Trafalgar Day Celebration In The BVI

Hundreds of Trafalgar Day celebrations were held throughout the world on Friday to commemorate the 200th Anniversary of Nelson's victory at the Battle of Trafalgar on October 21st, 1805; Pusser's Rum was on hand at many gala celebrations to help "Splice the Mainbrace".

One event was the Trafalgar Day Dinner at the Royal BVI Yacht Club held at the clubhouse in Tortola. Pusser's Grog, Nelson's Blood and Lady Hamiltons were the order of the day for the hundred-odd guests with many of them dressed in period costumes.

Charles Tobias, founder and chairman of Pusser's, provided some unique Nelson artifacts which were put on display. The centre piece of this display was a replica of Nelson's Undress uniform. The gold trim, buttons, lace, fabric and the awards - all painstakingly recreated - are exact in every detail to those he was wearing at Trafalgar.

Another prominent feature of the display was one of HMS Victory's Battle Ensigns. Each year, Victory flies a single ensign and they are much sought after prizes. The Ensign displayed was flown in 1980 and presented to Pusser's by the then Second Sea Lord Admiral Sir Gordon Tait. It measures approximately 22 feet on the foot and 12 feet on the hoist.

The display also included a Georgian Grog Tub circa 1805, a 1790 Seaservice Flintlock Pistol, a scale model of one of Victory's 24-pounders, various documents and paintings and Horatia Nelson-Ward's portable writing desk - Horatia was the daughter of Nelson and Lady Hamilton.