Overview

• Carbon dating and osteological analysis indicate the bones are from a woman aged 45–55 who died around 1815, matching Hamilton’s recorded death at 49.
• A digital facial reconstruction from the largely intact skull closely resembles known portraits, according to forensic expert Dr Philippe Charlier.
• Efforts to extract DNA at police laboratories in Lyon and Marseille have failed so far, preventing definitive confirmation.
• The remains were exhumed in 2021 from the English section of Calais North Cemetery after a decade-long search led by councillor Dominique Darré, then reinterred at Notre‑Dame church with a blessing on September 20.
• A secondary set of child-sized bones found with the woman adds an unresolved question, as investigators continue analysis with no confirmed cause of death but signs of alcohol abuse on the teeth and mouth.