LONDON, United Kingdom -- Undelivered letters written to French sailors during an 18th century war between Britain and France have finally been opened and studied -- after more than 250 years gathering dust.
An undated handout photograph taken by The National Archives and released by the University of Cambridge on November 2, 2023 shows a love letter from Anne Le Cerf, aka Nanette, to her husband Jean Topsent. Undelivered letters written to French sailors during an 18th century war between Britain and France have finally been opened and studied -- after more than 250 years gathering dust.
"I could spend the night writing to you... I am your forever faithful wife," wrote Marie Dubosc to her husband Louis Chamberlain, the first lieutenant of a French warship in 1758.Unknown to Marie, her husband's ship, the Galatee, had been captured by the British, researchers at the University of Cambridge found.
"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," 61-year-old Marguerite wrote in a letter probably dictated to someone else. "I only ordered the box out of curiosity," said Morieux, whose findings were published on Tuesday in the journal"Annales. Histoire, Sciences Sociales."