Sir Thomas Masterman Hardy

Sir Thomas Masterman Hardy was born here in 1769 and died in 1839. He was Horatio Nelson’s flag captain at Trafalgar in 1805.

Sir Thomas Masterman Hardy, 1st Baronet, GCB on the 5 April 1769 was a Royal Navy officer. He took part in the Battle of Cape St Vincent in February 1797, the Battle of the Nile in August 1798 and the Battle of Copenhagen in April 1801 during the French Revolutionary Wars. He served as flag captain to Admiral Lord Nelson, and commanded HMS Victory at the Battle of Trafalgar in October 1805 during the Napoleonic Wars. Nelson was shot as he paced the decks with Hardy, and as he lay dying, Nelson's famous remark of "Kiss me, Hardy" was directed at him. Hardy went on to become First Naval Lord in November 1830 and in that capacity refused to become a Member of Parliament and encouraged the introduction of steam warships. He died on the 20th September 1839 at Greenwich, London. In November 1954, a memorial to Caxton was unveiled in Westminster Abbey by J. J. Astor, chairman of the Press Council. The white stone plaque is on the wall next to the door to Poets' Corner. The inscription reads: "Near this place William Caxton set up the first printing press in