Jane Austen concluded in the final lines of her 1817 novel, Persuasion, that British naval men were valued as much for their domestic virtues as their national importance. Close study of the personal correspondence considered in this work proves that this sentiment was well founded. While Austen was probably reflecting the views of her time, at least of men of the middling and upper classes, the significance of this conclusion should not be overlooked. This book has argued that, after years of conflict, British society had evolved ways to deal with the personal trauma of war, felt most keenly in the domestic and family setting. Significantly, this work argues that naval and military men, though loyal to their service and patriotic to the nation, also felt bound to fulfil their domestic roles. The correspondence examined reveals they were not emotionally detached but valued their roles as husband, father, son, brother and friend, and used their correspondence, not to highlight their achievements, but to maintain these relationships when war separated them from their loved ones. Family, war and duty dominated the lives of naval and military families, and through their correspondence we are able to move beyond contemporary stereotypes of roguish naval officers and ‘jolly Jack Tars’ and come to a more nuanced understanding of eighteenth-century officers, ordinary sailors and dockyard workers. Rather than replacing one maritime stereotype with another, this work has argued for the need to understand the links naval men had ashore and how they represented those domestic relationships via their correspondence. There was no typical naval officer, sailor or dockyard worker. Nevertheless, certain patterns are evident.