Stèle Lady Hamilton
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Stèle Lady Hamilton
Rue Richelieu - 62100 CALAIS
The history of Calais is often intertwined with that of England. This encompasses both major events and the lives of illustrious figures. This stele commemorates Admiral Nelson, a hero of the British Navy. Nestled in Calais' Richelieu Park, it recalls Lady Hamilton, Nelson's beloved. Of humble origins, Emma Lyon married Sir William Hamilton, the British ambassador to the Kingdom of Naples, in 1791. There she met Admiral Nelson. A relationship developed between them, followed by the birth of a daughter. Sir William Hamilton, her legal husband, died in 1803. Emma Hamilton and Horatio Nelson then lived together. Admiral Nelson died during the famous Battle of Trafalgar (1805). Emma Hamilton's financial situation became difficult. As her debts mounted, she fled her English creditors to France in 1814. She lived in poverty for a few months in Calais before dying there in 1815. In the 1990s, the American Jean Ellis Hart-Kislak, president of "Club 1805," an association dedicated to the history of the British Navy, was fascinated by her and decided to launch a fundraising campaign for a monument, in collaboration with the association Les Amis du Vieux Calais (Friends of Old Calais). The Lady Hamilton memorial was unveiled in 1994 in a bucolic spot in Richelieu Park. This conical tower, approximately 2.5 meters high, has a stone base. At its summit is a red sandstone block from northwest England. The inscription, in both French and English, reads: “Emma Lady Hamilton, born April 26, 1765, in Nesse, England, died in Calais, France, wife of Sir William Hamilton, beloved friend of Admiral Nelson.” Did you know? Lady Hamilton’s story is little known in France, unlike in the United Kingdom, given the historical aura surrounding Admiral Nelson. Numerous books have been written about her, as well as a film, “That Hamilton Woman” (1941), starring two stars of the time, Vivian Leigh and Laurence Olivier. Among the great French classical authors, Alexandre Dumas (père) explored Lady Hamilton’s life in “Souvenirs d’une favorite” (1864).
