Browse by theme |
Emma HamiltonEmma, born Amy Lyon in 1765, was the beautiful daughter of a Cheshire blacksmith. After coming to London, she was an attendant in a quack medical establishment until becoming mistress of a baronet, who abandoned her when she became pregnant. View by:
About this collectionEmma, born Amy Lyon in 1765, was the beautiful daughter of a Cheshire blacksmith. After coming to London, she was an attendant in a quack medical establishment until becoming mistress of a baronet, who abandoned her when she became pregnant. Emma was then ‘protected’ and educated by Charles Greville who, in 1786, passed her on to his widowed uncle, Sir William Hamilton, the British envoy at Naples. She flourished there as Hamilton’s mistress and they married in 1791, after which she became a leading figure in Neapolitan society and a favourite of Queen Maria Carolina. The Hamiltons cared for the wounded Nelson after the Battle of the Nile in 1798, and Emma and Nelson became lovers in 1799 during the highly charged events surrounding the French invasion of Naples. They all returned to England as a 'ménage à trois' in 1800, Nelson ruthlessly abandoning his wife at this time. In mid-1801, after his and Emma’s illegitimate daughter Horatia was born in secret, he bought Merton Place, in Surrey. Nelson, Emma and Sir William shared Merton Place until Sir William’s death in 1803 (in his own London house). From then on, Horatia lived at Merton, with many members of Nelson’s family often visiting, though he, Emma and Horatia only had 25 days there together, just before Trafalgar. When Merton was sold in 1808, Horatia moved home several times with the grief-stricken Emma until her impoverished death in Calais in 1815. Horatia then returned to live with Nelson’s family until her marriage in 1822. Related websites |
