During the long Napoleonic Wars both Jane and Fanny Palmer Austen feared for the safety of men in their interrelated families, and with good reason. Jane’s two naval brothers, Charles and Francis, were continuously involved in the hostilities. They served in the British navy in the Mediterranean, the North Sea, the Baltic, and in British home waters, as well as across the Atlantic in North America and the West Indies. At times they were at great risk, in particular Francis, when he took part in a major action, by leading the lee line into action at the Battle of San Domingo (1806). Either brother might have been captured and made a prisoner- of-war[1] or been wounded and failed to recover. At home in England, Jane responded with evident and continuing concern for her brothers’ well being,
Since Fanny Palmer had married Jane’s brother Charles, she had her own immediate apprehension for his safety. She feared for Charles, especially when he was sent on mission into the European war zone. Her letters during his years of service on the North American Station (1805-1811) express the depth of her anxiety. In addition, her only brother, Robert John Palmer, was detained in a prisoner-of-war camp for at least 8 years within Napoleonic France. His unhappy story is related here from contemporary documents that reveal how he came to be captured and provide an idea of the life in a prisoner-of-war detention centre. Details of this story illuminate Fanny’s particular worries as a sister in wartime, while her letters show how she and her family responded to his plight.
Robert John Palmer’s route to detention began with his trip to North America in 1805. Since August 1802, the twenty-one-year old Robert had been articled in London to his father’s first cousin, John Palmer, who was a member of Gray’s Inn. The purpose of Robert’s trip was most likely legal business for his uncle,[2] though he probably stopped in Bermuda, where his father had property interests and his two sisters, Esther and Fanny, were living. Whatever the specifics of his mission to America, in late May his business was completed and he boarded a mail packet, the Lord Charles Spencer, in Halifax, Nova Scotia enroute to Falmouth, England. It was a voyage of unwelcome surprises.
On 15 June, off the west coast of Ireland, the packet was sighted and pursued for eight hours by its eventual captor, the 30 gun French privateer, the Valliant. The unlucky passengers together with their baggage were detained and transported to San Sebastian in Spain. Family members waited uneasily for news of their loved-one’s fate. Eventually, on 27 July, British newspapers listed those passengers who had been returned from Spain to Falmouth. Robert John Palmer’s name was not among them. For reasons unknown, he was sent to the prison depot in Verdun, a fortified town in the province of Lorraine in northeastern France. Proof of his incarceration is found in an official list of English prisoners at Verdun (19 November 1806). It includes “Robert John Palmer, passager [ captured with] le Paquebot Lord Charles Spencer,” further described as “etudiant en droit” (law student).[3] Palmer was considered a “détenu”, that is a civilian who was apprehended in enemy territory after 1803.
Fig.1: List of prisoners at Verdun in 1806, including Robert John Palmer.
Fig.2: Fortress at Verdun, France[4]
For the next eight years, Fanny worried about her brother’s well-being. English nationals in prisoner of war camps were trapped, cut off from family and friends. Napoleon officially stopped all correspondence with England in 1806. Letter writers risked punishment, and the underground transmission of letters by smugglers was untrustworthy, difficult, and very expensive.[5] Fanny, along with her parents and sisters, Esther and Harriet, could only speculate about the circumstances of Robert’s incarceration.
Snippets of information about Robert’s life in the camp appear in several of Fanny’s letters. In early February 1814, she had met a Captain Wallace who had been at Verdun. He described her brother as “an excellence character ... who keeps the very best company, [including] a Colonel in the Army” [with whom he] rides every day”[6] (5 February 1814). This report suggests that Robert was on parole, having given his word he would not try to escape. It meant that he could live in town at his own expense and venture a short distance into the countryside.
Fig. 3: Pass Issued to a British prisoner at Verdun.
Fanny probably knew there were opportunities for entertainments at Verdun. Several social and gaming clubs held balls and assemblies. Theatrical performances, cockfighting, duck hunting and horse races occurred.[7] This range of amusements makes incarceration sound tolerable, even amusing, but the extent of a prisoner’s financial resources would clearly have controlled his comfort and quality of life.
Whether the Palmer family found a way to transmit money to Robert is unknown. Remittances sent privately to prisoners from England were stopped after 1806. The transfer of bills of exchange was also blocked and French bankers were forbidden to discount prisoner’s drafts on London.[8] Even if the Palmer family sent money to Robert, it is doubtful how much actually reached him and what lifestyle he could afford to sustain. Significantly, Fanny’s pocket diary from early 1814, records that she “Lent RP £4,” a not insignificant sum given the scope of Fanny’s careful domestic budgeting. Presumably, the initials refer to her brother.
Even if he could afford some of the local diversions, Robert would not have found his life as a captive in Verdun meaningful and fulfilling. Over a period of at least eight years, the ephemeral social and sporting pleasures no doubt paled in interest through repetition. The irrefutable fact remained that Robert’s freedom of movement was rigorously restricted.
Fanny refers to her brother in correspondence with her sisters as “poor John,” (John being the name used for him within the Palmer family). Fanny’s words suggest her empathy for him, stuck in such a frustrating and uncertain situation. Qualms and anxieties about the future, extending over his years of incarceration, must have taken a toll on Robert’s spirits. Like other prisoners-of-war, he presumably feared the consequences should France win the war. Perhaps he hoped for a prisoner exchange but it was unrealistic to expect he would be favoured for inclusion.[9] Although the French had made overtures regarding prisoners in 1810 and an expectation grew that an agreement could be reached, ultimately the British found the French terms unacceptable. The 11,358 British military prisoners and 500 detainees, Robert included, remained in captivity.[10] In effect, Robert’s life was on hold and his legal career stalemated.
In the 19th century marriage established an inter-family attachment so when Fanny became an Austen in 1807, Jane likely paid attention to the welfare of Fanny’s siblings, including the plight of her brother as a detainee. Significantly, Jane wrote a prayer which expressed her heartfelt concerns about those adversely affected by war. The text reads: “Heartily do we pray for the safety of all that … travel by sea... and that thy pity may be shewn upon all captives and prisoners.”[11] Her naval brothers were among the travellers by sea; Robert John Palmer had been a traveller by sea and was now among the “captives and prisoners.” Jane’s wording suggests she harboured very personal sentiments for these men. Her prayer also appears to petition for the humane treatment of prisoners in the request that “pity may be shown on all captives.”
Fig. 4: Captured British Midshipmen Being Marched to Their Prison-Depot at Verdun
As long as the Napoleonic Wars continued, Jane and Fanny Austen both felt anxious about the vulnerability and adverse consequences for their loved ones. Would Charles and Francis continue to avoid capture, or worse, incarceration? Would Robert cope with the stresses of long-term captivity? These shared worries in wartime must have nourished a growing bond between Jane and Fanny Austen.[12]
This essay first appeared in The Jane Austen Society Report for 2021.
[1] Sources show that some British naval officers were detained as prisoners at Verdun. They included Lt Barker, Lt Tuckey of HMS Calcutta, Captain Brenton of HMS Minerva, and Lt Dillon. See Edward Fraser, Napoleon the Gaoler, Personal Experiences and Adventures of British Soldiers and Sailors during the Great Captivity, Brentano’s, 1914, 41, 45, 56.
[2] He was likely sent either to collect or exchange documents or complete a legal transaction. I owe this suggestion to Sandra Robinson.
[3] See ADM 103/468 PART 1 (Prisoners of War 1715-1945). Many thanks to Roy and Lesley Adkins and Sandra Robinson who alerted me to this document.
[4] Figs. 2,3 4 are from Fraser, Napoleon the Gaoler, 1914.
[5] See Fraser, 46.
[6] Fanny Austen’s Letters, 5 February 1814, reproduced in Sheila Johnson Kindred, Jane Austen’s Transatlantic Sister, MQUP, 2017, 2018.
[7] See Fraser, 41-44.
[8] See Fraser, 47.
[9] Several members of the aristocracy, including Lord Elgin and the Earl of Yarmouth, were among the detainees who were exchanged in 1806, but Robert was a mere law student and did not have their societal and financial status that would have enhanced his chances of being exchanged.
[10] See Fraser, 56.
[11] Richard Chapman, Minor Works, OUP, 1954, 454.
[12] What happened to Robert John Palmer? He was freed from Verdun in early January 1814 as the war was winding down. He was back in England by July but by Autumn he had fallen out with his parents and his sister Harriet in London, although not with Fanny, Charles and their young daughters. He supported the distraught and grieving Charles Austen, after Fanny’s unexpected death in September 1814, accompanying him at sea on his next ship, HMS Phoenix, for some months. Subsequently he married and made his home in Ireland at the Palmer family estate, Banemore House in Co. Kerry. In the next generation a son bore the name “Charles John Austen Palmer.” Jane’s brothers Charles and Francis survived the war and continued their careers in the navy. For details, see Brian Southam, Jane Austen and the Navy, National Maritime Museum, 2005.