Trailer – On the Record: Love Letters

"My dearest Bob, there is nothing finer in this whole universe than sincere friendship."

A letter from San Francisco to London. Words of love that travelled thousands of miles - and were seized by police.

I'm Chloe Lee, a records specialist at The National Archives.

This is On The Record at The National Archives, uncovering the past through stories of everyday people.

Love letters aren't what you'd expect to find in a government archive. But when relationships were deemed dangerous...

“This relationship reveals a very passionate and intimate person who is quite capable of forming those relationships, who has those needs that anybody else would do as a human being that gives a new dimension to the stoic Virgin Queen we know about from media and film”

...when love was criminalised...

“And the police watched the flat and so we know they even did that from another building, looking into the basement. There were actually weeks of surveillance, men spotted outside holding hands, going into the flat”

... or when identities challenged Victorian norms...

“They were born Frederick Park and Ernest Bolton, so male, but they performed as men and women, both on and off the stage. They were quite popular, but not necessarily because of their theatrical abilities. In fact, it was a court case that they were both part of that made its way into the newspapers”

These intimate expressions became matters of state. The episode is coming soon so hit follow or subscribe wherever you listen.