Harsh Justice

The punishment handed out to Hannah Davis who was found guilty of theft by the Portsmouth session court in 1732 was: ‘You are to return to the Gaole from whence you came and there remain till Thursday next between the hours of Eleven and Twelve of the Clock in the Forenoon, att which time you are to be taken thence and stript from the middle upwards and fixt to the Public Stocks or Whipping Post near the Cage on the Common withn the Liberties of this Burrough, and at Twelve of the Clock just as the Dock Men are coming from his Majesties Dock Yard here you are to receive Fifteen Lashes with a Catt of Nine Tails from the hande of the Common Beadle on your naked Back and then return to the said Gaol and there remaine till your Fees are paid.’ Portsmouth City Records Office, S3/97

Knight and Lee

This store, now part of the John Lewis Partnership, has been based in Palmerston Road, Southsea since 1874. Originally started by a local businessman, Frederick Wink, it was later purchased by two young brothers-in-law who had been trained in London, Jesse Knight and Edward Herbert Soden Lee. They specialised in clothes before widening the stock to include housewares. It was acquired by the John Lewis Partnership in its first big expansion outside London in 1934. At this time it occupied the site where (until recently) Woolworth’s, Boots and other shops are. In January 1941 the whole of the Palmerston Road shopping area, including this store, was devastated in the Blitz. The staff were all given 2 week’s paid leave after which offices were set up in the nearby Queen’s Hotel and ten different shops were found in which to carry on the business. All the records had been destroyed, so the staff list, and their salaries were calculated from memory by Miss Kite, the Counting House Manager. The current building was completed in March 1959, on a site slightly further along Palmerston Road where J D Mourant had been.

The end of paganism

St Wilfrid, the son of a Northumberland thane, travelled to the south coast in about 687. He founded the see of Chichester and built a monastery at Selsey. He also brought Christianity to the Portsmouth and surrounding areas, one of the last strongholds of paganism. He is remembered in the many institutions named after him in the area.

Portsmouth-Gosport Floating Bridge

The floating bridge (or chain ferry) was a feature of Portsmouth Harbour for over 150years. The engineer who invented the concept first made one that crossed the River Dart at Dartmouth in 1831. Portsmouth was the fifth one he constructed, and it was opened, after an Act of Parliament had been obtained despite opposition from both the Admiralty and local wherrymen, in May 1840. It cost one penny for a passenger to travel across and between a penny and a shilling for all other traffic. The company flourished until the world wars during which their launches were requisitioned. Afterwards, aging machinery, rising fuel costs, the lack of radar meaning it could not operate in fog when more modern vessels could, and an appearance of a sandbank near the Gosport shore which lead to grounding at low tide, all meant this the company could not continue. The service was finally suspended in December 1961.

Music Halls

There is a long tradition of music halls in Portsmouth. In the early days they were associated with public houses. Some were of doubtful repute, other achieved a high standard. One of the best known was located at the Blue Bell in St Mary’s Street, Old Portsmouth. A small music hall was built by an enterprising licensee in 1856 which proved so popular that a larger one was needed. This was built over the old hall, enabling no break in performances to be necessary, and was much better equipped. It was later known as the South of England Music Hall. Another was the colourfully named Vento’s Temple of Varieties and was located on the corner of Leonard Street and Lake Road.

Meetings of the Improvement Commissioners

From 1769 until well into the 19th century the Ship and Castle on the Hard was the meeting place of the Improvement Commissioners for the town of Portsea. They were charged with road improvements and street cleaning and the ‘removal of nuisances’. A brief survey of the first volume of the minutes of Commissioner’s meetings makes if fairly clear that 18th century Portsea was a pretty squalid place. The Commissioners issue frequent orders ‘that the inhabitants do not throw ashes, cinders and rubbish into the streets’. A succession of men are appointed to impound all swine, beasts and cattle ‘which shall be found wandering about the streets, lanes, ways, alleys and public passages…’

A stolen aircraft

In 1936 two employees of a local aviation company, Airspeed Ltd, broke into a hanger at Portsmouth airport and stole a small passenger plane, a Courier. They were intending to fly to Spain and sell the aircraft to either the Government or the insurgent forces. The machine stalled in takeoff, crashed in to trees at the north end of the aerodrome and was a total write off. One man, Arthur Gargett, was killed, and the other, Joseph Smith was imprisoned for four months for theft. Portsmouth Records Office I169

The first Theatre in Portsmouth

The first reference to a theatre in Portsmouth is in the court session papers. On 26 May 1694 a wanted sailor was chased through the streets and was thought to have disappeared in to the Queen’s Head where, in a large room, a play was in progress. Portsmouth Records Office S3B/112

Pubs on the Hard

The Ordnance Survey map of 1861 shows a preponderance of alehouses on the Hard, Portsmouth including the Ship and Castle, The Queen’s Head, the King and Queen, the Ship Anson, the Victoria and Albert, the Waterman’s Arms, the Bedford-in-Chase, the Sheer Hulk, the Nag’s Head, the Keppel’s Head Pier Hotel, the White Hart Tavern, the Row Barge Tavern, and the Earl St Vincent Tavern. These would have catered for the thousands of sailors that passed trough the area and the dockyard workers who worked immediately adjacent in the Dockyard. Not surprisingly, the Hard became notorious for the riotous behaviour of men and women alike.

Mrs Victor Bruce

This lady set off from Portsmouth airport in 1933 attempting to set an endurance record of 28 days. Her aircraft was fitted out with a kitchen, bathroom and other comforts. She later crashed but not before setting the record. Portsmouth Records Office I169