One such incident that led him to joining the Security Forces was on 7 April 1976, when three members of the Herron family from Dromore were murdered by the IRA in their drapery store.
[2] In the 1992 general election, Nelson was selected by the South Down constituency of the Ulster Unionist Party to succeed Enoch Powell as parliamentary candidate.
In 1996, he was fourth on the UUP list for election to the Northern Ireland Forum in South Belfast[6] He supported John Taylor (now Lord Kilclooney) in his bid to replace James Molyneaux as Leader in 1995.
[1] During his period of office, Nelson was part of Orange delegations which met with senior political and civic figures, including successive British First Ministers and Secretary of States, United States ambassadors, Irish Taoiseach Enda Kenny, former Irish President Mary McAleese, Seán Cardinal Brady, SDLP members, and others.
He was a keen traveler, being a regular visitor to France to trace the plight of the Huguenots, and other parts of Europe where there were once Protestant minorities persecuted for their faith.