"Arranged thematically, the exhibition is largely made up of glass cases containing original documents. They can be tricky to read, but there is still an impact when you are standing in front of the love letter that sent Thomas Culpeper to the hangman. What proves most intriguing, though, is not always the document itself but the small labels beside each case explaining how these intimate messages ended up in a government archive."
"One display shows two copies of The Link, an anonymous monthly magazine used for discreet, non-marital matchmaking and often written in coded language. Its pages are full of women seeking other "sporty" women for companionship, and plenty of "chums" seeking fellow chums into the arts. The copy on show is here because "concerned members of the public" - in other words, informers - reported it for promoting gross indecency. Its publishers were sentenced to two years' hard labour for simply helping people find love."
"I ended up using my phone to zoom in and read the tiny print, but the adverts are unexpectedly moving. Wills, as public documents, can also reveal hidden relationships when "friends" leave everything to one another. The exhibition includes the original wills of Anne Lister (of Gentleman Jack fame) and Ann Walker. There are also two very different pleas for mercy: one written by a lover, the other by a father."
A thematic exhibition at the National Archives gathers historical love letters, magazines, wills, and pleas that illuminate forbidden, unrequited, and treasonous relationships. Glass cases contain original correspondence and small explanatory labels that show how private messages became government records. Many items entered official archives as legal evidence when intimate relationships were criminalised or scandalised, including a love letter linked to Thomas Culpeper's execution. An anonymous magazine, The Link, used coded adverts for discreet matchmaking and provoked prosecutions and harsh sentences. Wills highlight concealed partnerships such as those of Anne Lister and Ann Walker, while pleas for mercy reveal emotional and legal entanglements.
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