First women bus drivers

In World War II many women were required to take jobs that had previously only been in the province of men. One example was in 1941 when two women from Portsmouth became the first women in England to qualify as bus drivers.

Quebec House

Slightly jutting in to the mouth of Portsmouth Harbour is this weather boarded privately owned house complete with its own modern open air swimming pool. It has had a varied history, including use both as a custom house and a rumoured centre for smuggling. It was originally built by public subscription in 1754 as a sea water bathing house. It is positioned over the water and a large trap door in one of the major rooms allowed private access for bathers.

Rendezvous of the fashionable world

"Portsmouth had been now, for many months, the rendezvous of the fashionable world; every gay young man of fortune, and woman also, in their circle of joyous amusements, took a transient view of it; whilst those who have a relish of one of the noblest sights, which art or industry has yet produced, considered our fleet of capital ships, at this time in particular, with delight and exultation." Jonas Hanway, inventor of the umbrella, describing Portsmouth in a letter dated 9 August 1755.

D Day

Portsmouth played a central role in the D Day invasion of Normandy in June 1944. Not only was it a place of departure on the day but the Supreme Allied Commander, General Eisenhower, had his headquarters at Southwick House. Portsmouth’s involvement was not just one day; the build up of troops and materials had been filling local streets for many months. In the aftermath, during June and July 1944, Portsmouth Dockyard repaired 418 ships and landing crafts.

Winter Road

This road in Portsmouth is named after Henry Winter, a successful wood and timber merchant in the town during the mid 1800s. Interestingly he married Maria Beadnell who had been the first love of another Portsmouth resident, Charles Dickens. She is thought by some to have been the inspiration for Dora in David Copperfield. Maria is buried in Highland Road cemetery.

A new suburb

"Since the increase of Business at this Place, by the long continuance of the War, the Confluence of People has been so great, and the Town not admitting any enlargement for Buildings, that a kind of Suburb, or rather a New Town has been built on the healthy Ground adjoining to the Town, which is so well built, and seems to increase so fast, that in time it threatens to outdo for Numbers of Inhabitants, and beauty of Buildings, even the Town itself; and particularly by being unconfin'd by the Laws of the Garrison, as above, and unencumbered with the Corporation burthens, Freedoms, Town Duties, Services and the like." Daniel Defoe describing the new development of Portsea in 1724. The older town was Portsmouth which as a garrison was surrounded by massive fortifications.

The Pitt Street Baths

Following a series of sea disasters in which sailors had needlessly died, the Admiralty decided in 1906 that all new recruits should receive swimming and life saving lessons for half an hour per day. In Portsmouth, The Royal Naval School of Physical Training baths were opened as a response in 1910. Cadets were aided by harnesses attached to ropes and poles suspended from the roof. The unusual ironwork this necessitated was to lead to some puzzlement during the later years of the building's life. These baths later became a notable gym and were ultimately demolished in 2008. The author’s mother took gym lessons here in the 1930s and her children attended parties in the 1990s. A real piece of unusual local history has been lost.

Boris Johnson's opinion

"One of the most depressed towns in Southern England, a place that is arguably too full of drugs, obesity, underachievement and Labour MPs". Boris Johnson, currently Mayor of London, describing Portsmouth. One, out of the two, Portsmouth MPs was Liberal Democrat at the time. For more quotes, see http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-468727/A-selection-Boris-Johnsons-memorable-quotes.html#ixzz0iSOxaT3Y

Raids by the French

Portsmouth was raided by the French at least four times in the 1300s – 1338, 1369, 1377 and 1380. On each occasion the town was sacked and burnt with great loss of life. As a result, in 1395, Portsmouth fitted out a squadron at its own expense to harry the French. These raids also almost certainly prompted the earliest fortifications to be built. The building of the Round Tower, originally known as King Edward’s Tower, was commenced in 1418.

Province of Freedom

1787 did not just see one fleet filled with convicts sailing for the first time from Portsmouth to set up a new colony in an unknown place. In the minds of many contemporaries the famous sailing of the first fleet to Australia was irrevocably linked with another, now forgotten, destined for Cline Town in Sierra Leone. This less famous fleet was to remove many of the freed but poverty stuck ex slaves and convicts in London to form a utopian new colony, the Province of Freedom, in Africa. It was initially expected that these two fleets would sail together for part of the journey and both waited around Portsmouth for notification to sail. As the Daily Universal Register reported from Portsmouth in January 1787: 'The Naulitus, with the two transports and the Blacks, intended for the new settlement on the Coast of Guinea is expected to sail today.' In fact a series of delays affected both ventures. An epidemic of fever was followed by a small mutiny and the Naulitus finally sailed without those destined for Australia in mid February. Interestingly along with the 'poor blacks' were white women and some British merchants. They arrived in this Province of Freedom in May 1787. Although Sierra Leone sounded pleasant being described as 'there is plenty of wood, water and every necessity of life sufficient for the support of more than 1000 inhabitants', this new colony initally struggled. In 1808 the British took it over as its base for anti slavery naval patrols. Most of the residents stayed however, took over some British culture and language and formed the basis of the flourishing merchant Creole peoples of the area. To find out more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Sierra_Leone http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Province_of_Freedom Portsmouth Paper No 50: Portsmouth and the First Fleet 1786-1787

A Pageant of Portsmouth

In 1923, ‘A Pageant of Portsmouth’ was performed at Southsea Castle. This involved over 2,000 performers and showcased 12 differing episodes from the history of the Town. Following in this tradition, another ‘A Pageant of Portsmouth’ took place in June 2009 as part of the annual Portsmouth Festivities organised by the Portsmouth Grammar School. This time, a day consisted of activities, music and entertainment culminating in a ‘Ghost Shop Spectacle’ on Castle Field.

Civil War

Perhaps the local episode of most national significance in the Stuart period was the siege of Portsmouth, which occurred at the beginning of the Civil War. Portsmouth was as always an important strategic asset and, having declared for the King, was besieged by the Parliamentarians in 1642. The dissolute Governor, Goring, capitulated after a promise of good conduct for himself and his followers, but not until after the Town had suffered considerable bombardment. It remained in Parliamentarian hands for the remainder of the War. However, Portsmouth retained strong links with the Crown for the whole period. Goring reputedly threw the keys to the Garrison into the sea from the Square Tower in a final act of defiance.

The Royal Seaman's and Marines' Orphan School

The bereft of Portsmouth have often been on the nation's conscience through past ages. One interesting result was the formation in 1834 of the Royal Seaman's and Marines' Orphan School. Unlike most schools at this time, this well endowed institution was strongly funded and had many eminent members of society, including Queen Victoria and the Prince Regent, as patrons. It was also handsomely supported through subscriptions given by the officers and men of many varying ships. The school educated, clothed and fed 60 boys and 30 girls and, from 1874, had prominent gothic premises in St Michael's Road. Virtually complete records for this institution survive at the Portsmouth Records Office. Full details for all scholars are included making them a goldmine for family historians. Very little work has, however, been undertaken so far on this enormously interesting and largely overlooked part of Portsmouth's past.

A shark in St George's Square

One of the more unusual sights in St George’s Square, Portsmouth in 1813 must have been that of an enormous preserved basking shark. Placed on a vehicle which advertised, ‘The wonderful fish from Brighton, Sussex’, it attracted great crowds. Its owner reportedly made the huge sum of £600 from the spectacle.

Omai the Tahitian and others

Portsmouth in the 1700s was one of the most cosmopolitan towns in the country. Omai the Tahitian visited more than once between 1774 - 1777 before being returned to the Sandwich Islands by Captain Cook. Cherokee chiefs were here in 1762, while other visits were made at this time by Lebanese princes, representatives from North African regencies and traders from far away places such as Danzig. To find out more about Omai: http://www.captcook-ne.co.uk/ccne/themes/omai.htm

The Circus Church

Portsmouth has never been short of churches and has an intriguing religious history. One of the oddest elements has to be the Circus Church. The name derives from Hengler’s Equestrian Circus whose wooden building was used for the first mission services. It stood in Lion Gate Road, now Edinburgh Road, until a permanent chapel, which could seat an impressive 1700, was built in Surrey Street in 1863. To add to its strangeness, this evangelical church had no set parish and was privately owned by a Board of Trustees. It had a widely varying congregation including the Victorian reformer Agnes Weston. The church, like so many others, was badly damaged in the Blitz and finally demolished in the 1950s.