Why Birkenhead Fascinated Jules Verne and inspired his greatest novels

[John Lamb]

William Butcher kindly suggested I explain why Birkenhead might have had such an influence upon Jules Verne compared to places of similar size in the 19th century.

Here is my submission regarding Birkenhead's unique contribution to world war, peace, communications technology, urban planning and world politics - a contribution fully reflected in the writings of Jules Verne.

I remain 100% confident of my findings and would welcome any feedback and questions (no matter how challenging) from forum members.

Best wishes John Lamb

[Darek Powell]

John,

In my research, I believe the letter written to Verne was not from Theodore Roosevelt himself, but from his son (Quentin, I'm assuming). It indeed appears to say the same thing, that TR had read all of Verne's books:

"Une lettre de White House , Washington , adressée à J. Verne , peu avant sa mort , se termine ainsi :  'Mon père désire que je mentionne que lui aussi a lu tous vos livres avec beaucoup de plaisir . Kentin Roosevelt . '" 

Via Google Translate:

"A letter from the White House, Washington, addressed to J. Verne, shortly before his death, ends thus: 'My father wishes me to mention that he too has read all your books with great pleasure. Kentin Roosevelt.'"

From Charles Lemire in Jules Verne, 1828-1905, p. 133: https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=s7zW0ggXB2oC&pg=GBS.PA132&hl=en

Thanks,

--

-Darek J Powell

Treasurer, NAJVS, Inc.

darekj...@gmail.com

Matthew 6:25-34

[John Lamb]

Dear Darek,

thankyou so much for clarifying this and taking the time to read the article. I will amend this point in my future writing regarding the Quentin Roosevelt letter to Jules Verne. The link you provide is also valuable in my research.

Much of my research revolves around linking the largely Birkenhead CSS Alabama (commissioned by Theodore Roosevelt's uncle - James Dunwoody Bulloch), the largely Birkenhead built Nautilus in 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea,  Birkenhead's role in the novels of Jules Verne (both directly mentioned by Verne and and indirectly) and the dozens of links  between the characters of Herbert in Mysterious Island and Theodore Roosevelt himself (both born in 1858, both tutored at Harvard / Boston, both brave natural historians, both prolific hunters, both using taxonomic classification when mentioning species of animals and so on). 

 

I report all my findings back to Mary Roosevelt, the Birkenhead born daughter in law of President Franklin D Roosevelt, Mary's late husband, James was the eldest son of President Franklin D Roosevelt and Eleanor Roosevelt (the niece of Theodore Roosevelt). So her immediate family are linked to both Roosevelt Presidential families. 

Mary is very supportive of my findings (she is in the unique position of recognizing the links between Mysterious Island and her home town of Birkenhead, as well as the links with Theodore Roosevelt as a young boy. Here is what she said about my article in the International Review of Science Fiction, so I appreciate it is important I get it right about the Roosevelt / CSS Alabama / Nautilus / Mysterious Island link.

best John Lamb 

Mary W. ROOSEVELT <mwro...@uci.edu>

Wed, Apr 16, 6:58 PM

to me

Dear John,

All this is wonderful news. 

Finally, people are taking you seriously. 

I did not know that the Norwegian family had war time connections with FDR, which involved living at the White House. I know that the Dutch Royal Family lived there, and I do know Princess Margriet, but no one from Denmark. I am afraid that’s not much help to you. 

Good luck as you progress with your connections in making the world aware of your discoveries, and maybe find the treasure too. All the best.  

Mary

Sent from my iPhone

On Apr 15, 2025, at 4:55 PM, John Lamb <cads...@gmail.com> wrote:

[Jean-Louis Trudel]

Greetings,

I read the main section quickly. On the whole, I think it's a good
case. Some of the connections may be iffy (the Alabama "pirates" and
the Mysterious Island pirates...), but Verne's visits to Birkenhead
and the links between Birkenhead and world affairs that we know
interested Verne probably suffice to explain Verne's penchant for
referencing Birkenhead.

Though you allude to it, I think another factor may have played into
it: the parallels between Liverpool/Birkenhead and Nantes/St-Nazaire
(with the Mersey standing in for the Loire). Saint-Nazaire only
started developing major shipyards in Verne's lifetime, but he
references the city a few times---and it was the endpoint of his first
sea adventure... The Nantes/St-Nazaire echoes in Liverpool/Birkenhead
may have played a role in Verne's affection for Birkenhead. Just a
quick hypothesis for you.

(As my mother was born in St-Nazaire and my grandfather worked on the
famous Normandie liner, I do feel one should not ignore too hastily
Verne's local naval roots.)

Jean-Louis Trudel

P.S.: When referencing "Gordon Bennett" as an interjection, it might
be best to speak of "British English" rather than the "English
language". I don't think I've heard that used in Canada, for one.

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[William Butcher]

Bonjour jean-louis,

I must say I am not convinced by John Lamb's basic hypothesis, if only because of the lack of motivation for depicting Birkenhead in such detail; and because Verne may not have had access to detailed information about Birkenhead in French as early as 1863-4. But I admire his energy and skill in presentation; and find your analogy with Nantes and St Nazaire very interesting. Creative artists always have the most original ideas!

Bien amicalement

william

---

From: jules-ve...@googlegroups.com <jules-ve...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Jean-Louis Trudel <trud...@gmail.com>
Sent: Sunday, July 13, 2025 10:28 AM
To: jules-ve...@googlegroups.com <jules-ve...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: [JVF] Why Birkenhead Fascinated Jules Verne and inspired his greatest novels

 

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[Jean-Louis Trudel]

Greetings,

Well, I'm not sure saying that Birkenhead influenced Verne more than
similar cities would be accurate, but I think we can get an impression
that he had a liking for the place and its technico-naval aura,
perhaps/probably mediated by his fascination for ships and marine
exploration. I'm basically thinking that if he had to cite a place
name with naval credibility, esp. for industrial shipbuilding, he
might have given the nod to Birkenhead, all other things being equal.
Beyond that, there are things connected to Birkenhead that were
probably interesting in and of themselves (such as the CSS Alabama
saga) and not primarily because of their connection to Birkenhead.

On the matter of knowledge of Birkenhead, I'm attaching the Google
NGram for Birkenhead in French; the name really starts popping up in
French literature around the 1840s. I thought of doing a Gallica
search, but I leave that as an exercise for the reader.

Jean-Louis Trudel

Le dim. 13 juill. 2025, à 20 h 15, William Butcher
<wbutch...@gmail.com> a écrit :

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