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.