How Lady H lost a fortune
QUESTION
When he died in 1805 at the Battle of Trafalgar, Lord Nelson was at the height of his powers and popularity, so he must have been very wealthy, but his mistress Lady Hamilton died in poverty. What became of his estate after his death? Did he leave Lady Hamilton anything in his will? In his 1798 will, Admiral nelson left everything to his wife, Frances nelson, and family. Following his celebrated love affair with Lady hamilton, which produced his only offspring, a daughter horatia, he added a codicil, leaving their wellbeing to the nation.
The codicil was added on October 21, 1805, and was witnessed by Captains hardy and Blackwood. It stated: ‘I leave Emma, Lady hamilton, therefore a legacy to my King and Country that they will give her an ample provision to maintain her Rank in Life.’
Later that day nelson was fatally wounded by a musket shot at the Battle of Trafalgar. Emma remained in their home, Merton Place in London, and was left its contents. she received a cash sum of £2,000 and £500 a year for life from nelson’s Italian estate.
The government ignored nelson’s request to look after his mistress and daughter. Instead it heaped wealth upon nelson’s eldest brother, the Reverend William nelson. he was created the 1st Earl nelson by George III, given £90,000 (£100 million at modern property values) to buy an estate (Trafalgar Park in Wiltshire), and a pension of £5,000 a year (£3.7 million a year by comparison with earnings nowadays), to last for as long as there were Lords nelson.
Whereas William ignored financial pleas from nelson’s friends, captains and relations, Emma retained Merton Place as a monument to her lover, kept an open house and was generous to all visitors.
By 1812, she was greatly in debt. The next year, she was imprisoned for debt in King’s Bench Prison, London.
In 1814, nelson’s letters to her were stolen and published as the ‘Letters of Lord nelson to Lady hamilton’. she is accused of selling the letters for personal gain, and the government cut off all contact.
On Emma’s release from prison later that year, she fled to Calais with horatia to avoid her creditors. her spirit broken, she grew progressively weaker, and died in January 1815, a few months short of her 50th birthday. horatia then returned to England and lived with nelson’s sisters.
At 21 she married her neighbour, the Reverend Philip Ward, and died in 1881. The couple had eight healthy children.
Gareth Court, Clitheroe, Lancs.
QUESTION
How is the route of a marathon measured accurately? THE International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) uses a number of certified route measurers. The best known in Britain is hugh Jones, himself a talented runner who won the London Marathon in 1982.
The process is strictly regulated. A measurer first lays out a ‘calibration course’, usually 300 to 400 metres on a straight, flat road which is checked at least twice.
The measurer then rides the calibration course with a bike that is fitted with a device called a Jones Counter mounted on the front axle — a small, box-like contraption with gears that clicks with each rotation of the wheel at about 11,000 counts per km (18,000 counts per mile).
The measurer then rides the course, at its shortest possible distance, taking all the tangents within 30cm (1ft) of kerbs and permanent obstacles. Afterwards, the Jones Counter is recalibrated to determine any adjustments due to changes in the diameter of the tyre because of air pressure and temperature.
The IAAF requires a minimum of two independent measurements of the course. Course calibration is usually done at night, when the temperature is more stable and can minimise variation.
Another element is called short Course Prevention Factor. According to the IAAF, all races must be measured one-tenth of one per cent of the total distance long, to make sure the course cannot be found to come up short if a record is broken.
Tim Fielding, Birmingham.
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