Ciphers and sympathetic ink: secret love letters in the Granville papers - Untold lives blog
Before the encrypted digital communication of our day, diplomatic correspondence involved using trusted couriers, and sometimes ciphers of the kind that featured in an earlier Untold Lives blogpost. Lord Granville (1773–1846), whose family papers have recently been acquired by the British Library, would have been no stranger to such methods, as a diplomat who served in both St Petersburg and Paris.
Secrecy was vital for Granville’s long correspondence with his lover Lady Harriet Bessborough (1761-1821) too. When their affair was at its height, they wrote daily. Both then, and later when arranging care and education of their illegitimate children, discretion was of the utmost importance. Only a few of their closest friends were privy to the true nature of their relationship. Gossip and innuendo could not be entirely suppressed, but the real danger was of incontrovertible evidence – like letters - falling into the wrong hands. This could have led to loss of reputation, position, and even children for Lady Bessborough.
So all the more surprising is the openness of their correspondence, particularly the letters of Lady Bessborough. Though plagued with fear of discovery and ruin, she must have been confident that these communications were reasonably secure.
