WARNING: This article contains spoilers from Antiques Roadshow. An Antiques Roadshow guest was on the brink of tears as she was told the true value of a teapot that’s been passed down through the generations. Travelling to the Royal Agricultural University, BBC expert John Sandon met with a guest who had a unique and personal item in the shape of a teapot that belonged to Admiral Horatio Nelson.
“Well your teapot’s emblazoned with anchors, you’ve got dates of famous sea battles and the greatest name of all that is Nelson there”, Sandon began. “But are we looking at a splendid commemorative or Heaven forbid, could it be Nelson’s teapot itself? A lot depends on the family history really and how close you can trace it back to Nelson.” Explaining her familial connection, the guest replied: “Well my grandmother’s maiden name was Barlow and so if you go up the line, she descends from Sir Admiral Robert Barlow who commanded one of Nelson’s ships and his third daughter married Horatio Nelson’s brother.
” As well as the teapot, Sandon was presented with an order of battle from the Mediterranean in 1804 from Nelson himself which included a “triumph” commanded by Sir Robert Barlow. But what made the link even more personal was the fact that Barlow’s daughter went on to become Countess Nelson with her husband and Nelson’s brother William, inheriting the First Earl Nelson title when the admiral died at Trafalgar. Going on to take a closer look at the teapo.