Woolnough, Quintin, Captain, Fl. 1794-1798.

The most significant part of the collection is a series of letters between Captain Woolnough and his wife Sarah (WOO/1), which illustrate the challenges of communication and maintaining a relationship when a sailor was away at sea. The subject of his correspondence varies – from news of home and friends, to descriptions of life and work aboard ship. Woolnough seems to have been aware that this was a dangerous posting – there is much talk in his letters about their long separation, how sickly the country is, and the deaths of his crew members. His concerns also encompass not hearing from home, the health of his children, and the vagaries of life at sea. There is also a letter to his widow relating to the sale of his ship after his death (WOO/2) and a set of letters and papers belonging to his widow Sarah and their daughter Sarah Ann (WOO/3), mainly comprising letters to Sarah’s family, particularly her sisters Ann (or Nancy) Moor, Elizabeth Clements, Charlotte Montgomery and Mary Ann White, but also poems and papers relating to Sarah Ann’s marriage.