Lost Love: Unearthing 18th Century Letters from French Sailors Captured in the Seven Years War

The pile of letters written to French sailors in the 18th century was recently discovered in the National Archives at Kew in London. For over 260 years they have lain hidden and unread.

Until now.

The over 100 letters were recently discovered by Renaud Morieux, professor of European history at the University of Cambridge, who has spent months examining the letters.

The letters give an “extremely rare and moving insight” into the lives and love of the French sailors – who in 1758 were captured on the French warship “Galatée” during the seven years warsays a press release from University of Cambridge.

The Galatée was sailing from Bordeaux to Quebec when it was hijacked by a British vessel. The crew was later imprisoned in Portsmouth in south-eastern England.

NEVER READ: The ship of the French sailors was hijacked in 1758, and they never received the letters. Photo: University of Cambridge Show more

Never showed up

However, the wives, siblings and parents who wrote the letters were unaware that the ship had been hijacked.

“I could write to you all night. I am forever your faithful wife. Good night, my dear friend. It’s midnight – it’s time for me to rest,” reads one of the letters, addressed by Marie Dubosc to her husband.

According to Professor Morieux, Dubosc must have died a year after she sent the letter. The husband never got to read the declaration of love – and is said to have remarried after he escaped from captivity.

The Seven Years’ War was fought in the period 1756-1763 between a number of European states. The main battle was between Great Britain and France for dominion over, among other things, India and North America.

CAREFULLY EXAMINED: Several of the letters contain neither punctuation nor capital letters. Pofessor Renaud Moriex spent several months examining them. Photo: University of Cambridge Show more

– Very emotional

Several of the letters lack both punctuation and capital letters, and Professor Renaud Morieux has spent months examining them. The findings were published this week in the French journal Annales. Histoire, Sciences Sociales.

– I ordered the box from the archive out of pure curiosity. There were three piles of letters held together by a ribbon. The letters were very small and sealed, so I asked the archivist if they could be opened, and they could, Morieux said in a statement, adding:

– I quickly realized that I was the first to read these very personal messages since they were written. The intended recipients were not given that opportunity. It was very emotional.

2023-11-07 10:21:48
#Extremely #rare