A lock of Napoleon Bonaparte’s hair has been discovered in Sydney, Australia, where it had been buried in a town hall vault for several decades, affixed to a letter that identifies the hair as belonging to the legendary Emperor of France. Offering locks of hair was considered a great gift in days of yore, though this particular tuft is believed to have come from Napoleon’s death-bed on the island of St. Helena, where he lived out his final days in exile.
What makes this discovery so potentially intriguing is that it has long been believed by many scholars and historians that Napoleon was assassinated in exile by dosages of arsenic. This latest tuft of hair should be facing DNA analysis at some point, the results of which should indicate an arsenic level.
More information on the assassination of Napoleon can be found here.
In the letter, a Scotsman named Ned Todd explains that he was given the hair by a woman whose brother, a Major William Crockat, had been present at Napoleon’s death.
“If I mistake not she said that her brother (Major Crockat) had himself cut the lock from the head of the illustrious dead,” he wrote.
Miss Betteridge said it was known that Napoleon’s hair was cut after his death and that Crockat appeared in a painting depicting the death scene.
Two years of renovations to improve the Town Hall have uncovered scores of strange objects stored in underground vaults.
The most valuable piece is likely to be a large Sevres vase, a gift from France following Sydney’s hosting of an international exhibition in 1879.
