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.

Arthur Edward Cogswell

Cogswell was a local architect who, although not well known, left a strong mark on the appearance of Portsmouth lasting until this day.

He arrived in Portsmouth in the early 1870s and served an apprenticeship with a prominent local architect, George Rake, with whom he worked on the new goal in Kingston and St James' Hospital in Milton. Later he built a reputation of his own and was particularly respected by the Brickwood family who commissioned him to design numerous local pubs. He was also responsible for local shops, banks, churches, schools, cinemas, theatres and, in the early 1900s, the Carnegie Library in Fratton Road to which he gave his services for free. His style is very recognisable throughout the city.

A full set of his plans, giving huge and colourful detail, is available at the Portsmouth History Centre.

A Lively Lady

On 4 July 1968 Alec Rose, a green grocer, was cheered by hundreds of thousands in a triumphant reception on his return to Portsmouth Harbour. He had sailed his boat, the Lively Lady, single handedly round the world in a journey taking 354 days. The next day he was knighted by the Queen. He was 59.

Sea Bathing

'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'

A visitor Thomas Roscoe writing in 1830.