Horatia Nelson

Horatia Nelson, christened as Horatia Nelson Thompson (29 January 1801 – 6 March 1881), was the illegitimate daughter of Emma, Lady Hamilton, and Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson.

Born in a house rented by Sir William Hamilton (Emma's husband) at 23 Piccadilly in London, as Nelson was at anchor in Torbay preparing to sail to the Battle of Copenhagen (news reached him before he set sail), she was given to a wet nurse called Mrs. Gibson, who was informed that the child, about a week old, was born six weeks earlier, at a time when Emma was in Vienna. Once Emma's husband had died on 6 April 1803, and 5 days before Nelson had to board HMS Victory on 18 May that year, Horatia was christened, aged two, at St Marylebone Parish Church as Horatia Nelson Thompson, with Emma and Horatio as the 'godparents' and a cover-story naming her as the daughter of Vice-Admiral Charles Thompson of Portsmouth Dockyard (with his agreement).

Her date of birth on the baptismal record was given as 29 October 1801 according to the record transcripts, but Kate Williams cites the year as 1800 (referring to a letter from Mrs Gibson to Emma), to further the pretence that the child had been born an orphan in Naples. A letter from Nelson to Lady Hamilton dated July 1801 was discovered in 2021 at the National Maritime Museum. In it, Nelson recommends that the baby, then 6 months old, be vaccinated with Edward Jenner's new vaccine against smallpox. Later on, her natural parents adopted her as an orphan.

Nelson was delighted at Horatia's birth (the more so when his second child with Emma, another girl, died a few weeks after her birth in early 1803), and he spent as often as he could during his brief times onshore from 1803 to 1805 enjoying domestic life with her and Emma at Merton Place, more frequently and easily once Sir William was dead.

As the Battle of Trafalgar approached, Nelson wrote a letter to Horatia with his parental blessing:

Victory, October 19, 1805.

My dearest Angel, I was made happy by the pleasure of receiving your letter of September 19, and I rejoice to hear that you are so very good a girl, and love my dear Lady Hamilton, who most dearly loves you. Give her a kiss for me. The Combined Fleets of the Enemy are now reported to be coming out of Cadiz; and therefore I answer your letter, my dearest Horatia, to mark to you that you are ever uppermost in my thoughts. I shall be sure of your prayers for my safety, conquest, and speedy return to dear Merton, and our dearest good Lady Hamilton. Be a good girl, mind what Miss Connor says to you. Receive, my dearest Horatia, the affectionate parental blessing of your Father,

NELSON AND BRONTE.