* . *
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Privacy & Policy
  • Contact
Sunday, July 6, 2025
Earth-News
  • Home
  • Business
  • Entertainment
    Magicians and Battlebots light up Las Vegas entertainment scene – KSNV

    Magicians and Battlebots Take Las Vegas Entertainment by Storm

    Max-Matching Entertainments & Longhua District form partnership for new entertainment complex – Blooloop

    Max-Matching Entertainments and Longhua District Unite to Launch Thrilling New Entertainment Complex

    Kennedy Publishing, MGA Entertainment Launch Yummiland Magazine – License Global

    Kennedy Publishing, MGA Entertainment Launch Yummiland Magazine – License Global

    MAY HER SOUL REST IN PEACE 🙏 Veteran entertainment columnist and talent manager Lolit Solis has passed away. She was 78 years old. https://tinyurl.com/6kumarkx | LatestChika.com – Facebook

    Beloved Entertainment Icon Lolit Solis Passes Away at 78 – A Life Remembered with Love and Respect 🙏

    Neil Young Plays Rare Full-Band ‘Ambulance Blues’ With The Chrome Hearts – Yahoo

    Neil Young Stuns Fans with Rare Full-Band Performance of ‘Ambulance Blues’ Alongside The Chrome Hearts

    BTS Announce Their Big Return and Yes, They Already Have Some Major Plans in the Works – Yahoo

    BTS Announce Their Big Return and Yes, They Already Have Some Major Plans in the Works – Yahoo

  • General
  • Health
  • News

    Cracking the Code: Why China’s Economic Challenges Aren’t Shaking Markets, Unlike America’s” – Bloomberg

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Trending Tags

    • Trump Inauguration
    • United Stated
    • White House
    • Market Stories
    • Election Results
  • Science
  • Sports
  • Technology
    Column: Teach kupuna new technology skills – Honolulu Star-Advertiser

    Empowering Kupuna: Unlocking New Technology Skills for a Connected Future

    EIFO invests $5 million in D3, the Ukraine-focused defence technology venture fund – sUAS News

    EIFO Pledges $5 Million to Supercharge Ukraine-Focused Defense Technology Fund

    New Technology for Water Efficiency and Working with Mexico on Screwworm – AG INFORMATION NETWORK OF THE WEST

    Revolutionary Water Efficiency Technology and Cross-Border Collaboration to Defeat Screwworm

    Environmental cognitive distance, R&D capability distance, and supply chain green technology innovation – Nature

    Bridging Gaps: How Environmental and R&D Differences Drive Green Technology Innovation in Supply Chains

    LG Innotek CEO Moon Hyuksoo: “Our Next-gen Substrate Technology Will Change the Industry Paradigm” – TechPowerUp

    LG Innotek CEO Moon Hyuksoo: “Our Next-Gen Substrate Technology Will Revolutionize the Industry” Revolutionizing the Future: LG Innotek’s CEO Unveils Game-Changing Next-Gen Substrate Technology

    Inspira Technologies Secures Landmark $22.5M Deal: Major Revenue Breakthrough After FDA Clearance – Stock Titan

    Inspira Technologies Secures Landmark $22.5M Deal: Major Revenue Breakthrough After FDA Clearance – Stock Titan

    Trending Tags

    • Nintendo Switch
    • CES 2017
    • Playstation 4 Pro
    • Mark Zuckerberg
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Business
  • Entertainment
    Magicians and Battlebots light up Las Vegas entertainment scene – KSNV

    Magicians and Battlebots Take Las Vegas Entertainment by Storm

    Max-Matching Entertainments & Longhua District form partnership for new entertainment complex – Blooloop

    Max-Matching Entertainments and Longhua District Unite to Launch Thrilling New Entertainment Complex

    Kennedy Publishing, MGA Entertainment Launch Yummiland Magazine – License Global

    Kennedy Publishing, MGA Entertainment Launch Yummiland Magazine – License Global

    MAY HER SOUL REST IN PEACE 🙏 Veteran entertainment columnist and talent manager Lolit Solis has passed away. She was 78 years old. https://tinyurl.com/6kumarkx | LatestChika.com – Facebook

    Beloved Entertainment Icon Lolit Solis Passes Away at 78 – A Life Remembered with Love and Respect 🙏

    Neil Young Plays Rare Full-Band ‘Ambulance Blues’ With The Chrome Hearts – Yahoo

    Neil Young Stuns Fans with Rare Full-Band Performance of ‘Ambulance Blues’ Alongside The Chrome Hearts

    BTS Announce Their Big Return and Yes, They Already Have Some Major Plans in the Works – Yahoo

    BTS Announce Their Big Return and Yes, They Already Have Some Major Plans in the Works – Yahoo

  • General
  • Health
  • News

    Cracking the Code: Why China’s Economic Challenges Aren’t Shaking Markets, Unlike America’s” – Bloomberg

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Trending Tags

    • Trump Inauguration
    • United Stated
    • White House
    • Market Stories
    • Election Results
  • Science
  • Sports
  • Technology
    Column: Teach kupuna new technology skills – Honolulu Star-Advertiser

    Empowering Kupuna: Unlocking New Technology Skills for a Connected Future

    EIFO invests $5 million in D3, the Ukraine-focused defence technology venture fund – sUAS News

    EIFO Pledges $5 Million to Supercharge Ukraine-Focused Defense Technology Fund

    New Technology for Water Efficiency and Working with Mexico on Screwworm – AG INFORMATION NETWORK OF THE WEST

    Revolutionary Water Efficiency Technology and Cross-Border Collaboration to Defeat Screwworm

    Environmental cognitive distance, R&D capability distance, and supply chain green technology innovation – Nature

    Bridging Gaps: How Environmental and R&D Differences Drive Green Technology Innovation in Supply Chains

    LG Innotek CEO Moon Hyuksoo: “Our Next-gen Substrate Technology Will Change the Industry Paradigm” – TechPowerUp

    LG Innotek CEO Moon Hyuksoo: “Our Next-Gen Substrate Technology Will Revolutionize the Industry” Revolutionizing the Future: LG Innotek’s CEO Unveils Game-Changing Next-Gen Substrate Technology

    Inspira Technologies Secures Landmark $22.5M Deal: Major Revenue Breakthrough After FDA Clearance – Stock Titan

    Inspira Technologies Secures Landmark $22.5M Deal: Major Revenue Breakthrough After FDA Clearance – Stock Titan

    Trending Tags

    • Nintendo Switch
    • CES 2017
    • Playstation 4 Pro
    • Mark Zuckerberg
No Result
View All Result
Earth-News
No Result
View All Result
Home Science

French love letters confiscated by Britain finally read after 265 years

November 7, 2023
in Science
French love letters confiscated by Britain finally read after 265 years
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

French love letters confiscated by Britain finally read after 265 years

The letters before they were opened and read by Renaud Morieux at The National Archives, Kew. Credit: The National Archives / Renaud Morieux

Over 100 letters sent to French sailors by their fiancées, wives, parents and siblings—but never delivered—have been opened and studied for the first time since they were written in 1757–8.

The messages offer extremely rare and moving insights into the loves, lives and family quarrels of everyone from elderly peasants to wealthy officer’s wives. The messages were seized by Britain’s Royal Navy during the Seven Years’ War, taken to the Admiralty in London and never opened. The collection is now held at the National Archives in Kew. The letters provide precious new evidence about French women and laborers, as well as different forms of literacy.

“I could spend the night writing to you … I am your forever faithful wife. Good night, my dear friend. It is midnight. I think it is time for me to rest,” wrote Marie Dubosc to her husband, the first Lieutenant of the Galatée, a French warship, in 1758. She didn’t know where Louis Chambrelan was, or that his ship had been captured by the British. He would never receive her letter and they would never meet again. Marie died the following year in Le Havre, almost certainly before Louis was released. In 1761, he remarried, safely back in France.

“I cannot wait to possess you,” wrote Anne Le Cerf to her husband, a non-commissioned officer on the Galatée. She perhaps meant “embrace” but also “to make love to you.” She signed her letter “Your obedient wife Nanette,” an affectionate nickname. Imprisoned somewhere in England, Jean Topsent would never receive Nanette’s love letter.

Professor Renaud Morieux, from Cambridge University’s History Faculty and Pembroke College, spent months decoding these and 102 other letters written with wild spelling, no punctuation or capitalization and filling every inch of the expensive paper they appear on. He has published his findings in the journal Annales Histoire Sciences Sociales.

“I only ordered the box out of curiosity,” Morieux said. “There were three piles of letters held together by ribbon. The letters were very small and were sealed so I asked the archivist if they could be opened and he did. I realized I was the first person to read these very personal messages since they were written. Their intended recipients didn’t get that chance. It was very emotional.

“These letters are about universal human experiences; they’re not unique to France or the 18th century. They reveal how we all cope with major life challenges. When we are separated from loved ones by events beyond our control like the pandemic or wars, we have to work out how to stay in touch, how to reassure, care for people and keep the passion alive. Today we have Zoom and WhatsApp. In the 18th century, people only had letters, but what they wrote about feels very familiar.”

Captured and out of luck

During the Seven Years’ War (1756–1763), France commanded some of the world’s finest ships but lacked experienced sailors. Britain exploited this by imprisoning as many French sailors as it could for the duration of the war. In 1758, out of 60,137 French sailors, a third (19,632) were detained in Britain. Across the period of the Seven Years’ War as a whole, there were 64,373 French sailors imprisoned in Britain.

Some of these men died from disease and malnutrition, but many others were released. In the meantime, their families waited and repeatedly tried to contact them and exchange news.

French love letters confiscated by Britain finally read after 265 years

Marguerite’s letter to her son Nicolas Quesnel (27 Jan 1758), in which she says ‘I am for the tomb’. Credit: The National Archives / Renaud Morieux

Morieux said, “These letters show people dealing with challenges collectively. Today we would find it very uncomfortable to write a letter to a fiancée knowing that mothers, sisters, uncles, neighbors would read it before it was sent, and many others would read it upon receipt. It’s hard to tell someone what you really think about them with people peering over your shoulder. There was far less of a divide between intimate and collective.”

In the 18th century, sending letters from France to a ship, a constantly moving target, was incredibly difficult and unreliable. Sometimes people sent multiple copies of letters to different ports hoping to reach a sailor. Relatives also asked the families of crewmates to insert messages to their loved one in their letters. Morieux found extensive evidence of these strategies in the Galatée letters, which—like so many others—never reached their intended recipients.

The Galatée was sailing from Bordeaux to Quebec, when in 1758, it was captured by the British ship the Essex, and sent to Portsmouth. The crew was imprisoned and the ship sold.

The French postal administration had tried to deliver the letters to the ship, sending them to multiple ports in France but always arrived just too late. When they had heard that the ship had been captured, they forwarded the letters to England, where they were handed to the Admiralty in London.

“It’s agonizing how close they got,” Morieux said. Morieux believes that officials opened and read two letters to see if they had any military value, but deciding they only contained “family stuff,” gave up and put them into storage.

Morieux identified every member of the Galatée’s 181-strong crew from simple sailors to carpenters to superior officers. The letters were addressed to a quarter of them. Morieux carried out genealogical research into these men and their correspondents to learn more about their lives than the letters alone revealed.

Quarrels and tensions

The letters convey both romantic love and more often family love, but also offer rare insights into family tensions and quarrels at a time of war and prolonged absence.

Some of the most remarkable letters were sent to the young sailor, Nicolas Quesnel, from Normandy. On 27 January 1758, his 61-year-old mother, Marguerite—who was almost certainly illiterate—sent a message written by an unknown scribe to complain, “On the first day of the year [i.e. January 1st] you have written to your fiancée […]. I think more about you than you about me. […] In any case I wish you a happy new year filled with blessings of the Lord. I think I am for the tomb, I have been ill for three weeks. Give my compliments to Varin [a shipmate], it is only his wife who gives me your news.”

A few weeks later, Nicolas’ fiancée, Marianne, wrote to instruct him to write to his mother to be a good son and stop putting her in an awkward situation. It seems that Marguerite had blamed Marianne for Nicolas’s silence. Marianne wrote, “…the black cloud has gone, a letter that your mother has received from you, lightens the atmosphere.”

But on 7 March 1758, Marguerite wrote to Nicolas again to complain, “In your letters you never mention your father. This hurts me greatly. Next time you write to me, please do not forget your father.”

Morieux discovered that in fact, this man was Nicolas’s stepfather. His biological father had died and his mother remarried.

French love letters confiscated by Britain finally read after 265 years

Anne Le Cerf love letter to her husband Jean Topsent in which she says “I cannot wait to possess you”and signs “Your obedient wife Nanette”. Credit: The National Archives / Renaud Morieux

“Here is a son who clearly doesn’t like or acknowledge this man as his father,” Morieux said. “But at this time, if your mother remarried, her new husband automatically became your father. Without explicitly saying it, Marguerite is reminding her son to respect this by sharing news about ‘your father.’ These are complex but very familiar family tensions.”

Nicolas Quesnel survived his imprisonment in England, and as Morieux found, joined the crew of a transatlantic slave trade ship in the 1760s.

Women in wartime

Over half (59%) of the letters were signed by women and provide precious insights into female literacy, social networks, and experiences in wartime.

“These letters shatter the old-fashioned notion that war is all about men,” Morieux said. “While their men were gone, women ran the household economy and took crucial economic and political decisions.”

In this period, the French navy manned its warships by forcing most men living near the coast to serve for 1 year every 3 or 4 years. This system was as unpopular as press-ganging in Britain and many French sailors ran away once in port or applied to be released on the basis of injury.

The sister of Nicolas Godefroy, a trainee pilot, wrote, “What would bring me more pain is if you leave for the islands.” She meant the Caribbean, where thousands of European sailors died from disease in this period. Nevertheless, Godefroy’s sister and mother both refused to apply for his release from the navy. They feared that his proposed strategy could backfire and force him to stay at sea “even longer.”

Who are you calling illiterate?

Morieux’s study calls for a more inclusive definition of literacy.

“You can take part in a writing culture without knowing how to write nor read,” he said. “Most of the people sending these letters were telling a scribe what they wanted to say, and relied on others to read their letters aloud. This was someone they knew who could write, not a professional. Staying in touch was a community effort.”

More information:
Lettres perdues Communautés épistolaires, guerres et liens familiaux dans le monde maritime atlantique du xviiie siècle, Annales Histoire Sciences Sociales (2023). DOI: 10.1017/ahss.2023.75

Citation:
French love letters confiscated by Britain finally read after 265 years (2023, November 6)
retrieved 6 November 2023
from https://phys.org/news/2023-11-french-letters-confiscated-britain-years.html

This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no
part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.

>>> Read full article>>>
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source : Phys.org – https://phys.org/news/2023-11-french-letters-confiscated-britain-years.html

Tags: FrenchLettersscience
Previous Post

The last turn of ‘Ezekiel’s Wheel’ honors a fossil hunter

Next Post

How one Ohio county focuses on community to fight opioid addiction

Column: Teach kupuna new technology skills – Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Empowering Kupuna: Unlocking New Technology Skills for a Connected Future

July 6, 2025
Ben Shelton’s sister booed by Wimbledon crowd when job revealed – Yahoo Sports

Wimbledon Crowd Booes Ben Shelton’s Sister Following Shocking Job Reveal

July 6, 2025
New book digs into Indigenous cuisine through archaeology, culture, ecology – Gander Newsroom

Unveiling Indigenous Cuisine: Exploring the Rich Tapestry of Archaeology, Culture, and Ecology

July 6, 2025
BANG! James Webb telescope catches stray galaxies in the Bullet Cluster: Space photo of the week – Live Science

BANG! James Webb Telescope Unveils Breathtaking Image of Stray Galaxies in the Bullet Cluster

July 6, 2025
How Do You Teach Computer Science in the A.I. Era? – The New York Times

Unlocking Success: Mastering Computer Science Education in the Age of A.I

July 6, 2025
If you want to be younger looking in 60 days, start practicing these 8 daily habits – VegOut

If you want to be younger looking in 60 days, start practicing these 8 daily habits – VegOut

July 6, 2025
Real Madrid vs Borussia Dortmund 3-2: FIFA Club World Cup – as it happened – Al Jazeera

Real Madrid vs Borussia Dortmund 3-2: FIFA Club World Cup – as it happened – Al Jazeera

July 6, 2025

Israel’s economy can’t survive a long war with Iran – and Trump knows it – Middle East Eye

July 6, 2025
The long-term health risks as extreme heat becomes a new normal – PBS

Uncovering the Silent, Long-Term Health Risks of Life in Extreme Heat

July 6, 2025
Trump Says He Will Start Talks With China on TikTok Deal – The New York Times

Trump Says He Will Start Talks With China on TikTok Deal – The New York Times

July 6, 2025

Categories

Archives

July 2025
MTWTFSS
 123456
78910111213
14151617181920
21222324252627
28293031 
« Jun    
Earth-News.info

The Earth News is an independent English-language daily published Website from all around the World News

Browse by Category

  • Business (20,132)
  • Ecology (707)
  • Economy (732)
  • Entertainment (21,621)
  • General (15,741)
  • Health (9,770)
  • Lifestyle (737)
  • News (22,149)
  • People (733)
  • Politics (741)
  • Science (15,949)
  • Sports (21,232)
  • Technology (15,717)
  • World (713)

Recent News

Column: Teach kupuna new technology skills – Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Empowering Kupuna: Unlocking New Technology Skills for a Connected Future

July 6, 2025
Ben Shelton’s sister booed by Wimbledon crowd when job revealed – Yahoo Sports

Wimbledon Crowd Booes Ben Shelton’s Sister Following Shocking Job Reveal

July 6, 2025
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Privacy & Policy
  • Contact

© 2023 earth-news.info

No Result
View All Result

© 2023 earth-news.info

No Result
View All Result

© 2023 earth-news.info

Go to mobile version