See photos (4)

Lady Hamilton

Not rated ,  Historic site and monument in Calais
  • Emma Lyon was born in Chester (1875). Of modest origin, this attractive young woman arrived in London and became a model for several painters, including Georges Romney. In 1791, she married Sir William Hamilton, the British ambassador to the Kingdom of Naples. There, she met the famous Admiral Nelson. Sir William, an elderly man, does not seem to take offense at the affair. In 1801, she gave birth to Horatia Nelson and then in 1803, after the death of Sir Hamilton, she lived together with...
    Emma Lyon was born in Chester (1875). Of modest origin, this attractive young woman arrived in London and became a model for several painters, including Georges Romney. In 1791, she married Sir William Hamilton, the British ambassador to the Kingdom of Naples. There, she met the famous Admiral Nelson. Sir William, an elderly man, does not seem to take offense at the affair. In 1801, she gave birth to Horatia Nelson and then in 1803, after the death of Sir Hamilton, she lived together with Admiral Nelson who died in 1805 at the battle of Trafalgar .

    Sir Hamilton's inheritance is quickly used while that of Nelson is attributed to Lady Nelson. Debts accumulate and in 1814, she comes to take refuge from creditors in France. Living in destitution, she died in her attic in Calais in 1815. At this place, rue française, a commemorative plaque recalls the location of her house, which disappeared during the destruction of the Second World War. In 1994, the "Club 1805" perpetuating the memory of Admiral Nelson throughout the world donated a stele in memory of Emma Hamilton in the Parc richelieu de Calais.