Honorary Freemen of Portsmouth

Although it has deep roots, the granting of the Freedom of the City in Portsmouth is now reserved as a reward for gallantry or public service. It is now a purely honorary distinction and confers no special privileges. Among the people made Honorary Freemen of Portsmouth have been: • David Lloyd George (1853-1945) – Prime Minister • HRH the Prince of Wales (1894 – 1972) – First Freeman of the City. Known from 1937 as the Duke of Winsor • Field Marshal the Rt Hon Viscount Montgomery of Alamein (1887 – 1976) – Based in Portsmouth before and during WWII • The Rt Hon Sir Winston Churchill (1874 – 1965) – Prime Minister who took a great interest in the welfare of Portsmouth and its citizens. • Sir Alec Rose (1908 – 1991) – through his sailing activities brought fame and honour to his home city of Portsmouth • Earl Mountbatten on Burma (1900 – 1979) – Admiral of the Fleet who had close links with Portsmouth. • HRH The Prince of Wales (1948 - ) • The Rt Hon the Lord Callaghan of Cardiff – Prime Minister who was educated in Portsmouth • HRH The Princess of Wales (1961-1997)

Demise of an ancient trade

‘Will there be any Portsea waterman left in two year’s time? It would be unsafe to prophesy, but the figures given at the meeting of the Ferry Commissioners on Tuesday at Gosport show unmistakeably how great a change has taken place in the methods of locomotion to the ships and across the harbour. There used to be 1,100 licenses; now there are only 75, and these have a difficulty in making both ends meet.’ It appears however, that the watermen did not help themselves. The article continues: ‘While the public has a good deal of sympathy with the survivors of a moribund calling, it must be admitted that the men are given considerable latitude in being permitted to importune excursionists who visit the Hard.’ The trade of waterman, once so essential and flourishing, soon was gone completely. Extracts taken from the Portsmouth Times, 9 June 1910.

The real effects of poor sanitation

‘I call your attention to a sink that is placed at the end of Green Lane, Somers Town, near Trafalgar College, and my premises. The sink was made during the time I was at sea, which prevented my objecting to it, and has been very offensive. My late neighbour, Commander Frankling, lost five daughters and his wife while living in the cottage. I lost a son some time back and a few weeks since a daughter from fever.’ S P Pritchard, Southend, Green Lane writing to the Report to the General Board of Health on the sewage, drainage and water supply of Portsmouth, 1850. Green Lane was one of the more respectable areas of Portsmouth at this time.

Presenting the Keys of the Fortress

This unusual ceremony took place at the Landport Gate when a Sovereign visited Portsmouth. The Gate was closed and the Keys, to Landport and Quay Gates, both highly decorated and each over a pound in weight, were presented to the Sovereign. They would then be returned to the Garrison commander and a Royal Command given to ‘throw open the gates of His Majesty’s Fortress that the King may enter’. This ceremony occurred for the last time on 8 June 1959 when the current Queen came to re-open the Portsmouth Guildhall.

Striking Shipwrights

The Dockyardmen of Portsmouth in the 1800s developed a unique workplace culture. Work progressed at a measured pace, with an emphasis on quality rather than speed, leading to some criticism for idleness. Change was accepted only slowly and sometimes not at all. For example, in 1839 the Admiralty decided to make up for working time lost at musters by adding 15 minutes to the working day. When introduced, all work just stopped, the Master Shipwright was moved to intervene and the Admiralty quietly backed down.

The Cage

A fearsome method of punishment handed to miscreants by the local courts was ‘The Cage’ located in St George’s Square. This measured only six foot square and transgressors were incarcerated in full public view.

Swimming Club

Portsmouth Swimming Club was established in 1875 and in its heyday had over 1,500 members who swam from bathing stages, segregated for men and women, by Clarence Pier.

Portsmouth Brickworks

Portsea Island is covered in brickearth and the majority of local houses were built from this clay, being usually dug, clamped and fired on or near the construction site. By the interwar years a large operation, Portsmouth Brickworks, had been established on the present site of the Burrfields Road industrial estate.

Peculiar Constitutions

The inhabitants of Portsmouth ‘… are badly supplied with water, having none but what partakes of a saline quality; and even this is so scarce that were it not for showers of rain, which is most industriously catched by everyone, people could not possibly subsist. As it is, if their constitutions were not of a very peculiar make, they would long before now have attempted a remedy for so great an evil; …’ Taken from The Borough being a faithfull tho’ humerous account of one of the strongest garrisons and seaport towns in GB published in 1748.

A Civil War Governor

‘… on account of his private vices of drunkenness, cruelty and rapacity, and of his political timidity and treachery, scarcely anyone was more unworthy to be trusted with any important matters for counsel or execution’. Edward Hyde, later the Earl of Clarendon, describing Col George Goring, Governor of Portsmouth during the Civil War.

The King’s Rooms

There is now no trace of an extraordinary building that stood on the site now occupied by Clarence Pier. Built largely in 1824/5, and named after a visit by the Duke of Clarence who later became William IV, this building had aspirations to have an aura of a London Club. It included an assembly room complete with chandeliers, reading and card rooms and a long colonnade that overlooked the sea. Its enterprising owner, Mr Hollingsworth, installed solid marble warm vapour baths, one for each sex, which were equipped with steam pumps capable of raising 40 gallons of water per minute from the sea. Balls were held here which ‘attracted the greatest assemblages of rank and fashion ever known in the neighbourhood’. It was at the King's Rooms in 1845 that a Capt Seaton quarrelled with Lieut Hawley leading to the reputedly last duel to be fought in this country.

Domus Dei

The first hospital in Portsmouth, Domus Dei or the Hospital of St Nicholas, was founded in 1212 by Peter de Rupibus, Bishop of Winchester (who also founded St Thomas' Hospital in London). It continued to give sanctuary to both pilgrims and the poor until 1540 when it was closed by Henry VIII's reformation of the monasteries. It covered much of Governor's Green with the Garrison Church now being the only visible reminder. A forthcoming Time Team programme is based on this interesting piece of Portsmouth's history.

Two Police Forces

Since modern policing began, there have always been two forces in Portsmouth. The formation of the Dockyard police began in the 1770s; a standing force was formed in 1834 and in 1860 the Admiralty asked the Metropolitan Police to take over guarding the Yard. This force mainly existed to deter unwanted people from entering and attempt to stop the widespread, endemic pilfering. This was always separate from the City of Portsmouth police force who patrolled the streets of the town.

The Lady with the Lamp

In 1856, 2500 soldiers, sailors and Marines who had fought in the Crimean War were given a sumptuous banquet in a specially erected and beautifully decorated pavilion on Governor's Green in Portsmouth. The highlight was masses of red, white and blue flowers sent by Florence Nightingale.

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.

A visit by Dickens

In 1838 when Charles Dickens was undertaking research for Nicholas Nickleby, he visited Portsmouth. Of this visit, it was said: ‘He succeeded in finding suitable lodging for Vincent Crummles at Balph the pilots, in St Thomas’s Street for Miss Snevellicci at a tailor’s in Lombard Street; while Nickleby and his companion were quartered at a tobacconist’s on the Common Hard, which he describes as a ‘dirty street leading down to the dockyard’. Dickens was born in Portsmouth in 1812 and was a returning visitor throughout his life.

Bawdy Houses

One of the consequences of Portsmouth being a Naval and garrison town has been the preponderance of cases coming before the courts concerning unruliness. As early as 1655 the Justices received a petition from 23 local notables complaining about a Joan Wilkes running a bawdy house on the Point and who was ‘an uncivil and ungodly woman, who curses and swears and is great disturber to her neighbours’.

A statue for a Queen

In 1903, to reflect public sentiment, the Mayor of Portsmouth started a fund to place a statue of Queen Victoria within the town. He quickly raised £1,700, the statue was created by Alfred Drury ARA and was placed with pageantry in Town Hall Square. Rather unusual attendees at this event were sailors from an American Fleet which had arrived the previous day at Spithead. The statue remains today in Guildhall Square although in a slightly different location.

Horse drawn trams

Portsmouth had extensive network of horse drawn trams inaugurated in 1865. These ran until 1903 by which time the whole network had become electrified.

Migration to Canada

In 1868 sweeping cuts were made to the Dockyard workforce in Portsmouth. Great suffering was seen as a result with several hundred families giving up on the town and migrating to Canada. The 1867 Reform Act had empowered Dockyardmen with the vote. The subsequent election in 1868 was used to register the strong local discontent with the ruling Liberal Government who had inflicted such pain, which remain etched on the memory of a whole generation.