Frances Nelson, Viscountess Nelson

Uncommon card · No. 151530

Frances Nelson, Viscountess Nelson, Duchess of Bronte (née Frances Herbert Woolward, formerly Nisbet; 1758 – 4 May 1831) was the wife of Horatio Nelson, the British naval officer who won several victories over both the French and Spanish during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. Born to wealthy parents on Nevis, she was orphaned at 21, and married a doctor, Josiah Nisbet. The couple returned to England, UK, but her new husband died there, and Frances returned to Nevis to live with her uncle, a prominent politician of the island. There she met Horatio Nelson, and married him in 1787. The couple moved to England, and Fanny established a household and cared for her husband's elderly father while Nelson was at sea. She was, by all accounts, a devoted wife, but in time Horatio met Emma Hamilton while serving in the Mediterranean, and the two embarked in a highly public affair. Fanny became estranged from her husband, who refused all contact with her through to his death at the...

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