Admiral Nelson’s letter reveals how he urged his mistress to vaccinate his daughter against smallpox

Admiral Nelson’s letter reveals how he urged his mistress to vaccinate his daughter against smallpox

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Newly discovered letter from Admiral Horatio Nelson to his lover, Lady Emma Hamilton, in 1801, reveals how he encouraged her to give her baby daughter the newly developed smallpox vaccine

  • Admiral Horatio Nelson’s letter asks his mistress to vaccinate his daughter
  • 1801 letter supports Jenner’s smallpox cure when many were skeptical
  • Edward Jenner discovered that people were immune to smallpox if they caught smallpox

By Luke May For Mailonline

Published: | Updated:

A newly discovered letter from Admiral Horatio Nelson to his lover, Lady Emma Hamilton, revealed how he encouraged her to give her young daughter the newly developed smallpox vaccine

The 1801 letter, discovered in the archives of the National Maritime Museum, does not mention a dangerous mission to France that Nelson was supposed to undertake, but instead focuses on the health of his daughter, Horatia.

It was written just three years after Edward Jenner discovered that dairy farmers who developed bovine smallpox working close to animals appeared to be protected from smallpox, the human form of the disease.

In a letter to Lady Hamilton, Admiral Nelson wrote: ‘The child is only feverish for two days; and only a slight inflammation of the arm occurs, instead of being all crust.

A 1801 letter shows Admiral Horatio Nelson urging his then lover to vaccinate his daughter against smallpox, at a time when people were skeptical about inoculation

A 1801 letter shows Admiral Horatio Nelson urging his then lover to vaccinate his daughter against smallpox, at a time when people were skeptical about inoculation

At the time, many were skeptical about using vaccines – after an attempt to inoculate children, deliberately infecting them with smallpox, resulted in the death of King George III’s son, Otávio, at the age of four.

Rob Blythe, senior curator at the National Maritime Museum, shared the letter with The Guardian, revealing a passage in which he professes his love for his lover, Lady Hamilton.

Although both were married, neither had a legitimate child.

People were skeptical about vaccines in the 19th century, after King George III's son died of early treatment and was later abandoned to smallpox. Today vaccines are helping to combat Covid-19. Pictured: a woman in Thamesmead getting her jab today

People were skeptical about vaccines in the 19th century, after King George III’s son died of early treatment and was later abandoned to smallpox. Today vaccines are helping to combat Covid-19. Pictured: a woman in Thamesmead getting her jab today

After her death in 1805, Nelson’s father took in Horatia and raised her among his family.

He said: ‘Nelson is a man who acutely understands what the risks mean. He’s dealing with risks every day at sea, whether life or death or gunshot wounds, cannonballs, shrapnel … I think he can probably, as a navy man, do a better vaccination risk assessment than others could Tempo. ‘

Mr. Blythe hopes that Nelson may have heard about Jenner’s vaccine while at the captain’s table.

Nelson urged his mistress, Lady Hamilton, to inoculate his daughter, Horatia, against smallpox virus

Nelson urged his mistress, Lady Hamilton, to inoculate his daughter, Horatia, against smallpox virus

“Have you heard about vaccination?” Just to try to put everyone on a different topic. “

The letter was one of more than 2,000 acquired by the National Maritime Museum in 1946.

A transcript of the heroic admiral’s correspondence was published in 1814, but that letter had gone unnoticed until then.

SMALLPOX: THE HISTORY OF THE KILLER VIRUS

  • The first known victim of smallpox was Pharaoh Ramses V of Egypt, who died in 1157 BC and whose mummy still bears the scars of the disease.
  • When the Spaniards took her to Hispaniola – now Haiti and the Dominican Republic – which established themselves as a sugarcane plantation in 1509, it killed each of the 2.5 million natives in a decade.
  • More than 200 years ago, physician Edward Jenner made a crucial discovery that led to the first vaccine. He found that dairy farmers who developed bovine smallpox working close to the animals day after day seemed to be protected from smallpox, the human form of the disease.
  • In Britain, the disease was endemic until 1935.
  • The last major outbreak in Europe was in 1972, when 20 million were vaccinated after a pilgrim returning from Mecca to Yugoslavia infected 175 people.
  • Doctors waged a vaccination campaign to eradicate smallpox, which was successful in the late 1970s.
  • All nations were asked to destroy stocks of the virus or deliver them to high-security facilities in the United States or Russia. It is feared that terrorists may have obtained supplies from Russia in the 1980s.

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