French letters confiscated by Britain's navy opened 265 years on
Nov 08, 2023
London [UK], November 8: Letters confiscated by Britain's Royal Navy before they reached French sailors during the Seven Years' War have been opened for the first time. 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 administration 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.
