Admiral Lord Horatio Nelson was one of England's famous folk heroes, about whom many famous writers have written. Nelson's famous mistress Lady Emma Hamilton has also had excellent biographies written about her. However Lady Frances `Fanny' Nelson, nee Woolward, Duchess of Bronte, was Nelson's wife and love for fourteen years. She was of good family, brought up in the rich plantation life on Nevis in the West Indies. In 1787 she married a completely unknown naval captain. He was unpopular locally, had no prospects, lived on his pay and was no `catch' at all. Fanny was his loyal devoted wife - and his equally devoted widow - until she died in London in 1831 at the age of 70. Most Nelson biographers have failed to give her more than a cursory glance, hypnotised as they have been by the dynamic sea captain and his mistress.
