Charles Lock
Encyclopedia
Charles Lock was the British
consul-general in Naples
during the Neapolitan Revolution of 1799.
Charles Lock was born in 1770 into a rich, though illegitimate family. He was the second son of William Lock
, who purchased the Norbury Park
estate in Mickleham
, Surrey
in 1774 and commissioned Thomas Sandby
to build the present manor house. Charles Lock's parents were close friends to famed diarist and novelist Frances Burney (a.k.a. Mme d'Arblay), who spells their name Locke.
On 12 July 1795, Charles Lock married Cecilia Margaret Ogilvie (9 July 1775 – 1824), daughter of Emily FitzGerald, Duchess of Leinster
and her second husband William Ogilvie
. Cecilia had almost married the son and heir of the 1st Marquess of Donegall
in 1790.
Author Jack Russell, who was critical of Lock, stated in his book Nelson and the Hamiltons that he "married above himself." Lock's wife was the half-sister of the Irish rebel Lord Edward FitzGerald
who was hanged for treason, and the cousin of prominent Whig statesman Charles James Fox
. Jack Russell thus points out that Charles Lock was "allied to a family which had strong Republican sympathies." His liberal intellect and connection to Fox made Charles Lock feel "a better man than a decrepit Ambassador
or a half-blind Admiral
." Because of their family connections, Charles Lock and his wife were naturally taken for Jacobins
at the Bourbon
court of Naples.
Charles Lock and his wife Cecilia had three daughters:
Like many members of the Lock family, Charles had a portrait of him painted by Sir Thomas Lawrence
, probably around 1795, the year of his marriage. The portrait is currently untraceable. A version of it, possibly the original, was at one time in the Kann Collection
in Paris
.
on 6 November 1798. The Leinster connections
of his mother-in-law
had landed him the job, which was considered an unimportant position. However, the political turmoil in Italy resulting from the French Revolutionary Wars
made Lock witness several important events during his consulship. With a French invasion of Naples imminent, British vice-admiral Lord Nelson
evacuated the Neapolitan King
and Queen
to Palermo
in Sicily
on 23 December of the same year.
On 23 January 1799, the Parthenopaean Republic
, a client state of Revolutionary
France
, was created in the territory of the Kingdom of Naples. Charles Lock, an astute observer, wrote about the frivolous atmosphere of the court in Palermo. He noticed at the end of January that the king was enjoying excellent shooting, the court was attending masked balls, and Nelson feared that if nothing were done Sicily would be lost as well as Naples. Nevertheless, by May 1799, Cardinal Fabrizio Ruffo
, in command of the anti-republican peasant Army of Holy Faith (known as the Sanfedismo
movement) managed to recapture Naples from the French and the Neapolitan patriots, with the help of some Austrian and Russian troops. Ruffo, who had been appointed by King Ferdinand IV of Naples
as his personal representative with "the unrestricted quality of alter-ego," signed an armistice with the patriots in the King's name. The agreement gave the French and the patriots the full honors of war, with their persons and property guaranteed, and included the provision that the garrisons of the forts could embark freely for France. Charles Lock called the agreement "a very wise measure...as it effectively sweeps the Kingdom of the disaffected."
However, as soon as the patriots left the protection of their forts and started boarding the ships that were supposed to take them to France, the Neapolitan King and Queen, who were still safely sheltered in Palermo, informed Lord Nelson that they were disavowing the agreement. The Queen explicitly instructed "Lord Nelson to treat Naples as if it were a rebellious city in Ireland
." The ensuing wave of reprisals by the Neapolitan monarchs and their British allies, in which more than 8,000 of the refugees aboard the transports were tried for treason, severely damaged Nelson's reputation back in the United Kingdom and remains to this day a controversial part of his legacy
. Charles Lock played an important role in keeping British public opinion informed of the atrocities that were taking place in Naples, by sending letters back home in which he described the events he was witnessing. He wrote to his father in July 1799:
Lock wrote home about the prisoners in the polacca
s, saying:
Prominent Whig statesman Charles James Fox
, to whom Charles Lock was related through his wife (see Family section), brought the matter to the attention of the Parliament of Great Britain
, and denounced the deceitfulness of the British troops in Naples by citing specific incidents. Fox's informant was most likely Charles Lock. In May 1800, Lock reported to Baron Keith that 145 had been executed in Naples; 1,900 transported to France; between 700 and 800 sent to the island of Maritimo; and many had died in unwholesome Neapolitan jails.
s and captains
of the British fleet of cheating and colluding with merchants over prices. This caused an altercation between Lord Nelson
and Lock. Lord Nelson challenged Lock's accusations of cheating. Historian Roger Knight
states that during the altercation:
Charles Lock is well-known for his hatred of Lord Nelson's mistress, Emma Hamilton
, the wife of the British ambassador in Naples William Hamilton
. Strains between Lady Hamilton and Lock and his wife led to poisonous relations in the court at Palermo. Biographer Flora Fraser
, in her book Emma, Lady Hamilton, describes Charles Lock as "a difficult young man, quick to take offence and all too eager to put himself forward." She points out that his "violent dislike" of Lady Hamilton seems to have reciprocated. Lady Hamilton is known to have spread rumours about Charles Lock's wife Cecilia being a Jacobin
, possibly because she was jealous of Cecilia's good looks and youthful figure.
Lady Hamilton's grip over Lord Nelson was especially criticized by Lock. He spoke of her "unbounded power" over Nelson, and complained that the vice-admiral's "extravagant love" had made him "the laughing stock of the whole fleet." Lock became famous for the salacious letters he wrote home in which he denounced Lady Hamilton and Lord Nelson. Flora Fraser describes his letters as "long, vituperative screeds about the horrors of Lady Hamilton." The letters Lock wrote contained "scabrous comments" and gained a wide circulation back in the United Kingdom among those who wished to attack the government by attacking its servants.
Lock began his campaign of denigration on 30 June 1799 in a letter to his father in which he commented on Nelson's return to the recaptured Naples on 24 June with Emma and her husband Sir William. Lock stated that the three embarked aboard "with great secrecy." He expressed his bitterness at not being notified by saying:
were the actual reason why Nelson and Lady Hamilton left Palermo for Naples with such secrecy, thus forcing Sir William to break his word to Charles Lock.
on 26 December 1803. However, he never served there: on his way to Egypt, he died of plague in the lazaretto
at Malta
. He died on 12 September 1804 together with two of his suite. They were assiduously attended by Lock's private secretary, Lambton Este, who placed himself in the lazaretto with them for that purpose.
Charles Lock's death left his family unprovided for. As a result, his daughters continued to receive a pension from the British government well into adulthood, the total of which amounted to £288 in 1838.
Scottish historical novelist David Donachie
argues that "without much wealth, Charles Lock was a man in a hurry who made no secret that he had designs on Sir William's position as ambassador."
|-
British people
The British are citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, any of the Channel Islands, or of any of the British overseas territories, and their descendants...
consul-general in Naples
Naples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
during the Neapolitan Revolution of 1799.
Family
William Lock
William Lock was Mayor of Nelson from 1913 to 1915 and again from 1921 to 1927. Lock was an auctioneer, and a grain and produce merchant for 40 years. During his term as Mayor, HMS New Zealand visited Nelson in 1913...
, who purchased the Norbury Park
Norbury Park
Norbury Park is a swathe of land arranged around a small manor house near Leatherhead and Dorking, Surrey, which appears in the Domesday Book of 1086. The manor was also known as Northbury for some time....
estate in Mickleham
Mickleham, Surrey
Mickleham is a village and civil parish between the towns of Dorking and Leatherhead in Surrey, England covering . The parish includes the hamlet of Fredley.-History:Mickleham lies near to the old Roman road known as Stane Street...
, Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
in 1774 and commissioned Thomas Sandby
Thomas Sandby
Thomas Sandby was an English draughtsman, watercolour artist, architect and teacher. Along with his younger brother Paul, he became one of the founding members of the Royal Academy in 1768, and was its first professor of architecture...
to build the present manor house. Charles Lock's parents were close friends to famed diarist and novelist Frances Burney (a.k.a. Mme d'Arblay), who spells their name Locke.
On 12 July 1795, Charles Lock married Cecilia Margaret Ogilvie (9 July 1775 – 1824), daughter of Emily FitzGerald, Duchess of Leinster
Emily FitzGerald, Duchess of Leinster
Emily FitzGerald, Duchess of Leinster , known before 1747 as Lady Emily Lennox, from 1747 to 1761 as The Countess of Kildare and from 1761 to 1766 as The Marchioness of Kildare, was the second of the famous Lennox sisters, daughters of Charles Lennox, 2nd Duke of Richmond, and illegitimately...
and her second husband William Ogilvie
William Ogilvie (Ardglass)
William Ogilvie was a Scottish-born scholar and tutor of Lord Edward FitzGerald, and married Edward's mother Emily FitzGerald, Duchess of Leinster after the death of her first husband. Ogilvie was nine years her junior, and was the natural father of her youngest son from her first marriage. A...
. Cecilia had almost married the son and heir of the 1st Marquess of Donegall
Arthur Chichester, 1st Marquess of Donegall
Arthur Chichester, 1st Marquess of Donegall , known as Arthur Chichester until 1757 and as The Earl of Donegall between 1757 and 1791, was an Irish nobleman and politician.-Background and education:...
in 1790.
Author Jack Russell, who was critical of Lock, stated in his book Nelson and the Hamiltons that he "married above himself." Lock's wife was the half-sister of the Irish rebel Lord Edward FitzGerald
Lord Edward FitzGerald
Lord Edward FitzGerald was an Irish aristocrat and revolutionary. He was the fifth son of the 1st Duke of Leinster and the Duchess of Leinster , he was born at Carton House, near Dublin, and died of wounds received in resisting arrest on charge of treason.-Early years:FitzGerald spent most of his...
who was hanged for treason, and the cousin of prominent Whig statesman Charles James Fox
Charles James Fox
Charles James Fox PC , styled The Honourable from 1762, was a prominent British Whig statesman whose parliamentary career spanned thirty-eight years of the late 18th and early 19th centuries and who was particularly noted for being the arch-rival of William Pitt the Younger...
. Jack Russell thus points out that Charles Lock was "allied to a family which had strong Republican sympathies." His liberal intellect and connection to Fox made Charles Lock feel "a better man than a decrepit Ambassador
William Hamilton (diplomat)
Sir William Hamilton KB, PC, FRS was a Scottish diplomat, antiquarian, archaeologist and vulcanologist. After a short period as a Member of Parliament, he served as British Ambassador to the Kingdom of Naples from 1764 to 1800...
or a half-blind Admiral
Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson
Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, 1st Duke of Bronté, KB was a flag officer famous for his service in the Royal Navy, particularly during the Napoleonic Wars. He was noted for his inspirational leadership and superb grasp of strategy and unconventional tactics, which resulted in a number of...
." Because of their family connections, Charles Lock and his wife were naturally taken for Jacobins
Jacobin (politics)
A Jacobin , in the context of the French Revolution, was a member of the Jacobin Club, a revolutionary far-left political movement. The Jacobin Club was the most famous political club of the French Revolution. So called from the Dominican convent where they originally met, in the Rue St. Jacques ,...
at the Bourbon
House of Bourbon
The House of Bourbon is a European royal house, a branch of the Capetian dynasty . Bourbon kings first ruled Navarre and France in the 16th century. By the 18th century, members of the Bourbon dynasty also held thrones in Spain, Naples, Sicily, and Parma...
court of Naples.
Charles Lock and his wife Cecilia had three daughters:
- Emily Frederica Lock (1796–1822). She married Count George de Viry around 1815, and left descendants in Italy.
- Georgina Cecilia Lock (1798–1867). She married Robert Fulke GrevilleRobert Fulke Greville (landowner)Robert Fulke Greville was a politician, soldier and landowner of the early Victorian era, the son of Regency courtier Robert Fulke Greville....
in 1822. Their son William Hamilton Greville, born in 1826, died a bachelor. - Lucy Frances Lock (1801–1893). She was born in Naples on 26 June 1801 during her father's consulship there. She married Captain Alexander Ellice of the Royal NavyRoyal NavyThe Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
in 1826, brother of the well-known politician Edward ElliceEdward Ellice (merchant)Edward Ellice the Elder , known in his time as the "Bear", was a British merchant and politician. He was a Director of the Hudson's Bay Company and a prime mover behind the Reform Bill of 1832....
.
Like many members of the Lock family, Charles had a portrait of him painted by Sir Thomas Lawrence
Thomas Lawrence (painter)
Sir Thomas Lawrence RA FRS was a leading English portrait painter and president of the Royal Academy.Lawrence was a child prodigy. He was born in Bristol and began drawing in Devizes, where his father was an innkeeper. At the age of ten, having moved to Bath, he was supporting his family with his...
, probably around 1795, the year of his marriage. The portrait is currently untraceable. A version of it, possibly the original, was at one time in the Kann Collection
Alphonse Kann
Alphonse Kann was a prominent French art collector of Jewish heritage. He was a childhood playmate and adult friend of the writer Marcel Proust, who incorporated several of Kann's features into the character Charles Swann .The name Kann, written with double "nn", was said in Paris to be "le plus...
in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
.
Consulship in Naples
Charles Lock was appointed British consul-general at NaplesNaples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
on 6 November 1798. The Leinster connections
Duke of Leinster
Duke of Leinster is a title in the Peerage of Ireland and the premier dukedom in that peerage. The title refers to Leinster, but unlike the province the title is pronounced "Lin-ster"...
of his mother-in-law
Emily FitzGerald, Duchess of Leinster
Emily FitzGerald, Duchess of Leinster , known before 1747 as Lady Emily Lennox, from 1747 to 1761 as The Countess of Kildare and from 1761 to 1766 as The Marchioness of Kildare, was the second of the famous Lennox sisters, daughters of Charles Lennox, 2nd Duke of Richmond, and illegitimately...
had landed him the job, which was considered an unimportant position. However, the political turmoil in Italy resulting from the French Revolutionary Wars
French Revolutionary Wars
The French Revolutionary Wars were a series of major conflicts, from 1792 until 1802, fought between the French Revolutionary government and several European states...
made Lock witness several important events during his consulship. With a French invasion of Naples imminent, British vice-admiral Lord Nelson
Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson
Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, 1st Duke of Bronté, KB was a flag officer famous for his service in the Royal Navy, particularly during the Napoleonic Wars. He was noted for his inspirational leadership and superb grasp of strategy and unconventional tactics, which resulted in a number of...
evacuated the Neapolitan King
Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies
Ferdinand I reigned variously over Naples, Sicily, and the Two Sicilies from 1759 until his death. He was the third son of King Charles III of Spain by his wife Maria Amalia of Saxony. On 10 August 1759, Charles succeeded his elder brother, Ferdinand VI, as King Charles III of Spain...
and Queen
Maria Carolina of Austria
Maria Carolina of Austria was Queen of Naples and Sicily as the wife of King Ferdinand IV & III. As de facto ruler of her husband's kingdoms, Maria Carolina oversaw the promulgation of many reforms, including the revocation of the ban on Freemasonry, the enlargement of the navy under her...
to Palermo
Palermo
Palermo is a city in Southern Italy, the capital of both the autonomous region of Sicily and the Province of Palermo. The city is noted for its history, culture, architecture and gastronomy, playing an important role throughout much of its existence; it is over 2,700 years old...
in Sicily
Kingdom of Sicily
The Kingdom of Sicily was a state that existed in the south of Italy from its founding by Roger II in 1130 until 1816. It was a successor state of the County of Sicily, which had been founded in 1071 during the Norman conquest of southern Italy...
on 23 December of the same year.
Denunciation of British atrocities
Parthenopaean Republic
The Parthenopean Republic was a French-supported republic in the territory of the Kingdom of Naples, formed during the French Revolutionary Wars after King Ferdinand IV fled before advancing French troops...
, a client state of Revolutionary
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, was created in the territory of the Kingdom of Naples. Charles Lock, an astute observer, wrote about the frivolous atmosphere of the court in Palermo. He noticed at the end of January that the king was enjoying excellent shooting, the court was attending masked balls, and Nelson feared that if nothing were done Sicily would be lost as well as Naples. Nevertheless, by May 1799, Cardinal Fabrizio Ruffo
Fabrizio Ruffo
Fabrizio Ruffo was an Italian cardinal and politician, who led the popular anti-republican Sanfedismo movement .-Biography:...
, in command of the anti-republican peasant Army of Holy Faith (known as the Sanfedismo
Sanfedismo
Sanfedismo was a popular anti-Republican movement, organized by Cardinal Fabrizio Ruffo, which mobilized peasants of the Papal States against the Parthenopaean Republic in 1799, its aims culminating in the restoration of the Bourbon Kingdom of Naples under Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies...
movement) managed to recapture Naples from the French and the Neapolitan patriots, with the help of some Austrian and Russian troops. Ruffo, who had been appointed by King Ferdinand IV of Naples
Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies
Ferdinand I reigned variously over Naples, Sicily, and the Two Sicilies from 1759 until his death. He was the third son of King Charles III of Spain by his wife Maria Amalia of Saxony. On 10 August 1759, Charles succeeded his elder brother, Ferdinand VI, as King Charles III of Spain...
as his personal representative with "the unrestricted quality of alter-ego," signed an armistice with the patriots in the King's name. The agreement gave the French and the patriots the full honors of war, with their persons and property guaranteed, and included the provision that the garrisons of the forts could embark freely for France. Charles Lock called the agreement "a very wise measure...as it effectively sweeps the Kingdom of the disaffected."
However, as soon as the patriots left the protection of their forts and started boarding the ships that were supposed to take them to France, the Neapolitan King and Queen, who were still safely sheltered in Palermo, informed Lord Nelson that they were disavowing the agreement. The Queen explicitly instructed "Lord Nelson to treat Naples as if it were a rebellious city in Ireland
Kingdom of Ireland
The Kingdom of Ireland refers to the country of Ireland in the period between the proclamation of Henry VIII as King of Ireland by the Crown of Ireland Act 1542 and the Act of Union in 1800. It replaced the Lordship of Ireland, which had been created in 1171...
." The ensuing wave of reprisals by the Neapolitan monarchs and their British allies, in which more than 8,000 of the refugees aboard the transports were tried for treason, severely damaged Nelson's reputation back in the United Kingdom and remains to this day a controversial part of his legacy
Legacy of Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson
Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson was one of the leading British naval commanders of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, responsible for several important victories over the French and Spanish navies during a time of crisis for the country. He was widely lauded for his success, and praised for...
. Charles Lock played an important role in keeping British public opinion informed of the atrocities that were taking place in Naples, by sending letters back home in which he described the events he was witnessing. He wrote to his father in July 1799:
"You will hear with grief of the infraction of the articles convented with the Neapolitan jacobinsJacobin (politics)A Jacobin , in the context of the French Revolution, was a member of the Jacobin Club, a revolutionary far-left political movement. The Jacobin Club was the most famous political club of the French Revolution. So called from the Dominican convent where they originally met, in the Rue St. Jacques ,...
and of the stab our English honour has received in being employed to decoy these people, who relied upon our faith, into the most deplorable situation... but the sentiment of abhorrence expressed by the whole fleet will I hope exonerate the nation from an imputation so disgraceful. And charge it where it should lie, on the shoulders of one or two."
Lock wrote home about the prisoners in the polacca
Polacca
A polacca is a type of seventeenth-century sailing vessel, similar to the xebec. The name is the feminine of "Polish" in the Italian language. The polacca was frequently seen in the Mediterranean...
s, saying:
"Many of these victims to their confidence in us have already been executed. The government is burdened with upwards of 10,000 prisoners... To be sure, they die very fast, in the unwholesome prisons they are confined in, heaped upon one another."
Prominent Whig statesman Charles James Fox
Charles James Fox
Charles James Fox PC , styled The Honourable from 1762, was a prominent British Whig statesman whose parliamentary career spanned thirty-eight years of the late 18th and early 19th centuries and who was particularly noted for being the arch-rival of William Pitt the Younger...
, to whom Charles Lock was related through his wife (see Family section), brought the matter to the attention of the Parliament of Great Britain
Parliament of Great Britain
The Parliament of Great Britain was formed in 1707 following the ratification of the Acts of Union by both the Parliament of England and Parliament of Scotland...
, and denounced the deceitfulness of the British troops in Naples by citing specific incidents. Fox's informant was most likely Charles Lock. In May 1800, Lock reported to Baron Keith that 145 had been executed in Naples; 1,900 transported to France; between 700 and 800 sent to the island of Maritimo; and many had died in unwholesome Neapolitan jails.
Fallout with Nelson
During the Neapolitan campaign, Charles Lock accused the purserPurser
The purser joined the warrant officer ranks of the Royal Navy in the early fourteenth century and existed as a Naval rank until 1852. The development of the warrant officer system began in 1040 when five English ports began furnishing warships to King Edward the Confessor in exchange for certain...
s and captains
Captain (Royal Navy)
Captain is a senior officer rank of the Royal Navy. It ranks above Commander and below Commodore and has a NATO ranking code of OF-5. The rank is equivalent to a Colonel in the British Army or Royal Marines and to a Group Captain in the Royal Air Force. The rank of Group Captain is based on the...
of the British fleet of cheating and colluding with merchants over prices. This caused an altercation between Lord Nelson
Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson
Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, 1st Duke of Bronté, KB was a flag officer famous for his service in the Royal Navy, particularly during the Napoleonic Wars. He was noted for his inspirational leadership and superb grasp of strategy and unconventional tactics, which resulted in a number of...
and Lock. Lord Nelson challenged Lock's accusations of cheating. Historian Roger Knight
R. J. B. Knight
R. J. B. Knight is one of Britain's leading naval historians of the 18th century, a former Deputy Director of the National Maritime Museum at Greenwich, and author of a distinguished biography of Admiral Lord Nelson....
states that during the altercation:
"Both men raised their voices; Nelson made Lock grovel by insisting that his accusation was sent to the Victualling CommissionersVictualling CommissionersThe Commissioners for the victualling of the Navy, often called Victualling Commissioners, were the body responsible under the Navy Board for victualling ships of the British Royal Navy.-Creation:...
in London. This was not Nelson's usual style. In response Lock wrote hostile letters home."
Relationship with Emma Hamilton
Emma, Lady Hamilton
Emma, Lady Hamilton is best remembered as the mistress of Lord Nelson and as the muse of George Romney. She was born Amy Lyon in Ness near Neston, Cheshire, England, the daughter of a blacksmith, Henry Lyon, who died when she was two months old...
, the wife of the British ambassador in Naples William Hamilton
William Hamilton (diplomat)
Sir William Hamilton KB, PC, FRS was a Scottish diplomat, antiquarian, archaeologist and vulcanologist. After a short period as a Member of Parliament, he served as British Ambassador to the Kingdom of Naples from 1764 to 1800...
. Strains between Lady Hamilton and Lock and his wife led to poisonous relations in the court at Palermo. Biographer Flora Fraser
Flora Fraser (writer)
Flora Fraser Soros is an English writer of historical biographies.-Family:She is the daughter of historian and historical biographer Lady Antonia Fraser and the late Sir Hugh Fraser, a British Conservative politician. Her stepfather was the playwright Harold Pinter, the 2005 Nobel Laureate in...
, in her book Emma, Lady Hamilton, describes Charles Lock as "a difficult young man, quick to take offence and all too eager to put himself forward." She points out that his "violent dislike" of Lady Hamilton seems to have reciprocated. Lady Hamilton is known to have spread rumours about Charles Lock's wife Cecilia being a Jacobin
Jacobin (politics)
A Jacobin , in the context of the French Revolution, was a member of the Jacobin Club, a revolutionary far-left political movement. The Jacobin Club was the most famous political club of the French Revolution. So called from the Dominican convent where they originally met, in the Rue St. Jacques ,...
, possibly because she was jealous of Cecilia's good looks and youthful figure.
Lady Hamilton's grip over Lord Nelson was especially criticized by Lock. He spoke of her "unbounded power" over Nelson, and complained that the vice-admiral's "extravagant love" had made him "the laughing stock of the whole fleet." Lock became famous for the salacious letters he wrote home in which he denounced Lady Hamilton and Lord Nelson. Flora Fraser describes his letters as "long, vituperative screeds about the horrors of Lady Hamilton." The letters Lock wrote contained "scabrous comments" and gained a wide circulation back in the United Kingdom among those who wished to attack the government by attacking its servants.
Lock began his campaign of denigration on 30 June 1799 in a letter to his father in which he commented on Nelson's return to the recaptured Naples on 24 June with Emma and her husband Sir William. Lock stated that the three embarked aboard "with great secrecy." He expressed his bitterness at not being notified by saying:
"I underwent a severe mortification in not being invited to accompany Sir William or receiving any intimation of their designs, which I relied on as Sir William had repeatedly promised I should attend him when he went."In the same letter, Lock blamed Lady Hamilton as the one behind the decision to keep him uninformed, and described her as a "superficial, grasping and vulgar minded woman." However, private orders given by the Queen of Naples and Sicily
Maria Carolina of Austria
Maria Carolina of Austria was Queen of Naples and Sicily as the wife of King Ferdinand IV & III. As de facto ruler of her husband's kingdoms, Maria Carolina oversaw the promulgation of many reforms, including the revocation of the ban on Freemasonry, the enlargement of the navy under her...
were the actual reason why Nelson and Lady Hamilton left Palermo for Naples with such secrecy, thus forcing Sir William to break his word to Charles Lock.
Death
Charles Lock was appointed Consul-General in EgyptEgypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
on 26 December 1803. However, he never served there: on his way to Egypt, he died of plague in the lazaretto
Lazaretto
A lazaretto or lazaret is a quarantine station for maritime travellers. Lazarets can be ships permanently at anchor, isolated islands, or mainland buildings. Until 1908, lazarets were also used for disinfecting postal items, usually by fumigation...
at Malta
Malta
Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...
. He died on 12 September 1804 together with two of his suite. They were assiduously attended by Lock's private secretary, Lambton Este, who placed himself in the lazaretto with them for that purpose.
Charles Lock's death left his family unprovided for. As a result, his daughters continued to receive a pension from the British government well into adulthood, the total of which amounted to £288 in 1838.
Legacy
Despite Lock's role in bringing to light the atrocities that were taking place in Naples, modern historians have mixed opinions about him. Terry Coleman, in his book The Nelson Touch, says that "Lock was not an admirable man." On the other hand, the Duchess of Sermoneta, who wrote a book in 1940 about the Lock family, has a far more sympathetic assessment, saying that Lock "was revolted by what he witnessed in those days" because he was "kind-hearted and honourable."Scottish historical novelist David Donachie
David Donachie
David Donachie is a Scottish nautical historical novelist. He also writes under the pen-names Tom Connery and Jack Ludlow.-The Privateersman Mysteries:# The Devil's Own Lucke # The Dying Trade...
argues that "without much wealth, Charles Lock was a man in a hurry who made no secret that he had designs on Sir William's position as ambassador."
Further reading
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