Merton Place in Surrey, the Seat of Admiral Lord Nelson by Edward Hawke Locker (artist), William Angus (engraver & publisher), 1804 © National Maritime Museum, London. Repro ID PU3982

In 1801 Nelson bought Merton Place, a house and estate in the village of Merton in Surrey, to the south-west of London and close to the main road to Portsmouth. He lived there whenever he was in England on leave, sharing it with Sir William and Lady Hamilton.

Always a countryman at heart, Nelson had dreamed of buying a 'cottage' and had often discussed the possibility with his wife. In 1798, they purchased a house, Roundwood, near Ipswich in Suffolk but Nelson himself never lived there. When he returned to Britain with the Hamiltons in 1800, he revived the dream – but this time, he wanted to share it with Emma.

Emma Hamilton and Madam Bianchi seated at a square piano by Thomas Baxter, 1802-5 ©National Maritime Museum, London, Walter Collection. Repro ID: F4109-15

Emma did the house-hunting while Nelson was at sea, commanding the anti-invasion forces in the Channel. Despite a very discouraging surveyor's report, Nelson bought it for £9,000 with the help of a loan from his prize agent and friend Alexander Davison. He first saw his new home in the early morning of Friday 23 October 1801 and was enchanted with it – a modest but handsome red-brick house, with secluded gardens and an ornamental canal (immediately dubbed 'The Nile').

Emma had decorated the interior with mirrors to make the rooms look larger and according to Nelson's friend Lord Minto:

'the whole house, staircase and all [is] covered with nothing but pictures of her and him, of all sizes and sorts, and representations of his naval actions, coats of arms, pieces of plate in his honour, the flagstaff of L'Orient etc. – an excess of vanity that counteracts its own purpose'.

Excess of vanity it may have been, but Nelson was happy there – initially between 1801 and 1803 with both of the Hamiltons, and then briefly in the autumn of 1805, with Emma and their beloved Horatia, and other members of his family prior to the Battle of Trafalgar. His letters to Emma are full of plans for extensions and improvements and he dreamed of retiring there. Sadly, the house has not survived. It was sold in 1823, pulled down in 1846, and the site was built over.

Part of the Nelson A to Z, Edited extracts taken from The Nelson Encyclopædia by Dr Colin White, Chatham Publishing London, 2002.