The Free Mart Fair

"It creates great dissatisfaction among the respectable inhabitants. Disreputable characters of every sort haunt the town during its continuance, and the streets are in a state even more disorderly than usual. Many of the inhabitants quit Portsmouth for the time to avoid the nuisance." This quote from a report presented to the Corporation in 1835 describes the Free Mart Fair which was held annually in the High Street, Portsmouth. Held since Mediaeval times it was originally an important regional trading fair. However by this time it had become a magnet for pickpopckets, prostitutes, deserters and derelicts. It was finally abolished in 1847. An excellent resource regarding the Free Mart Fair is available on this link: http://www.sopse.org.uk/ixbin/hixclient.exe?a=query&p=hants&f=generic_theme.htm&_IXFIRST_=1&_IXMAXHITS_=1&%3Dtheme_record_id=hs-hs-freemart_1