PARAGON REVIEW

Issue 6

DELIVERING NAPOLEON INTO SAFE HANDS

One of the great advantages of having a conservation unit in-house is the speed with which previously almost unusable manuscripts can be brought back into use. Important letters from the Hotham collection describing British naval contacts with the Emperor Napoleon have recently been repaired by Jonathan Farley (Conservator), who describes the repairs whilst Dr Amanda Capern (Research Assistant) discusses the significance of the letters.

As regular readers of Paragon Review will know, the Brynmor Jones Library holds a huge and valuable collection of papers belonging to the Hotham family of South Dalton in the East Riding of Yorkshire. One of its sub-sections comprises the papers of Admiral Sir Henry Hotham (1777-1833), the third son of Beaumont, second Lord Hotham. Henry Hotham served in the navy in North America and at the end of the Napoleonic Wars he was given command of a squadron in the Bay of Biscay. His correspondence includes letters about the supply of the French monarchist forces during the Vendee uprising and in amongst these letters are orders and secret instructions from the Admiralty about Napoleon's flight from Paris and attempted escape from France. The British were naturally keen to make sure that Napoleon surrendered not to the American but to the British fleet.

Napoleon in better times

The most exciting material concerns this surrender, which took place after Napoleon's approach to Frederick Lewis Maitland on HMS Bellerephon off Rochefort. The ship was in Henry Hotham's command. Admiralty instructions of July 1815 include Lord Keith's request to Henry Hotham that he 'keep the most vigilant lookout for the purpose of intercepting [Napoleon]' and Frederick Maitland's assurances to Henry Hotham that 'every exertion shall be used to prevent the gentleman in question from making his escape'. Letters flew back and forth throughout July 1815 and Lord Keith told him:

'I leave to your discretion the disposition to be made of the force that I have been able to place at your disposal for the interception of Buonaparte, feeling a perfect confidence that you will use your utmost endeavours to accomplish an object to which his Majesty's Government attaches so much importance.'

DDHO/7/13 includes letters of Grand-Marshall Henri Bertrand who arranged Napoleon's transfer from a French fleet to the Bellerephon, and Frederick Maitland's letter of 14 July to the Admiralty about his long meeting with Bertrand which resulted in him '[receiving] on board Napoleon Bonaparte for the purpose of throwing himself on the generosity of His Royal Highness the Prince Regent'. He continued:

' . . . he is to embark on board this ship tomorrow morning; that no mis-understanding might arise I have explicitly and clearly explained to the Comte Las Casses that I have no authority whatever for granting terms of any sort but all that I can do is to carry him and his suite to England, to be received in such manner as his Royal Highness may deem expedient.'

Napoleon then boarded the Bellerephon between four and five the following morning and was received in the manner he dictated, taking over Maitland's cabin and sending him an invitation to breakfast at his own table. This information is to be found in two copies of a letter sent home by Captain Senhouse. 'I have just returned from dining with Napoleon Bonaparte,' he told his wife, 'can it be possible?'.

The letters in DDHO/7/13 recently received attention in our new Conservation Unit. They were suffering from a varying degree of historical damage ranging from ingrained dirt to the past deleterious effects of mould and insect attack. The consequent repair was diverse, and involved soft dry cleaning, immersion in water with an iso-propanol wetting agent, sizing, supporting the document with a fine Japanese tissue and replacing missing areas using a technique known as spot casting.

Some of the conserved documents

Spot casting is a method whereby a suspension of paper fibres in water is sucked through the missing areas of the document using a vacuum table. As the water is drawn away, the paper fibres mesh out on the Japanese tissue support already applied, resulting in a new piece of paper being made within the missing areas of the document which, although attached to the original paper, does not affect its integrity or obscure its text.

The timely conservation work has greatly strengthened these valuable documents and extended their lifespan. From the letters in DDHO/7/13 we learn that Napoleon Bonaparte was 'short with a large head and his body so corpulent as to project very considerably'. Clearly Napoleon was past his best. However, it can be said that the delivery of the letters about his surrender into very safe hands has rendered them in every way perfect.

Jonathan Farley and Amanda Capern