Nelson's HMS Victory medal sells for £9,000 at auction

Atkinson served with Nelson during the Napoleonic Wars

A silver medal awarded to the master of Admiral Lord Nelson's flagship HMS Victory has sold for £9,000 at auction.

The officer class Davison's Nile Medal belonged to Thomas Atkinson who was at the ship's helm throughout the Battle of Trafalgar.

HMS Victory is now a museum and is based at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard.

The medal had been listed to sell for between £10-£15,000 when it went under the hammer at Peter Wilson Auctioneers in Cheshire.

The medal was sent for sale by a past archivist and librarian of the Nelson Society.

Admiral Lord Nelson described Atkinson as "one of the best masters I have seen in the Royal Navy", according to auctioneer Chris Large.

Atkinson served with Nelson during the Napoleonic Wars and is reputed to have held Nelson while his arm was amputated following an attack at Santa Cruz, Tenerife.