Thirteen-year-old Betsy Balcombe was the younger daughter of William Balcombe, Superintendent of Public Sales for the East India Company. The Balcombes resided at the Briars, a picturesquely situated cottage at little over a mile from Jamestown. Napoleon was housed in a pavilion near the house while his permanent residence at Longwood was being rehabilitated. Upon first hearing of Napoleon's exile on their island in October 1815, the inhabitants were amazed, not yet having heard of his return from Elba and the events of the Hundred Days. Betsy herself, no longer imaging that Napoleon was the boogey-man of childish legend, was nonetheless still terrified at the thought of the "ogre," the man who had "the most atrocious crimes imputed to him," living on the island. Betsy admits that her opinion of Napoleon, like that of her fellow countrymen, were largely based on the sensational reports of the newspapers of the day and on the opinions of French émigrés—his bitterest enemies—residing in Britain. Despite their fears Betsy and the rest of the inhabitants turned out to see Napoleon's landing on the island. And when the forty-six-year-old former Emperor first visited the Briars, Betsy lost her fear and became instead something of a Bonapartist. Many years later Napoleon III was to reward Betsy with 500 hectares of land with vineyards in Algeria in memory of her comfort to his uncle.
Thirteen-year-old Betsy Balcombe was the younger daughter of William Balcombe, Superintendent of Public Sales for the East India Company. The Balcombes resided at the Briars, a picturesquely situated cottage at little over a mile from Jamestown. Napoleon was housed in a pavilion near the house while his permanent residence at Longwood was being rehabilitated. Upon first hearing of Napoleon's exile on their island in October 1815, the inhabitants were amazed, not yet having heard of his return from Elba and the events of the Hundred Days. Betsy herself, no longer imaging that Napoleon was the boogey-man of childish legend, was nonetheless still terrified at the thought of the "ogre," the man who had "the most atrocious crimes imputed to him," living on the island. Betsy admits that her opinion of Napoleon, like that of her fellow countrymen, were largely based on the sensational reports of the newspapers of the day and on the opinions of French émigrés—his bitterest enemies—residing in Britain. Despite their fears Betsy and the rest of the inhabitants turned out to see Napoleon's landing on the island. And when the forty-six-year-old former Emperor first visited the Briars, Betsy lost her fear and became instead something of a Bonapartist. Many years later Napoleon III was to reward Betsy with 500 hectares of land with vineyards in Algeria in memory of her comfort to his uncle.
Advertisement
Explore more
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
