter....

Rumour has it that one of my relatives was the black sheep in Horatio (Lord) Nelson’s family, the Vice-Admiral who lost an arm, an eye and then his life in the final sea battle of the Napoleonic Wars, famously painted by Turner. It’s a little more than “rumour” but I prefer to let sleeping sheep lie because what’s newsworthy for me is that, sent away to the Colonies or not, Andrew St Clare Nelson (1864-1904) was an accomplished musician, buried at his request with his clarinet. I can relate to that. 

Andrew Nelson became the first government school teacher at South Grafton, a beautiful town on the North NSW coast, where he also led the German Band. His obituary observed “he was very popular with both parents and children” having taught across generations of families, how he taught music outside schools hours and “frequently figured as an instrumentalist in local bands and orchestras”. The Grafton Amateur Band performed once a month on the Cricket Ground, mostly on Thursdays and, as The Clarence and Richmond Examiner reports, “... in the presence of a large gathering, principally ladies”. 

Even more newsworthy for me is that he composed a number of pieces, including “Grafton Waltz”, “Neapolitan Mazurka” and his “Galatea Polka Mazurka”, the latter featuring high in the program welcoming Prince Alfred (on his ship Galatea) to Australia. Some of his compositions are documented in Graeme Skinner’s resource on Australian musicians in the colonial and early Federation era, see: http://sydney.edu.au/paradisec/australharmony 

His illustrious relative is reported to have signalled “England expects that every man will do his duty”, an order that cost his own life, his last words thankful for such as death. I think Andrew Nelson likewise ‘did his duty’ as a professional teacher, an amateur musician, and a constructive member of his community, a hero in my eyes as much as anyone else.

I can’t get the image of him being buried with his clarinet out of my mind. It seems so contemporary. I think of him affectionately, proudly, as having some style, knowing what’s important in life, and taking a bit of that with him into the “here-after”.... . 

Horatio Nelson’s body was preserved in a barrel of brandy for the trip from Gibraltar back to England, receiving a hero's funeral. Andrew Nelson left the world much more quietly, leaving a widow, three sons and four daughters, with the Grafton City Band playing “The Dead March” at his funeral as acknowledgement of a life well-lived from a grateful town. 

My thanks to Sister Joseph (Aunt Joan) for telling me about the clarinet.