WAL1-The Frasers and Unetts-and the Napoleonic Wars-Gareth Glover

7 January : Gareth Glover: A Family at War, the Unett and Fraser families during the Napoleonic Wars

This talk looks at the impact the Napoleonic Wars could have on families. It focuses on two connected families: the Frasers and the Unetts whose letters survive. Members of the families served in The Peninsula, the West Indies, Copenhagen and Waterloo. Two members of the Frasers died in the 1813 campaign, ripping the heart out of the family and leading to events which led to their estates being sold. The whole surviving correspondence show clearly how the war was indeed a World War and how families were sucked into this ever hungry meatgrinder. The letters and journals provide a fascinating insight into the lives of an ordinary family in extraordinary times and how two sudden tragedies destroyed it.

Gareth Glover is one of the UK’s best known Napoleonic historians. He has edited and written over 100 books on the period. He is Treasurer of the Waterloo Association.