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