Admiral Lord Horatio Nelson was one of England’s famous folk heroes, about whom many famous writers have written. Nelson’s famous mistress Lady Emma Hamilton has also had excellent biographies written about her.
However Lady Frances ‘Fanny’ Nelson, nee Woolward, Duchess of Bronte, was Nelson’s wife and love for fourteen years. She was of good family, brought up in the rich plantation life on Nevis in the West Indies. In 1787 she married a completely unknown little naval captain. He was very unpopular locally, had no particular prospects, lived on his pay and was no ‘catch’ at all. Fanny was his loyal devoted wife – and his equally devoted widow – until she died in London in 1831 at the age of 70. Most biographers of Nelson have failed to give her more than a cursory glance, hypnotised as they have been by the dynamic sea captain and his mistress.
Fanny was most handsome, highly intelligent, well read, spoke excellent French, dressed always à la mode, painted watercolours better than most, and played the piano. She wrote entertaining letters, had a wide circle of friends, was presented at court and was a favourite with all the Lords of the Admiralty and their wives. She lived a long and extremely interesting life, partly in London, Bath, Paris or Devon. Moreover although she failed to give Nelson a child, she did give him her son by her first marriage, Josiah Nisbet, to whom the Admiral was deeply attached.
This is the strange story of a mother and her son and their intimate relationship with England’s greatest naval hero.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Patrick Delaforce was educated at Winchester and served as a troop Commander during the Second World War, from Normandy to the Baltic. Patrick became a Port Wine Shipper in Portugal, and also worked in New York and London. Now a Full time author Patrick’s book’s includeBattle’s with Panzers, The Rhine Endeavour and Monty’s Ironsides.
234 x 156 mm | hardback | 288 pages | 30 illustrations
