National ArchivesThe researchers with the found sweater
NOS Nieuws•vandaag, 09:50
The British National Archives has found a ‘brand new’ sweater that is 217 years old in its own collection. It was in a package that was captured in a war against Denmark and remained unopened all this time.
After two centuries, the hand-knitted woolen garment still has a sparkling red color. Woolen knee socks for a man and some sample pieces were also found in the same postal parcel.
Scientists are happy with the find because such utensils were almost never preserved, especially not from ordinary people. They were used until they were worn out and then thrown away. So an undamaged piece like that is lucky.
“We have very few pieces like this and none with this specific design,” says Margretha Nónklett of the National Museum of the Faroe Islands, the archipelago where the package comes from. “It is handmade at home, with self-colored wool.”
Prize papers
The parcel fell into British hands in 1807 when the ship Anne-Marie was stopped during the Second Battle of Copenhagen. Ships from Great Britain then carried out a precautionary attack on the Danish navy to prevent it from joining Napoleon.
Captain Jurgen Toxsvaerd had no knowledge of that battle when he sailed from the Faroe Islands to the European mainland. His ship, owned by the Danish king, was captured by the British HMS Defense on September 2, 1807. Toxsvaerd and his crew were arrested and their cargo seized.
All mail items that were on board were kept, because they could be used to prove that it had been a fair entry. The National Archives ultimately received 4,100 chests from ‘Prize Papers‘ in the collection that the navy had collected between 1652 and 1815.
‘Thanks for the dessert rice’
Although the archive has been working on unlocking these 3.5 million pieces since 2012, the sweater is still a special find. “It’s not often that a package shows up in the Prize Papers“, says Amanda Bevan from the archives. “It usually concerns letter mail that was given to ships.”
A note in Danish from the sender of the sweater, carpenter Niels Winther, was also found in the package. “My wife sends her regards, thanks for the dessert rice. She is sending your fiancé this sweater and hopes she will like it.” That would undoubtedly have been the case: the archipelago was known for its high quality wool due to the bleak weather at the time.
However, P. Ladsen from Copenhagen never received the thoughtful package. Perhaps it is little posthumous consolation for Niels Winther that two centuries later scientists are still very pleased with his post.
2024-03-01 08:50:06
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