Thursday 31 March 2011

A C Smith

Arthur Conan Doyle played under this pseudonym for the amateur pre-runner of Portsmouth Football Club when he lived in the town in the 1880s.

Monday 28 March 2011

HMS Victory

A 104 tonne first rate ship of the line commissioned in 1778, HMS Victory was already 27 years old and a veteran of three campaigns by the time she achieved fame and renown as the flagship of Vice Admiral Nelson at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. When retired from the frontline service in 1812, she was saved from disposal by the then First Naval Lord Thomas Hardy, once Flag Captain to Nelson and the ship’s most famous commanding officer. HMS Victory remained at moorings in Portsmouth Harbour for the next 110 years. It was during her time as the Royal Navy’s Telegraphy and Signal School between 1889 and 1906 that she was rammed by HMS Neptune, which was under tow heading to the breakers. By the 1920s Victory had fallen into a poor state of repair and a national appeal was launched to save her. She was moved to dry dock inside Portsmouth Dockyard in 1922 and subsequently restored to her 1805 fighting condition.

Sunday 27 March 2011

The Oldest House in Portsmouth

Wymering Manor is the oldest house in Portsmouth. Sadly, it is in a run down state and recent attempts to sell by the city council have failed. Currently it is mostly used by ghost and other paranormal activity hunters. The site has been occupied since Roman times although the first recorded occupant of Wymering Manor was William Mauduit. He probably came across with the invasion of 1066 from his home in Normandy and was involved in local research for the great survey of 1086 – known as the Domesday book. He held other manors in Hampshire and married a local Portchester girl named Hawyse in 1069 with whom he had three children. Most of the house dates from the sixteenth century, although it incorporates both original Roman and Saxon building materials. To find out more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wymering_Manor http://www.facebook.com/#!/profile.php?id=552596722&sk=wall

Friday 25 March 2011

The first dry dock

The first known dry dock in Europe was built in 1495 in Portsmouth on the order of Henry VII. The first ship to use these new facilities was the 600-ton Sovereign, which was worked on for 8 months. Getting her out of the dock proved tricky. Twenty men worked for a month ‘breking up of the dokke hede at every tide both day and night’ presumably removing the tons of material sealing the entrance. It can be argued that the decision to choose this location for the dry dock sealed Portsmouth’s fate as Britain’s premier port.

Wednesday 23 March 2011

St James Hospital

This hospital was opened in 1879 as a lunatic asylum. Its very extensive grounds were cultivated until 1965 by patients who were thus allowed to contribute to their keep. It was one of the largest institutions of it type in the south of England and remains the only one still in use for its original purpose. The many changes in name through the decades reflect society’s view of mental illness: The Borough of Portsmouth Lunatic Asylum; Portsmouth Borough Mental Hospital; St James’ Hospital for Nervous and Mental Diseases and St James’ Psychiatric Hospital. Portsmouth City Records Office hold an extensive archival collection for this and the other hospitals in Portsmouth.

Monday 21 March 2011

This Side Idolatry

This well researched but controversial novel based on the life of Charles Dickens was published in 1928. It was not altogether complimentary. Portsmouth City Council, proud of its links with with the author, promptly banned it from its public libraries. This book was billed as the ‘most discussed book of the century’ but Portsmouth residents were forced to buy their own copies to read. Portsmouth City library has an enviable collection regarding Dickens. However their catalogue shows that they still don’t possess a copy of this book.

Wednesday 16 March 2011

Visit of a King

King George V visited Portsmouth on 15 July 1935 to review the fleet in celebration of his 25 years on the throne. Unusually he disembarked from a train at Cosham station and, accompanied by the Prince of Wales and Dukes of York and Kent, travelled to Portsmouth Dockyard by car. He was cheered along the way by thick crowds. Incidentally the ships at this jubilee review stretched for an amazing 27 miles.

Monday 14 March 2011

Brighton Mary and Curzon Howe Road

The spotlight was on the Portsmouth authorities when a prostitute known as Brighton Mary was murdered in the inappropriately named Blossom Alley. Vivid descriptions of this poor woman’s wretched lifestyle hit both national and local headlines and galvanised the council into action. Slum clearance removed the dark, dangerous alleyways and in 1910 the first council housing in Portsmouth was opened in Curzon Howe Road, Portsea. The accommodation was of a high standard consisting of three bedrooms (one for the parents and one for children of each sex), a large front room, kitchen, scullery and bath. They had the luxury of hot water and an outside lavatory. These houses have stood the test of time, surviving the blitz, and can still be seen near the entrance to the dockyard. Portsmouth Record Office holds the original plans to these houses. http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&source=hp&q=portsmouth+records+office&aq=0&aqi=g1g-v2&aql=&oq=portsmouth+records+off

Wednesday 9 March 2011

Temperance

Being predominately a naval and garrison town, Portsmouth had an usually high number of drinking establishments. Consequently, the Portsmouth Temperance League regularly petitioned the licensing sessions citing examples of children as young as seven being served alcohol. In an exhibition held in 1911 they had some convincing statistics. They estimated the drink bill for Portsmouth in 1911 was £826,323 which would have paid for the Town Hall (£140,000), South Parade Pier (£70,000) and all the council schools and Technical Institute including equipment (£568,000). They also highlight that very little of this would go back into the local economy as wages unlike some of the other local industries.

Sunday 6 March 2011

Portsmouth Grammar School

Portsmouth Grammar School opened in 1750 in Penny Street, Portsmouth by William Smith, a philanthropic Mayor of Portsmouth. Although initially successful, by the mid nineteenth century it had declined and was refounded in 1873 with a new building at the top of the High Street being opened in 1879. This is now the Lower School. The school has subsequently flourished, taking over Clarence Barracks in 1926 and further buildings adjacent to the site in Museum Road in the 2000s. It is Portsmouth’s oldest school.

Thursday 3 March 2011

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