Mary Moutray

'''Mary Moutray''' born '''Mary Pemble''' (bap. 1752 – 1844) was a naval wife of John Moutray who was the Royal Commissioner in Antigua. Horatio Nelson was besotted with her and Cuthbert Collingwood was another friend and admirer.

==Life== Moutray was baptised in Yorktown, Virginia in 1752. Her parents were Catherine Selby and Lieutenant John Pemble of HMS ''Tryton''.<ref name=orb/>

She married on 2 September 1771 to a naval officer, John Moutray at Berwick upon Tweed.<ref name=orb/> Her husband was thirty years older than her.<ref name=bbc>{{Cite news |title=El amargo infierno creado por los británicos que fueron por el azúcar de las islas caribeñas |language=es |work=BBC News Mundo |url=https://www.bbc.com/mundo/noticias-41100330 |access-date=2023-06-11}}</ref> She and John had twins in 1773 that they called Catherine and John.<ref name=orb/>

In the 1780s they were in Antigua where her husband was the Royal Commissioner.<ref name=bbc/> one of the captains there was Horatio Nelson who hated this particular posting. The only thing in his mind that made it bearable was the presence of Mary Moutray.<ref name=bbc/> Mary and her husband were only there for a few months in 1784 but she made a lasting impression on Nelson. He first met her in June 1784 and the friendship developed despite Nelson reporting her husband for a breach of procedure.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Archives |first=The National |title=The National Archives - Exhibitions & Learning online - Nelson, Trafalgar, and those who served |url=https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/nelson/gallery3/prince.htm |access-date=2023-06-11 |website=www.nationalarchives.gov.uk |language=en-GB}}</ref> Nelson said that he cried when he first thought of Antigua without her. He said that her company was where he had "spent more happy hours than anywhere else".<ref name=bbc/> When Nelson did start to court a wife he would tell, Frances Nisbet, about Mrs Moutray.<ref name=orb/> Mary wrote about Nelson noting that he took to wearing a wig because he had lost hair dues to a fever. Cuthbert Collingwood kept a sketch of him in that wig.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Horatio Nelson drawn by Cuthbert Collingwood when both were serving in the West Indies {{!}} Royal Museums Greenwich |url=https://www.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/rmgc-object-202685 |access-date=2023-06-11 |website=www.rmg.co.uk}}</ref>

After John Moutray died Mary petitioned for a pension and although she gained Royal support the request was denied by Lord Howe on the grounds that it might create a precedent for other claims. Some commentators have supposed that if John Moutray had died in Antigua then Nelson would have married Mary.<ref name=orb/> Nelson took an interest in Mary's son John. He was with Nelson at the Siege of Calvi. When John died during the siege Nelson paid for his memorial.<ref name=orb/>

When Nelson died in 1805 then Cuthbert Collingwood wrote to her. He too had been captivated by her when he was in Antigua and he had written poetry about her.<ref name=bbc/>

John and Mary's daughter Katherine (aka Kate) married the Thomas de Lacy who was a long-serving archdeacon of Meath in 1806. Mary died in Meath in 1844.<ref name=orb>{{Cite ODNB |title=The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography |date=2004-09-23 |url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/19449 |editor-last=Matthew |editor-first=H. C. G. |access-date=2023-06-11 |place=Oxford |doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/19449 |editor2-last=Harrison |editor2-first=B.}}</ref>

==References== {{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boxall, Nellie}} Category:1750s births Category:1844 deaths Category:People from Yorktown, Virginia