The Published Letters of James Fitzjames

All of the following letters were originally published in the Nautical Magazine and Naval Chronicle in 1852, after being edited by William Coningham, Fitzjames’ adoptive brother and one of the recipients. The transcriptions here are taken from the Nautical Magazine, with some of the previously redacted names added back. Occasional footnotes are provided for clarification but no grammar or spelling changes have been made to the original text.

As these letters have been published before, they are considered “republished sources” under our Terms of Use. This means you do not have to credit Arctonauts, though it would be welcomed, when sharing unless you are sharing sections where redactions have been undone.


To Elizabeth Coningham, 8/Jun/1845

Also contains a continuing letter started on the 26th of June.

To John Barrow Jr., 1/Jul/1845

Also contains a continuing letter started on the 10th of July. This letter is not the first, but a later one in a long standing line of communication. The earlier ones are sadly not in the public domain.

To William Coningham, 11/Jul/1845