[4] He was the second son of William Lock, who purchased the Norbury Park estate in Mickleham, Surrey in 1774 and commissioned Thomas Sandby to build the present manor house.

[19] However, the political turmoil in Italy resulting from the French Revolutionary Wars made Lock witness several important events during his consulship.

With a French invasion of Naples imminent, British vice-admiral Lord Nelson evacuated the Neapolitan King and Queen to Palermo in Sicily on 23 December of the same year.

He noticed at the end of January that the king was enjoying excellent shooting, the court was attending masked balls, and Nelson feared that if nothing were done Sicily would be lost as well as Naples.

[21] Nevertheless, by May 1799, Cardinal Fabrizio Ruffo, in command of the anti-republican peasant Army of Holy Faith (known as the Sanfedismo movement) managed to recapture Naples from the French and the Neapolitan patriots, with the help of some Austrian and Russian troops.

The agreement gave the French and the patriots the full honors of war, with their persons and property guaranteed, and included the provision that the garrisons of the forts could embark freely for France.

However, as soon as the patriots left the protection of their forts and started boarding the ships that were supposed to take them to France, the Neapolitan King and Queen, who were still safely sheltered in Palermo, informed Lord Nelson that they were disavowing the agreement.

"[22] The ensuing wave of reprisals by the Neapolitan monarchs and their British allies, in which more than 8,000 of the refugees aboard the transports were tried for treason, severely damaged Nelson's reputation back in the United Kingdom and remains to this day a controversial part of his legacy.

Charles Lock played an important role in keeping British public opinion informed of the atrocities that were taking place in Naples, by sending letters back home in which he described the events he was witnessing.

He wrote to his father in July 1799:"You will hear with grief of the infraction of the articles convented with the Neapolitan jacobins and of the stab our English honour has received in being employed to decoy these people, who relied upon our faith, into the most deplorable situation... but the sentiment of abhorrence expressed by the whole fleet will I hope exonerate the nation from an imputation so disgraceful.

Historian Roger Knight states that during the altercation:"Both men raised their voices; Nelson made Lock grovel by insisting that his accusation was sent to the Victualling Commissioners in London.

[28] Biographer Flora Fraser, in her book Emma, Lady Hamilton, describes Charles Lock as "a difficult young man, quick to take offence and all too eager to put himself forward.

"[32] In the same letter, Lock blamed Lady Hamilton as the one behind the decision to keep him uninformed, and described her as a "superficial, grasping and vulgar minded woman.

"[40] Scottish historical novelist David Donachie argues that "without much wealth, Charles Lock was a man in a hurry who made no secret that he had designs on Sir William's position as ambassador.