No selling of the silver

For 1838 the following is recorded in the City of Portsmouth Corporation records: ‘The Town Council made a wise decision for which future generations will bless them. They decided, unlike many other of the new Corporations, not to sell the Civic Plate which had been presented during the three preceding centuries, and so the City Corporation today possesses a very fine collection of historic plate.’ This far sighted decision, at a time of great hardship in Portsmouth, enabled the wonderful collection of civic plate to be placed in the safe keeping of the current for the future generation of Portsmouth residents. The Municipal Reform Act of 1835, which replaced the old system of civic government by new corporations with greater powers and responsibilities, had a profound effect on the way local life was governed.