A good friend sent me this letter about SW and Emma's Italian possessions (from Nicolas) which he thought might be of interest.
Quote:
Victory, off Toulon, September 18th, 1803.
My dear Lady Hamilton,
The furniture and linen which was left behind at Palermo
and Naples, when you came to England, is, I hope, by this
time, safe at Malta. I have desired Mr. Noble to unpack, dry
them, and send you a list of the contents, which you must
send to the Treasury, in order to obtain an order for their
being allowed to come direct to you, without passing through
the Custom-House. I believe the cases are eighteen in
number. I have requested the favour of Mr. Brown, Com-
mander of the Prevoyante Store-Ship, who will carry them
either to Portsmouth or the Nore, to whichever place he may
be ordered. If you will apply by letter to my friend, Mr.
Vansittart, of the Treasury, I am sure he will send an order
directly for their delivery. Only tell me, my dear Friend, in
what manner I can be useful to you in this Country, and,
believe me, I shall be truly proud in obeying your commands,
being for ever, your most obliged, faithful, and affectionate,
NELSON AND BRONTE.
Mr. Noble, the Neapolitan banker, had tried to sell off SW's carriage and furniture some time after the Nelson/Hamilton party had returned to England, so I'm assuming these eighteen cases had remained unsold.
I've also come across a clerk's copy of Nelson's FACTS document, which in late 1800 Emma used as part of a plea for Prime Minister William Pitt to help with SW's pension/compensation.
Quote:
Four years past Sir William Hamilton had permission to come to England to settle his private affairs, and would have come with all his effects if the embroiled state of Italy, and the arrival of the King's fleet in the Mediterranean, had not made him determine, whatever inconvenience he might suffer, to remain at his post.
In October, 1798, part of Sir William's valuable effects were sent home in the Colossus.
By the accident which happened to that ship he suffered a loss of several thousand pounds.
In December of the same year, except some pictures and vases which Lord Nelson had placed on board a transport, the whole of Sir William's effects at Naples were lost; for although much might have been saved had his thoughts been only turned towards his own property, yet self was absorbed in attending to the preservation of a whole Royal family, therefore not an atom of furniture was removed, excepting one couch, no, not even a bed.
It can readily be conceived what mounting of such a house (as every person who has travelled in this country, and all other nations, can testify) must have cost. On Sir William's arrival at Palermo, although the Queen did more than could be expected, it became necessary to arrange a new establishment consistent with his public character, and from the emigrated English of Naples and Tuscany, with many other persons of high rank in the world, together with the constant communication with the Navy, necessarily brought on a very heavy expense, for there was no house for those persons to resort to, but the British Minister's.
The settling this new establishment, together with the closing the accounts on his being superseded, cost, by bills drawn upon London, £13,213., between August 1799 and June 1800, besides all losses, which cannot be estimated less than £10,000. sterling
Bearing in mind that things kept turning up, I'd be grateful to hear if anyone knows what SW actually claimed compensation for, and whether he was ever successful?