A hovercraft disaster

A local tragedy struck in March 1970 when a hovercraft on its way from Ryde to Southsea overturned in strong winds and a dangerous sea. The chances were given at ten million to one of such an accident occurring. Twenty two people managed to scramble on to the upturned vessel to await rescue by helicopter. However, five people died including one person presumed missing.

First ship building

The first warship built in Portsmouth was the Peter Pomegranate launched in 1509.  This was closely followed by the Mary Rose which had a complement of 400 men and caused 'wonder and admiration of all beholders'.

Early Portsmouth

King Alfred the Great started the Navy here in 897. In 957 King Edgar formed the first Channel Fleet which had Portsmouth as its principal base. In 1066 King Harold fitted out a fleet of 700 ships, which cruised in the Solent until false news caused its dispersal enabling William the Conqueror to land at Pevensey. Twenty year later, William was here to oppose Canute. In 1101 Robert, Duke of Normandy, landed here with a powerful force. In 1106, Portsmouth received it First Charter from Henry I. In 1123 the King spent his Whitsuntide here. In 1133 the Empress Matilda, daughter of Henry I, landed here with a small force ago assert her right to the throne. In 1174 Henry II left form her taking with him as a prisoner William the Lion, King of Scotland. In 1175 Henry returned with his victorious army from Normandy. In 1182 Henry II before his departure for France 'made his will by the seaside at Portsmouth'.

Taken from The Portsmouth that has Passed by William Gates

A Terrible Fire

A terrible fire swept through the huge storehouses near the Camber in 1557.  So great were the losses to the people of Portsmouth that Queen Elizabeth I authorised a nationwide collection for their relief.

The Cenotaph

Portsmouth lost an estimated 6,000 men and women in World War I. A Mayor's appeal was launched to comemorate this loss and as a result the Cenotaph, detailing the names of the local fallen, was unveiled on the 19 October 1921 before a local crowd of 30,000.

 A third of the appeal money was also given to the Royal Hospital for the building of new wards.

Edward IV

In 1475, in the year he declared war on France, Edward IV reviewed 30,000 military troops on Southsea Common.

Southsea Common

Southsea Common was originally known as Froddington Heath. The earliest records show this area under the control of the Domus Dei, a religious institution on the site of today's Garrison Church. After the Dissolution, it was granted to the Leeke family, Lords of the Manor, who were paid £5,000 by the Government when when they took it over for military use in 1785. When no longer strategically important, in 1922, the local council brought it, also paying £5,000 to Mr Leeke for outstanding manorial rights. It briefly reverted to the army during World War II and the Common remains an extraordinary freely accessible recreational facility for people of Portsmouth today.

The Mint

'... in Gold Steet new sovereigns would be tarnished; in Silver Street, silver would rapidly assume the colour of pewter or lead; in Steel Street, steel would be rusted by the noxious vapours arising from accumulations of all kinds of filth and deleterious gases.'

Quoted by J R Martin, 1845

Farlington Marshes

This marshland area on the outskirts of Portsmouth was saved from develoment in 1970 when Portsmouth City Council compulsorily purchased the area for £43,500. It was feared that it may have been sold for development land. Shortly afterwards a lease was given tothe local Wildlife Trust and Farlington has remained one of the most treasured refuges for birds in the country ever since.

The Return of a Warrior

In May 1987 crowds lined the harbour entrance to watch the return of HMS Warrior. She had been based in Portsmouth for most of her life. Being the Royal Navy's first ironclad, she was built in 1860 with revolutionary defensive armour plating. She is reputed to have kept the peace on the seas throughout the Empire without ever firing a shot in anger. In later life she became a torpedo training hulk in Portsmouth Harbour. She was rescued in 1979, and restored at a cost of £7,000,000 before becoming the picturesque toursit attraction she is today.

The Portsmouth and South Hampshire Eye and Ear Infirmary

This hospital, which was situated on the corner of Clarence View and Pembroke Road, was opened in 1884. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, then practising as a doctor in Portsmouth, was instrumental in its establishment. The building was gutted during the Blitz in 1941 and the hospital was moved to temporarily to Liss before returning after the War to Grove Road North. It finally became apart of  Queen Alexandra Hospital in 1971.

Preparations for D Day

‘Police calling… All members of the public must leave sea front and immediate vicinity at once, and those without special permits or temporary passes must go outside the barriers.’

This ban on visiting Southsea seafront was issued on 17 August 1943. Boarding house and hotel keepers had been forewarned by the Police that all guests who were not in the area for an approved purpose must be out by this date, and that no more visitors were to be accepted.

Rebuilding Allocation

Portsmouth’s share of the Government’s allocation of a £4,000,000 fund for the rebuilding of central areas following civic damage in the Blitz was announced in 1950 to be £450,000, less than expected. Of the 18 cities and towns eligible for the monies, only Coventry and Plymouth were granted more. The money was for building and civil engineering works.

Elizabeth I

In 1591 Elizabeth I visited Portsmouth and worshipped in St Thomas's church, now the Cathedral.

Young men sea-bathing

It is .. necessary to caution young men against too frequent sea bathing, and continuing in the water too long: every beneficial purpose is answered by one immersion at a time.

Taken from Lake Allen's History of Portsmouth, 1817

Richard the Lionheart

On 2 May 1194 Richard I gave Portsmouth its first Royal Charter granting permission for the borough to: hold a fifteen day annual "Free Market Fair"; have weekly markets; set up a local court to deal with minor matters; and exemption from paying the government annual tax with the money instead used for local matters.

King Richard later went on to build a number of houses and a hall in Portsmouth. He is known to have spent much time in the new settlement but the whereabouts of his Kings Hall has never been determined for certain. It is thought to have been in the vicinity of the current Grammar School.

The Bonham Carter family

By the middle of the eighteenth century the Carter family were well established in the Portsmouth area. Despite being a non-conformist family they held various local civic offices including burgess, alderman and mayor.

They were a brewers, first appearing in local records when John Carter married a Mary White in 1710. By marriage they later become linked to other local brewing families when their son married Susannah Pike, daughter of William Pike, and a daughter Ann married John Bonham, whose descendants still carry the name Bonham-Carter. They also became relations again through marriage with the Nightingale family of which Florence was a descendant.

There are numerous family papers deposited and freely available to view at the Hampshire Record Office.

William Penn

William Penn, father of William Penn the Quaker founder of Pennsylvania, was made a Burgess of Portsmouth in 1654. He was ‘One of the Admirals and Generals of ye ffleete of this Commonwealth'.

Celebrated Fortifications

 

‘The celebrated fortifications surround the town on the land side, and command the whole island. The ramparts, entered by several handsome gateways, form a semicircular terrace upwards of a mile in length, which is planted with trees, and affords a delightful promenade with varied and extensive views. They are fortified by strong bastions and batteries of heavy ordnance, and still further defended by broad deep ditches. Here are several guard houses in different parts of the town and three regiments of foot constitute the usual garrison.’

 Description of Portsmouth in the Post Office Hampshire Trades’ Directory 1847

Portsmouth children in World War II

Portsmouth suffered very heavy bombardment at the beginning of World War II. The local children spent much of their free time playing on bombsites and many built collections of shrapnel, parachute cord and other debris. Some learnt to swim in bomb craters left in the harbour.

There was a mandatory evacuation of children. They were sent generally to the country side, although some inexplicably went to nearby towns such as Winchester and Bournemouth. They were billeted with strangers. As could be expected, for some it was a wonderful experience, for others completely miserable. The education they received was hit and miss with often small country schools having to accommodate double the number of pupils they were used to.

The vacated buildings in Portsmouth were taken over for the war effort. There was considerable controversy in the City when these buildings weren’t given back immediately. Following agitation by parents, the children were allowed to come home officially in 1946, although many had made their way back before then.

Relief from Cholera

The day of 26 September 1849 was designated in Portsmouth a day of humilation and prayer for relief from the scourge of cholera. The Dockyard and other local businesses were closed for the day while special prayers were said in all the local chapels.

Raging through the summer, at the height of the epidemic mass burials for the victims were being held before 8am in the churchyard of St Thomas's Church, now the cathedral.

The epidemic had run its course by November and on the 15th general celebratory and thanksgiving services were held across the town.

Early Street cleaning

‘That the common gutter and other gutters in the strets of the towne shuld be kept cleane and scowrid evry wyk the Friday nyght begynyng at the uppend fist and so downeward, this order is also not kept, but s’tayne swepe it downe before there neybors dores and so let it ly, and some carie away nothing at all.’
Presentment made in the local Portsmouth court, 1562

An Explosion

‘An explosion has occurred at Gosport. There is no cause for alarm. You are however advised to keep open your windows to avoid damage in the event of further explosions.’

This was broadcast by police cars touring Portsmouth after two huge explosions in Gosport on the evening of 14 July 1950. They had been inundated by 999 calls after six lighters being loaded with depth charges and 1,000 ton bombs blew up at Bedenham Pier. Fortunately there were no fatalities but many of the shops as far away as Commercial and London Roads had their windows blown out.

Benefits of the sea

Southsea beach boasts a superiority over any other in the kingdom, for the clear sea-water, and the acknowledged utility which has followed the use of its baths in numerous complaints which bade defiance to medical skill.

Thomas Roscoe, 1830

First balloon ascent

The first balloon ascent took place in Portsmouth in 1784.

Shortly after one of the author’s ancestors was an eye witness to a local ballooning accident.

Scuttling of the Implacable

In December 1949, the man of war, the Implacable, then the oldest ship in the world still afloat, was scuttled in deep water in the Solent. There had been moves to save her both in England and France, with a question regarding the matter being raised in the House of Commons but her condition was found to be too decayed.

She had been launched in 1801, fought and escaped at the Battle of Trafalgar, before being captured by the British in 1805. She was a feature of Portsmouth Harbour for many years. Before she was sunk, certain parts of her were donated to the National Maritime Museum. As she was towed out of the Harbour, HMS Victory’s company and staff stood to attention as she passed.

Presents for a Princess

The future Queen, Princess Elizabeth, chose four items of furniture as a wedding present from the Citizens of Portsmouth in 1947 – a satin-wood cupboard, a mirror, a glass chandelier and a sofa.

She wrote a thank you letter:

‘We are both delighted with the wedding present which the citizens of Portsmouth have given us… they will be a most valuable contribution to furnishing our house.

We send our warm thanks to all those who so generously subscribed to give us this magnificent present, and we should like them to know what a real pleasure it has been to us to receive it from a town which has the closest connections both in history and our own times with the Royal Navy.’

Military Governors and Mayors

As Portsmouth was a garrison town it had its own military governor. This officer was first appointed in 1369 and was given power to rule and punish not only soldiers but also the men of the town. As these powers were confirmed to the governors in later charters this caused trouble between the military and civil authorities. The worst trouble arose when Sir Adrian Poynings was governor between 1559 and 1571. By using force he completely ignored any legitimate authority of the mayor, so much so that the mayor went in fear of his life. Eventually the mayor complained to Queen Elizabeth I and judgement was given in the mayor’s favour. More than a hundred years later when Col John Gibson was governor there was trouble again and the mayor found the Landport Gate shut in his face when he wished to leave town. This was in 1694 and the Borough Sessions Papers show what little hope of redress the locals had when assaulted, sometimes in the a most repulsive manner, by military officers. 

Taken from The History Centre Collection, I191.

Portsmouth in 1981

Click on the link for a promotional film of Portsmouth voiced by Telly Sevalas in 1981.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6EmrGSqteGo

Margaret of Anjou

Margaret of Anjou landed in Portsmouth in 1445 on her way to marry Henry VI. She was fifteen years old, and described as beautiful and "already a woman: passionate and proud and strong-willed’.

Freezing weather

Portsmouth suffered freezing weather conditions in February 1947. Emergency power cuts were imposed with police patrolling the main roads warning shop keepers about the mistaken use of lights, radios and other electrical appliances during prohibited hours. Street lights were not lit, except at important junctions, and on the 21^st roads on Portsdown Hill became so icy that people had to dismount from the buses and walk the eight miles home to Horndean.

The curfew gun

For centuries, a curfew gun was fired every evening from the Saluting Platform in Portsmouth and was frequently heard as far away as Selbourne in north Hampshire.

A disaster in the castle

In 1759 disaster struck at Southsea Castle when sparks from a fire fell through floorboards and ignited gunpowder which was stored in the room below. Seventeen men, women and children were killed in the explosion.

Return of Hermes after the Falklands conflict

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h24wFe_zWUQ&feature=related

The return of HMS Hermes to Portsmouth Harbour after taking part in the Falklands conflict. A welcome that has been happening through the ages and one only Portsmouth can give!

Samuel Pepys

Samuel Pepys was a burgess in Portsmouth for the years 1662-1703. He had the management of the Admiralty department and Portsmouth features regularly in his diaries.

Pirates in the Solent

The cutter Childers was captured by a privateer under Dutch colours off the Needles last week. The Childers managed to escape later but the same privateer took four brigs and a sloop within the following two days, at the same spot. The Channel is now full of French and Dutch privateers, which come upon our coasts, and take merchantmen from the mouths of our ports’

Taken from the Hampshire Chronicle 29 April 1792

Tin canoes

'We like England very much. It is very beautiful.We have seen Salisbury Cathedral which is very fine and the ship where Nelson died which is all gold with wooden guns, and Westminster Abbey where they crown the kings of England and the Tower, where they cut thier heads off. But the best things in England are the tin canoes at Southsea.'

Andre Maurois, the French author, visiting Portsmouth in the 1920s

Salt

In the later 17th century, the salt production on Portsea Island was ranked second in the country. Although salt has always been an important local industry, with many pre Roman sites being known, and eleven salt works being mentioned in the Domesday Book, it was given a boost by the founding of the Great Salterns works in 1666. A local entreprenuer, Richard Alchorne, dug salt pans in approximately 100 acres of land that had been reclaimed at Gatcombe Haven.
Great Salterns and another large salt pan at Copnor supplied the Navy, providing refined salt that was more reliable at preserving meat by brining rather than dry-salting.

The Festival of Britain

To celebrate the Festival of Britain in 1951, the following events in Portsmouth were held: a Searchlight Tattoo at Fratton Park; a carnival procession; a pageant of physical training and sport at Alexandra Park; an aquatic gala at Hilsea Lido; a trade’s fair on Castle Field, an international youth camp and a children’s week on Castle Field.

Merton Road

 '... it was in a notoriously bad condition, full of holes in some places and in others a perfect pond. Those who drove through the road in carriages were put to great inconvenience and annoyance, for their wheels were no sooner out of one hole than they were into another. The road was highly dangerous.'

A description of Merton Road, Portsmouth, 1877

David Niven’s view of the Common

David Niven described Southsea Common in 1930 as, ‘flat, greasy, wet and windswept, with a dejected flock of dirty sheep morosely munching on its balding surface.’


Taken from D Niven, A Moon’s a Balloon, 1972.

A present from Durham

The Overseers’ and Churchwardens’ account book for Escomb parish in County Durham has the following entry for 4 September 1684: ‘Collected within ye Chappelry of Escombe ye sume of one shilling seven pence halfe peny towards ye rebuilding of ye great church at Portsmouth.'

This was for the rebuilding of St Thomas Church, now Portsmouth Cathedral, following damage inflicted during bombardment in the Civil War.

A turkish bath in Kings Terrace

There were popular Turkish baths in unlikely venue of Kings Terrace, Portsmouth between the years 1875 and 1936 when the premises were demolished.

Visit of the Emperor of Ethopia

On 14 October 1954, the HMS Gambia arrived in Portsmouth wearing the Imperial Standard of the Emperor of Ethiopia and carrying both the Emperor Haile Selassie and his son, His Imperial Highness, Prince Makonnen.

He was officially greeted by the Duke of Gloucester who was representing the Queen, with the welcome address being made by the Lord Mayor of Portsmouth. Part of this address read: ‘Your Imperial Majesty is no stranger to our City and we remember with joy the sojourn which your Majesty spent in Portsmouth during the war and shared with our citizens the dangers and trials of those days.’

The Emperor replied: ‘… It is also a moving moment for me to set foot on British soil in the City of Portsmouth where with you I shared the vicissitudes of war.’

Wartime books

In February 1943 a successful appeal was launched, by the Lord Mayor, to collect a quarter of a million books in 14 days. Of the 261,175 collected, 225,000 were good only for salvage, 24,000 were sent to the troops serving the World War II and 2,700 were allocated to local libraries which had lost their stock in the Blitz. All those sent to the troops had a slip inside them bearing the good wishes of the people of Portsmouth.

Piped water

The Farlington Waterworks Company and the Portsea Island Waterworks Company both began commercially piping water in Portsmouth during 1811. It was many decades however before piped water was found in the majority of the houses in Portsmouth.

Pirates

In 1265 pirates from Dover burnt Portsmouth. It was also raised to the ground by the French on at least four occasions during the Hundred Years’ War in the 1300s leading to the first fortifications being built.

An Arsenal

‘This great arsenal, the most considerable naval emporium and strongest fortress in England, is a seaport, borough and market town, in the Hundred and Division of Portsmouth, but having separate jurisdiction.’

Post Office Hampshire Trades’ Directory 1847

Victory Day Parade, 1946

Victory Day in Portsmouth would probably best be remembered by thousands for the early morning rush to Southsea Front, the mile long parade of the Services and the Civil Defence, the hurried trek homewards and the rain. 

The rush to see the Victory Parade overwhelmed the bus services… People in queues at the intermediate bus stops watched a procession of full buses pass and then decided to walk or return home. From the Clarence Pier to South Parade Pier, it was estimated that over 30,000 people assembled to give a cheer to men and women who represented almost every branch of war time activity. 

Soon after the Parade in which there were about 4,000 marching personnel, rain began to fall and the crowd dispersed.

City of Portsmouth Corporation Records, 1946-1955

Royal Hospital Linen League

The Royal Hospital Linen League was inaugurated by Miss Jane Read and a few friends in 1911. Between 1911 and 1948, when the Royal Portsmouth Hospital became part of the NHS, gifts of money and linen worth more than £10,000 were contributed to the care of patients.

The Matron addressing the annual meeting in 1948 gave the following tribute, ‘You have done a grand job. It has not been an easy task to undertake the work of supplying a hospital like the Royal with its linen and you have done well. You cannot realise how much it has meant to a Ward Sister to know that she could go to the Linen Cupboard and get just what she wanted for her patients’ needs.’

Leigh Park

In the latter stages of WWII, it became apparent that new overspill housing would be necessary for residents of Potsmouth due both to the growing population and those who has lost their homes in the Blitz. In October 1943 negotiations were started to buy Leigh Park House and adjoining land of 497 acres, situated in the nearby Borough of Havant. Subsequently another 1,174 acres were purchased and by 1947 a further 792 acres were also acquired. The first houses were built in 1947 with the families starting to move in during 1949. Most houses were completed by the 1960s although work continued until the 1970s.

There remains to this day the anomaly of residents paying rent to Portsmouth City Council while living within Havant Borough. Some of the wonderful parkland of the original estate is retained as Staunton County Park.

Originally planned as a modern day Utopia, the realities of large scale estate building, housing pressure and financial pressures meant that the original plans were altered beyond recognition. The earliest residents had to cope with deep mud instead of roads, no public transport (with few having cars), no schools, no local employment and the first shops not opening until 1952. However the quality of the housing remained higher than many residents had previous been used to, being spacious, having inside bathrooms with running hot water and set on large plots. Many residents used these to grow their own food, a luxury unheard of in inner city Portsmouth.

H G Wells

H G Wells, the pioneer of science fiction, spent his apprenticeship as a draper at Hyde's Emporium in King Street, Portsmouth, from 1881 to 1883. He did not enjoy the experience and finally, after several entreaties had fallen on deaf ears, walked the 17 miles to the Uppark estate, where his mother was employed, to ask to be released from his apprenticeship. He was allowed to and resumed his education.

It is interesting to note that a young doctor, Arthur Conan Doyle, set up his practice just across the road in 1882 so two of our most famous authors resided in the same road at the same time in Portsmouth.

Wine

By the fourteenth century the commercial port in Portsmouth was thriving. Common imports included wool, grain, wheat, woad, wax and iron, although the port's largest trade was in wine from France.

Southsea Common

As Southsea started to develop in the late 1700s, the Common was protected by its vicinity to Southsea Castle. The military were adamant that there should remain clear space around the castle which was granted through enclosure of the area in 1785. Development was limited to the north boundary of the enclosed area along a line which remains clear in the buildings facing the Common today.

At this time the Common was rough salt marsh and heathland. It was levelled in 1831 by convict labour.

Great Salterns

This area of land on the shore of Langstone Harbour was one of the first of many in Portsmouth to be reclaimed. The area now known as Great Salterns, originally was a huge tidal lake of approximately 1,200 acres, before being reclaimed as early as the 17th century to become a renowned salt manufactury.

Lack of reptiles

'The salubrity of the air around Portesmouth is evident from the lack of reptiles in the vicinity.'

The Portesmouth, Portsea and Gosport Guide 1799

A lighthouse in the Castle

The lighthouse in Southsea Castle was commissioned by the Admiralty in 1828. It was built on the western gun platform and rises 34 feet above its base at the top of the walls.

It is now in the ownership of Portsmouth City Council and still guides ships through the deep water channel into Portsmouth Harbour.

The Royal George Disaster

In August 1782 the Royal George, veteran of the Naval fleet, was anchored at Spithead to take on supplies before sailing in a mission to relieve Gibralter. She had approximately 1,200 people on board comprising her crew, their wives and children, local merchants and 100-200 'ladies from the Point'. On the morning of the 29 August she was heeled over too far, resulting in water rushing in through her gun ports, and she quickly sunk. Only 255 people were rescued including eleven women and one child.
This was a major national disaster. The majority of the bodies were washed up on the beach in Ryde, Isle of Wight, where they were buried in a mass grave on the shore. This site is now occupied by the streets and properties of Ryde Esplanade and The Strand.

A national appeal was established for the surviving widows and children, many of whom were from Portsmouth.