Dozens of letters were confiscated by the Navy (Picture: The National Archives/Renaud Morieux)
Letters confiscated by Britain’s Royal Navy before they reached French sailors during the Seven Years’ War have been opened for the first time – and some are quite saucy.
The notes, written in 1757-8, were intended for the crew of French warship the Galatee and sent by wives, fiances, parents and siblings.
While the French postal service took them to multiple ports in France to attempt delivery, they always arrived too late.
When they learned the ship had been captured by the British, they forwarded the letters to England, where they were handed to the admiralty in London and ended up in storage – never reaching the loved ones for whom they were written.
A Cambridge University academic, who unearthed the collection of 104 letters from the National Archives in Kew, said it was ‘agonising how close they got’ to reaching their intended recipients.
Professor Renaud Morieux, of the History Faculty at Pembroke College, believes officials opened and read two letters to see if they had any military value but decided they only contained ‘family stuff’ and gave up and put them in storage.
Anne Le Cerf Nanette’s love letter to husband Jean Topsent contains a rather raunchy passage (Picture: N.Archives/RenaudMorieux/SWNS)
He said he only asked to look at the box in the archives ‘out of curiosity’ before making his discovery.
‘There were three piles of letters held together by ribbon,’ he said. ‘The letters were very small and were sealed so I asked the archivist if they could be opened and he did.
‘I realised 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.’
One of the letters, sent to the ship’s first lieutenant Louis Chambrelan, was from his wife Marie Dubosc.
She wrote: ‘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.’
Researchers say she did not know where her husband was or that his ship had been captured by the British. He did not get her letter and they did not meet again, with Dubosc dying the next year in Le Havre.
In 1761, Chambrelan, safely back in France, remarried.
Marguerite’s letter to her son Nicolas captures some classic mother-son guilt tripping (Picture: N.Archives/RenaudMorieux/SWNS)
In another letter, Anne Le Cerf Nanette told her husband Jean Topsent, a non-commissioned officer: ‘I cannot wait to possess you.’
On a very different subject, young Normandy sailor Nicolas Quesnel received a letter from his 61-year-old mother, Marguerite, who was almost certainly illiterate, via an unknown scribe.
‘On the first day of the year you have written to your fiancée. I think more about you than you about me,’ she said’
‘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.’
Days later, Mr Quesnel’s fiancée, Marianne, sent a letter imploring him to write to his mother and stop putting her in a difficult position – Marguerite appeared to blame her for Mr Quesnel’s silence.
What was the Seven Years’ War?
The Seven Years’ War, fought 1756 to 1763, was the last major conflict before the French Revolution to involve all the great powers of Europe.
Generally, France, Austria, Saxony, Sweden, and Russia were aligned on one side against Prussia, Hanover, and Great Britain on the other.
It also stretched out to North America and India as Britain and France vied for power.
The conflict was ended on February 10, 1763, with the signing of the Treaty of Paris.
‘These letters are about universal human experiences, they’re not unique to France or the 18th century,’ said Professor Morieux.
‘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.’
Professor Morieux spent months decoding the letters – written with wild spelling, no punctuation or capitalisation – and identified every member of the Galatee’s 181-strong crew, from simple sailors to carpenters to superior officers.
The letters were addressed to a quarter of them and he carried out genealogical research into the men and their correspondents to learn more about their lives than the messages alone revealed.
His research is published in the journal Annales. Histoire, Sciences Sociales.
Move over Bridgerton.