Emma hamilton - wikipedia
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Emma, Lady Hamilton
Mistress of Lord Nelson (1765–1815)
"Emma Hamilton" redirects here. For the Australian actress, see Emma Hamilton (Australian actress). For the British-American author and actress, see Emma Walton Hamilton.
"Lady Hamilton" redirects here. For other uses, see Lady Hamilton (disambiguation).
Dame Emma Hamilton (born Amy Lyon; 26 April 1765 – 15 January 1815), known upon moving to London as Emma Hart, and upon marriage as Lady Hamilton, was an English maid, model, dancer and actress. She began her career in London's demi-monde, becoming the mistress of a series of wealthy men, culminating in the naval hero Lord Nelson, and was the favourite model and muse of the portraitist George Romney.
In 1791, at the age of 26, she married Sir William Hamilton, British ambassador to the Kingdom of Naples, where she was a success at court, befriending the queen who was a sister of Marie Antoinette, and meeting Nelson.
Early life
She was born Amy Lyon[1] in Ness near Neston, Cheshire, England,[2] the daughter of Hen
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Emma Lady Hamilton
Lord Nelson‘s great love was Emma, a lady who had a quite remarkable past.
Her real name was Amy Lyon, but she preferred to be known as Emma Hart. She was a daughter of a Cheshire blacksmith and was brought up in Wales by her grandmother.
Not much is known about her early life except that she was in London when she was 12, working as an under-nursemaid in the house of a composer called Thomas Linley. She was about 16 when she left the Linley household and went to live at the house of a Mrs Kelly, who was a ‘procurer and abbess of a brothel’.
When next heard of she was an attendant in the Temple of Health and Hymen run by James Graham. He gave lectures on procreation and charged £50 a night for couples to enjoy his Great Celestial State Bed – on which ‘perfect babies could be created’!
She moved on from the Temple of Health and Hymen to a cottage near Uppark in Sussex. The cottage was owned by Sir Harry Featherstonhaugh, and it was here she is said to have danced naked on the dining table for the entertainment of his fri
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Emma Hamilton was one of the most celebrated women of the Georgian age. Yet her love affair with England’s great naval hero, Horatio Nelson, scandalised a nation.
But what was Emma really like? Who was the woman behind the myth, the legends, the gossip of so many of her contemporaries and her later detractors?
In this outstanding biography Mollie Hardwick presents for the first time the full story of Emma with compassion and insight. She emerges as an amazing and remarkable person. From humble origins she rose to become one of the beauties of her age, a talented singer, a natural actress, the friend of aristocrats and politicians, the wife of a distinguished diplomat, the theme of poets and painters.
She captivated almost everyone she encountered, yet her previous relationships paled in comparison with her passion for Lord Nelson, and his for her. Though both were married, they secretly carried on an affair that lasted until the day of Nelson’s death, from which Emma never truly recovered. After his death she struggled for financial recognition and ultimately died in poverty, a
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