Emma Hamilton
(Baptised 1765-1815), Mistress of Lord NelsonEmma (née Lyon), Lady Hamilton
Mid-Georgian Portraits Catalogue Entry
Sitter in 30 portraits
Daughter of a blacksmith, Emma achieved celebrity through her beauty, personal vitality and skills as a performer. She is principally remembered as George Romney's 'muse' and for her love affair with Nelson. Emma fell in love with him after the Battle of the Nile (1798), when she and her husband William Hamilton, the British Ambassador at Naples, offered the wounded victor hospitality. Emma and Nelson returned to England in 1800 where a daughter was born. The affair was an international scandal, but it enhanced Nelson's reputation as a romantic hero. At his death, in 1805, Nelson entrusted her care to the nation, but this was ignored by the government. She died in poverty in France in 1815.
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