Flatman was born in Holton St. Mary, Suffolk in 1810 to a father who was a smallholder.
 In his youth, the family moved 10 miles north to the village of Bildeston, where they got to know a local horse breeder by the name of Wilson.
 Wilson had been responsible for breeding the renowned horse, Smolensko, winner of the 1813 2,000 Guineas and Derby and the young Flatman began to spend a lot of time there, formulating ideas of becoming a jockey.
 He attended a local clergyman's school as a child, but when his father ran into financial hardship in 1825 and he had to quit, he was prompted to move to the home of horseracing in Newmarket.
Flatman was born in Holton St. Mary, Suffolk in 1810 to a father who was a smallholder.  In his youth, the family moved 10 miles north to the village of Bildeston, where they got to know a local horse breeder by the name of Wilson.  Wilson had been responsible for breeding the renowned horse, Smolensko, winner of the 1813 2,000 Guineas and Derby and the young Flatman began to spend a lot of time there, formulating ideas of becoming a jockey.  He attended a local clergyman's school as a child, but when his father ran into financial hardship in 1825 and he had to quit, he was prompted to move to the home of horseracing in Newmarket.
Nat Flatman