Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- List of illustrations
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- Abbreviations
- Note on the text
- Introduction
- 1 Letters, love and duty
- 2 Family from afar: pregnancy, childbirth and raising young children
- 3 ‘Children of the service’
- 4 Men of war
- 5 Women of war
- 6 Prest to volunteer: reluctant sailors and the naval community
- 7 Negotiating with the nation: petitions and the language of appeal
- Conclusion
- Appendix: Cast of characters
- Bibliography
- Index
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- List of illustrations
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- Abbreviations
- Note on the text
- Introduction
- 1 Letters, love and duty
- 2 Family from afar: pregnancy, childbirth and raising young children
- 3 ‘Children of the service’
- 4 Men of war
- 5 Women of war
- 6 Prest to volunteer: reluctant sailors and the naval community
- 7 Negotiating with the nation: petitions and the language of appeal
- Conclusion
- Appendix: Cast of characters
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
I will come my Loo, as soon as duty will let me; for not all the fame of Nelson, or Lord Wellington would reconcile me to destroying the happiness of an affectionate wife, and whom duty has already compelled me to desert so long and so cruelly. Whenever I can retire without reproach conscious of having done my duty to my country, no view of honors however splendid shall tempt me to surrender my own happiness, and to sacrifice that of my beloved Loo to my ambition.
Philip Bowes Vere Broke to his wife, Sarah Louisa, HMS Shannon, off Halifax, [Nova Scotia, Canada], 11 December 1812As the nuclear family became an increasingly important construct throughout the eighteenth century so too did the relationship between husband and wife. The marital relationship was idealised and sentimentalised by writers, commentators and artists. Affectionate, sensible marriage increasingly became associated with the expression of both masculinity and femininity. The idea, however, that all eighteenth-century marriages transformed from patriarchal to companionate models is both unrealistic and inaccurate. Most marriages would have been a combination of patriarchal dominance and companionship. Husbands and wives had specific roles and duties, which were indispensable to the other. Whilst marriages were idealised and satirised in many public representations, such as engravings, it is difficult to discover the ‘reality’ of any individual marriage. As Amanda Vickery acknowledges, it is most difficult to explore ordinary relationships as these are rarely recorded. Personal correspondence provides valuable insight into these relationships. Yet letters are not without their limitations; for example they may be read as a conscious construction of personal identity in line with social and personal expectations. Similarly, no letters can be deemed representative of marriage throughout the period, as even in a sample of letters from happy marriages each couple created a different image of themselves and their relationship through their correspondence. Nevertheless, personal correspondence is extremely valuable to the historian as it provides a window onto the personal lives and experiences of eighteenth-century couples. It allows us to glimpse the dynamics of romantic relationships and sheds light onto family life throughout the period.
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- Naval Families, War and Duty in Britain, 1740-1820 , pp. 15 - 46Publisher: Boydell & BrewerPrint publication year: 2016