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Auction: 25066 - Historical Documents, Autographs and Ephemera
Lot: 142

French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars
Captain E.T. Parker
Admiral Lord Nelson (1758-1805)
1801 June - 4 sided autograph letter written by Captain Edward Thornborough Parker RN, protege of Nelson and his aide-de-camp during the attack on Boulogne, to Emma, Lady Hamilton, mistress of Nelson and mother of their illegitimate daughter, Horatia.
He writes from H.M. Ship St. George at Kioge Bay (in Danish waters), and thanks Lady Hamilton for her friendship. He is "now happy beyond measure to tell you he {Nelson} has most perfectly recovered his late indisposition, which I assure you was much as to create no little alarm in my breast, when I first saw him...He can thank God now eat and drink, laugh and joke, and in short I never before saw him in such spirits. The great and good Lord Nelson is anxious for the moment...Hardy remains with Admiral Pole, and I feel not a little interested and indeed enthusiastic at accompanying the Hero of Aboukir and Copenhagen to England".
Parker mentions Horatia "I am glad to hear the beautiful Horatia is so well"
He refers to an investiture aboard ship by command of the King. "Lord Nelson, with his usual goodness and ability made one of the most appropriate and elegant speeches I ever heard, it pleased and awed everybody and expressed how amply rewarded all glorious actions were, by our Sovereign and our Country". He concludes a long and intense letter by adding a postscript "You will soon see Lord Nelson in London, he says he will not let much grass from under his feet after he lands until he sees you".
Parker died three months after this letter was written, aged 23 years old.. He had been wounded in action off Boulogne. A memorial to him was paid for by Nelson, who had met all his medical expenses and attended his funeral. The memorial remains at St George the Martyr, Deal, Kent.

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Estimate
£950 to £1,000

Starting price
£900