The Runaway Church

This was the local nickname given to St James Church in Milton. For many decades after it was built, Milton remained a small rural community and when couples made the effort to come from other parishes, it was assumed that they were eloping.

A link with Busselton

Anyone consulting the parish registers for St Mary’s, Portsea in the early years of the 1800s will be grateful to the curate William Bussell for his neat handwriting. His death in 1820 however left his widow and large family facing hardship resulting in, like so many others at the time, their emigration to Western Australia. Here they became established as prosperous farmers leading to the founding of Busselton, one of the oldest settlements in the area. There is a plaque commemorating this family still in St Mary’s church, Portsea. To find out more about Busselton: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bussell_family

Jubilee Terrace

One of the first buildings in Southsea, this terrace was started in 1809 and completed in 1827. It was named after the Golden Jubilee of George III.

Return of the First Settlers

In 1586 Sir Fancis Drake sailed into Portsmouth carrying home the disillusioned settlers from Sir Walter Raleigh's first settlement to Virginia. Their leader, Ralph Lane, is credited with bringing potatoes and tobacco into the Town. Lane and his crew smoked the tobacco to the wonder of the local inhabitants. The collections of the Portsmouth Museum Service include a pipe from this date possibly manufactured at nearby Oyster Street where archeological excavations have discovered one of the earliest pipe manufacturers in the country. To find out more about this ill fated colony: http://www.btinternet.com/~richard.towers/jim/raleigh1.html Ralph Lane was knighted and in 1588 appointed Captain of Southsea Castle.

Emanuel Emanuel

This prominent member of the long standing Jewish community in Portsmouth became its first Jewish Mayor, and one of its finest civic leaders, in 1866. He was a successful jeweller operating from the High Street but it is his involvement with civic affairs that has left an outstanding legacy in the City today. He, together with the then Governor, Lord Frederick Fitzclarence, decided to construct Clarence Parade along the seafront, and he was also instrumental in the creation of the People’s Park, now known as Victoria Park, the first public park in the Portsmouth. A glorious memorial in his memory stands near Canoe Lake: http://www.memorials.inportsmouth.co.uk/southsea/emanuel.htm

Lord Anson's navigation

On 18 September 1740 Lord George Anson sailed on a daring mission from Portsmouth to disrupt Spanish shipping and capture some of her Pacific assets. His squadron consisted of six vessels with the Centurion, which had been built in Portsmouth in 1732, as its flagship. When Anson returned to Portsmouth in 1844, having circumnavigated the globe, only 188 of the original 1854 men returned with him mainly due to horrific losses from diseases such as scurvy. They had however captured a Spanish galleon, the Covadonga, which was carrying 1,313,843 pieces of eight and 35,682 ounces of silver. Anson took three-eighths of the prize money which by one estimate came to £91,000 compared with the £719 he earned as captain during the 3 year 9 month voyage. He became an overnight national celebrity and was promoted to First Lord of the Admiralty in 1751. From here he assisted many of the officers that sailed with him with illustrious careers such as Philip Saumarez and Augustus Keppel. Another legacy of the voyage was the discovery of the breadfruit plant which later inspired sending HMS Bounty on the voyage during which the famous mutiny occurred. To find out more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Anson%27s_voyage_around_the_world

A Farewell to Nelson

'by the time he had arrived on the beach some hundreds of people had collected in his train, pressing all around and pushing to get a little before him to obtain a sight of his face. I stood on one of the batteries near where he passed and had a full view of his person. As the barge in which he embarked pushed away from the shore, the people gave three cheers which his Lordship returned by waving his hat.' Benjamin Silliman describing Nelson's departure from Portsmouth to fight the Battle of Trafalgar, 15 September 1805. The gathered crowds were so great that after his breakfast at a nearby inn, The George, Nelson slipped out the back and crossed to the beach over a small wooden drawbridge which cut through the fortifications at Spur Redoubt. From the beach he joined his fleet which was waiting off Spithead. This bridge was restored in 2005 as part of the commemorations for the 200th anniversary of the Battle and now forms part of The Nelson Trail.

The first Co-operative

In 1796 the workers in the Dockyard formed ‘The Portsmouth Dock Mill Co-operative Society’, which according to set rules that they devised, was to produce flour for their member’s use. Although little is known about this venture, it predates the more famous co-operative formed in Rochdale by 44 years. The Society built their mill on then unused land in Southsea on what is now Wisborough Road. Having seven storeys and standing 100 feet tall, it dominated the landscape as the suburb gradually grew up around it, once being described as ‘the Mightiest Mill in all Britain’. It was finally demolished in 1923 although the mill cottages, built for the workers, still remain.

Fish selling a Great Nuisance

In 1848 the shop keepers of Landport felt they had cause to complain, stating that: ‘to the great nuisances in this neighbourhood arising from the sale of fish often in a putrid state, the effluvia arising from the same, particularly in summer time, debarring us from opening a window to admit the air, being compelled to keep all closed to avoid, as far as possible, the awful stench, and our families sometimes retching from the unwholesome effects. We have no doubt that it has been the cause of much illness in the place and it is not unusual to see from twelve to twenty wheelbarrows and hand-carts loaded with skate, conger eels, etc: the heads and entrails may be frequently seen lying about the following morning, which is very disgusting and unhealthy.’ Report to the General Board of Health on the sewage, drainage and water supply of Portsmouth, 1850. A recent visit to the Saturday market in Commercial Road, Landport revels not much has changed in the intervening 160 years.

The FA Cup

Pompey has won the FA Cup on two occasions, in 1939 and 2008. In both years, the people of the town came out in thousands to see the team parade on buses, before congregating in Guildhall Square (1939) or on Southsea Common (2008). The impact of international events was felt in 1939, when the outbreak of World War II and the subsequent suspension of the competition, meant that by fluke Pompey entered the record books for holding onto the Cup for the longest period in its history (1939 - 1945).

Portsmouth Point

 

Until the removal of the fortifications from the 1860s, Point, a spit of land just inside the harbour entrance, stood outside the fortress town of Portsmouth. It was therefore was not subject to the same laws and regulations, such as curfew, as the residents inside the walls. It was further isolated by a strip of water, part of the moat, which crossed Broad Street cutting it off completely from the town. As a result the area was notorious for debauchery. It was also known as Spice Island which may or may not be a reference to the merchant trade who landed spices here from all over the known world. Access from was gained over a drawbridge and through the King James’ Gate, situated near the Square Tower, which was erected in 1687 and was the oldest stone gate built in Portsmouth.

An Original Street Pattern

It was in about 1180, the time of Richard I, that John de Gisors laid out streets and plots to form a settlement in the south west corner of Portsea Island. This is almost certainly the same street layout that can still be found in Old Portsmouth today.

Peter the Great

The Russian Emperor, Peter the Great, visited Portsmouth in 1698 under the pseudonym Peter Michailoff. He toured the Dockyard and watched a the fleet in sham action off Spithead at the harbour mouth.