Soon after this arrival in Palermo the King conferred upon him the title of Duke of Bronte, with an estate of the same name in Sicily, valued at L3,000 per annum.

After this the admiral for a time signed his papers as Bronte Nelson,[1] changed subsequently to Bronte Nelson of the Nile, and finally settled down to Nelson and Bronte, which was his form of signature for the last four years of his life.

He placed upon his new estate an annual charge of L500 in favor of his father for the term of the latter's life.
"Receive this small tribute, my honoured father," he wrote, "as a mark of gratitude to the best of parents from his most dutiful son." On the 20th of September he received letters from the Admiralty, investing him with the chief command, "till the return of Lord Keith or some other your superior officer." He was not, however, allowed the appointments of a commander-in-chief, and often complained of the inadequacy of his staff to the extent of his duties.

Nelson naturally hoped that his long and eminent services in that particular field, and the conspicuous ability he had shown on so many occasions, would lead to the station remaining permanently in his hands, and that Lord Keith, who was now in England, would succeed in due course to the Channel Fleet, whose commander, Lord Bridport, soon after retired.

The Mediterranean was naturally attributed to a vice-admiral, and one of some seniority; but Nelson was now a rear-admiral of the Red, the highest color, not far, therefore, from promotion, and it would not be an unreasonable conclusion that the same ministry which had been fortunate enough to choose him for the campaign of the Nile, might now prefer to entrust to such able and enterprising hands the great interests of the Mediterranean at large.
It was not, however, to be so.