But it has now emerged that Admiral Lord Nelson was also uncommonly wise when it came to another subject: vaccination. In a letter to his mistress, model and actress Lady Emma Hamilton, dated July 1801, Nelson urged her to use the then newly developed smallpox vaccine to protect their baby daughter, Horatia. In his letter, he wrote of hearing of ‘a full trial with the cowpox’ which proved to be a success. Writing to Hamilton, he stated that the side-effects of the cowpox vaccine were mild. Rob Blyth, curator at the National Maritime Museum, speculated that Nelson would have heard about the miracle of ‘inoculation’ from a doctor at the captain’s table aboard his ship.