Marital Strife

Marital strife was commonplace in Portsmouth past and surprisingly people could not always hide behind social rank. George Huish, a gentleman and member of a prominent local family, was doubtless horrified when his wife told a magistrate in 1774 ‘that several times in the past week, her husband has kicked her and threatened to stick a knife into her’. In a town with a transient population cases of bigamy were not unknown although, in a time before divorce was generally possible, they appear to have been treated leniently by the courts. Portsmouth Record Office has a superb collection of early court records which have been indexed and transcribed: www.portsmouthrecordsoffice.co.uk

What a view...

‘From the top of Portsmouth-hill, where we soon arrived we had a view grander in its kind than perhaps any part of the globe can exhibit. Beneath our feet lay a large extent of marshy ground, which covered with water where the tides flow high, and ordered with innumerable islands and peninsulas. About a mile from the eye, this marsh is joined by the island of Portsea, distinguished by its peculiar fertility and the luxuriance of its woods among which the Town of Portsmouth appears to rise at the distance of five miles.’ Rev William Gilpin, 1774