Confiscated love letters to sailors opened after 265 years

What we do today via WhatsApp, Zoom or a phone call could only be done by letter in the past.

Love letters and family messages to French sailors that were once confiscated by Great Britain remained unread for around 265 years – now they have been opened. Their content offers moving insights into the love, lives and family disputes of people back then, from farming families to wealthy officers’ wives, reports Renaud Morieux from the University of Cambridge in the journal “Annales Histoire Sciences Sociales”.

“I could write to you all night long… I am your ever faithful wife,” wrote Marie Dubosc to her husband in 1758. He never received the letter – and Marie Dubosc died the following year without being seen again. “I can hardly wait to own you,” Anne Le Cerf wrote to her husband and signed it “Your obedient wife Nanette.”

More than 100 letters from fiancées, wives and relatives

The more than 100 letters from 1757 and 1758 were sent by fiancées, wives, parents and siblings to sailors on the French warship “Galatée” with its 181-member crew. The French postal administration tried to deliver the letters to the ship by sending them from port to port, but they always arrived too late. The letters were eventually confiscated by the British Royal Navy during the Seven Years’ War (1756-1763) and taken to the Admiralty in London. They are now in the National Archives in Kew, a district of the British capital.

“There were three stacks of letters held together with ribbon,” Morieux said, according to a statement Tuesday. “I realized I was the first person to read these extremely personal messages since they were written. It was very emotional.” According to his university, it was also difficult for Morieux to decipher the letters, which were characterized by missing punctuation marks and capital letters as well as generally wild spelling.

Mother complained to son

Some of the most remarkable letters were said to have been sent to the young sailor Nicolas Quesnel from Normandy. His 61-year-old mother Marguerite wrote to him in January 1758 – or had someone write to him, as she herself was most likely illiterate. The main issue was the complaint that her son rarely contacted her. “I think I’m close to the grave, I’ve been sick for three weeks,” the letter also says – a remark that adds pressure.

A few weeks later, Nicolas’ fiancée Marianne ordered him in a letter to write to his mother and to be a good son. And in March 1758 Marguerite complained again: “You never mention your father in your letters. That hurts me very much. Next time you write to me, please don’t forget your father.”

Dealing with challenges in life

The letters were about personal matters, said the scientist. “They reveal how much we all have to deal with major challenges in life. When we are separated from loved ones by events beyond our control, such as pandemics or wars, we try to keep in touch, to reassure ourselves, to care for people and to find passion to keep alive,” said Morieux. “Today we have Zoom and WhatsApp. In the 18th century people only had letters, but what they wrote about sounds very familiar.”

The letters also made it clear that the writing culture of the time did not exclude illiterate people. People told a relative or acquaintance who knew how to write what they wanted to say – or had the messages they received read out to them, said Morieux. “Staying in touch with each other was a community effort.”

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