A red traditional Faroese knit sweater was recently found in a stash of 19th-century letters at the British National Archives in their Prize Papers collection. The sweater, or jumper in British parlance, handknitted in vibrantly colored fine wool, was intended for a woman in Denmark, but never reached its destination because the vessel on which it was shipped was seized by the British Navy during the Second Battle of Copenhagen.

On August 20, 1807, carpenter Niels C. Winther from Tórshavn in the Faroe Islands put a package aboard the ship Anne-Marie. The parcel was addressed to a Mr. P Ladsen in Copenhagen and included a letter, in Danish, that said, ‘my wife sends her regards, thank you for the pudding rice. She sends your fiancé this sweater and hopes that it is not displeasing to her.’ 

Mr. Ladsen’s fiancé never received the sweater. The Anne-Marie had sailed for Denmark with its captain Jurgen S Toxsvaerd unaware that war had broken out. She was targeted by HMS Defence off the coast of Norway on September 2, 1807, the day the British began bombarding Copenhagen. The British crew boarded the ship, imprisoned Toxsvaerd and his crew, and grabbed both the cargo and the ship’s mailbox.

Associate Prof Erling Isholm, from the University of the Faroe Islands, and Margretha Nónklett, from the country’s National Museum, travelled to The National Archives to see the parcel opened for the first time, 217 years after it was mailed.

A statement from The National Archives noted that the same shipment contained a sample of fine women’s knee-length woolen stockings and fabric samples. The export of men’s stockings was a key part of the Faroese economy at this time when ‘wool was gold’ for these island communities.

Margretha Nónklett said: ‘This is a tremendously exciting find. There are very few pieces like this and we have none with this particular design. It would have been handmade at home with hand-dyed wool.’

Dr. Amanda Bevan, of the National Archives, said: ’This is a rare example of a parcel surviving in the Prize Papers, which often contain letters consigned to ships for delivery by sea.’

Thanks to Alaric Bond for contributing to this post.