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Emma Carew http://www.nelsonandhisworld.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=1458 |
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Author: | Mira [ Tue Jan 07, 2014 7:47 pm ] |
Post subject: | Re: Emma Carew |
Jesse, Many thanks for your feedback on 'Finding the Lost Daughter of Lady Hamilton' and your beautifully nuanced thoughts on the daughter (and her mother's) situation. You're right, I think, to consider contemporary attitudes on one side, and fear of consequences on the other, as the guiding motivator in keeping the secret. The word 'ruin' sums it up for me in a short post - it's an important factor that runs powerfully and fearfully (albeit in the background) through both their lives. Not a chapter or an article, as such - that wouldn't do it justice, but a continuous thread from the beginning to the end of their story. Theirs wasn't an uncommon situation. Here are a few lines from a similarly afflicted mother, addressed (but never sent) to her daughter. She, the Duchess of Devonshire, explains the fatal conundrum well: Quote: Unhappy child of indiscretion,
poor slumberer on a breast forlorn pledge of reproof of past transgression Dear tho' unfortunate to be born For thee a suppliant wish addressing To Heaven thy mother fain would dare But conscious blushes stain the blessing And sighs suppress my broken prayer But in spite of these my mind unshaken In present duty turns to thee Tho' long repented ne'er forgotten Thy days shall lov'd and guarded be And should th' ungenerous world upbraid thee for mine and for thy father's ill A nameless mother oft shall assist thee A hand unseen protect thee still And tho' to rank and wealth a stranger Thy life a humble course must run Soon shalt thou learn to fly the danger Which I too late have learnt to shun Meanwhile in these sequested vallies Here may'st thou live in safe content For innocence may smile at malice And thou-Oh ! Thou art innocent |
Author: | drmarina [ Thu Jan 09, 2014 11:11 pm ] |
Post subject: | Re: Emma Carew |
OK, folks, I am now among those chosen who have read Jacqui's article. I am impressed no less than all of you, as I find it an important historical document and a beautiful piece of great English literature. Jackie, you're brilliant, and thank you so much! I think your work reveals how caring a mother Lady Hamilton was, as she was trying to protect and to supply her "little Emma", even if she was not very affectionate in expressing her love towards her both daughters. |
Author: | tycho [ Fri Jan 10, 2014 6:06 am ] |
Post subject: | Re: Emma Carew |
Welcome to the forum, drmarina and thank you for your comments. It is true that Emma and Horatia had a somewhat stressful relationship towards the end of Emma's life - unsurprising when you think of the difficulties they were in with Emma's poor health and pressing financial worries at a time when Horatia was an adolescent; but when Horatia was small there was clearly a lot of affection between them. The NMM has a number of letters which I found enthralling when I came across them. They reveal Emma's overwhelming and affectionate pride in Horatia who was clearly a lively and engaging child. Emma took particular care over Horatia's education. I'll try and post a facsimile of an affectionate letter written by Horatia to Emma when she was little. (As members of this forum know, I struggle with technology! By the way, here is a link to a host of pictures of Emma Carew's resting place, the wonderfully atmospheric English cemetery in Florence. Mother Julia, the Director, brings all her talents as a scholar - she is a professor emerita specialising in Dante - to maintaining this remarkable place. She is constantly researching details of the departed buried there to preserve and expand the archive under her care. http://tinyurl.com/m55dxdq |
Author: | Mira [ Fri Mar 21, 2014 9:44 am ] |
Post subject: | Re: Emma Carew |
Apologies for the time it’s taken to upload our photos from the English Cemetery, but here are a selection. As visitors aren’t permitted to get too close the tombs due to their fragile state, there are no close ups. Thanks, Anna, for filling the gap with your link to other images available online. Brings back a lot of memories of the day that we were unable to record. The last image is of the memorial plaque to Emma Carew mentioned earlier: carved by a young Roma woman of Florence who was being taught the trade of monumental masonry. Catherine MacKinnon was governess to the future Alexander II at the Imperial Court in Russia. She moved to Florence near the end of her life, and was buried at the cemetery in 1858. She was 80 years old. A good companion for Emma Carew, I think. Thanks drmarina for your kind comments on the article. As I mentioned, I’m happy to email a copy to anyone who’d like to see it. Meanwhile, there might be an opportunity to posit the article online, for free and easy access to everyone. If that happens, I’ll add a signpost here. Attachment: English Cem Florence 2.jpg [ 39.38 KiB | Viewed 75379 times ] Attachment: English Cem Florence 3.jpg [ 20.86 KiB | Viewed 75379 times ] Attachment: English Cem Florence 7 Emma Carew plaque.jpg [ 145.19 KiB | Viewed 75379 times ] |
Author: | Mira [ Mon Apr 07, 2014 10:13 pm ] |
Post subject: | Re: Emma Carew |
The people at the britishnavalhistory.com website - Justin Reay, Sam McLean and Jamie Goodall - asked if I'd write an article for them in the New Year. I thought it might be an opportunity to put 'Finding the Lost Daughter of Lady Hamilton' into the public domain for anyone interested in reading. Here it is at: http://tinyurl.com/nzkbvsp with a link back to Nelson & His World. |
Author: | tycho [ Tue Apr 08, 2014 8:34 am ] |
Post subject: | Re: Emma Carew |
Jacqui: I am delighted that your wonderful research and discoveries have been further recognised by some very distinguished naval historians. I think it is no exaggeration to say that you are probably the greatest authority on the relationship between Lord Nelson and Lady Hamilton in the world. Many professional biographers have produced lives of Lady Hamilton; but none has made it a lifetime's study in the way that you have. This long-standing diligence, not to mention an amazing flair for original research, acute perception and insight into the human psyche and a lively pen, have combined to add much already to our knowledge and understanding. We look forward to more! Many thanks indeed for posting the article here. It is good to have the complete text on the website. |
Author: | jesse [ Tue Apr 29, 2014 8:27 pm ] |
Post subject: | Re: Emma Carew |
My friend Joel Kaplan sent me these directions for the English Cemetery. I will go there next I'm in Florence: The English cemetery now stands as an enormous traffic island on the SS67 which runs from the Piazza Beccaria (S) to the Piazza della Republica (N). It's roughly where the Borgo Pinti crosses the SS67. It keeps odd hours, but Sheila and I have walked there on spec and found it attended. If you go you will be given a map to help you locate individual plots. |
Author: | jesse [ Sat May 10, 2014 10:42 pm ] |
Post subject: | Re: Emma Carew |
Here it is: click this link or copy as a URL in your browser and it will open with the cemetery on the upper right "Cimitero degli Inglesi." I just tried clicking on it and it works fine. http://mapq.st/RAmibT Thanks again to Jacqui Livesey for bringing this out after so many years. |
Author: | jesse [ Sun May 11, 2014 9:38 am ] |
Post subject: | Re: Emma Carew |
It's Mother's Day, and that leads me to reflect a bit more about what may have led Emma Hamilton to keep the secret of her own motherhood of Emma Carew and Horatia. Her own mother, Mary Kidd Lyon, lost her husband when Emma was just two months old. Not only was it extremely difficult for her financially but she must have been in mourning and frightened. They ended up in London. Emma Hamilton kept her mother with her all her life. She went to Naples with her, and they were together until the mother's death. Her mother, who eventually was known as Mrs Cadogan, was a superb housekeeper and was able to make herself useful continuously. I think of Mrs Hughes in Downton Abbey. A most admirable person who effaced herself while acting for the good of others. The secrecy surrounding Emma Carew and Horatia was apparently maintained also by Mrs Cadogan. How did she fit in to the entire picture? What did she know? What part did she play? |
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