History of Portsmouth, It’s Famous People and Events
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Contents
My Introduction to History of Portsmouth, It’s Famous People and Events
- Mrs Duncan – The Last Woman to be Tried as a Witch 1944
- Sir Francis Walsingham – Spymaster to Queen Elizabeth 1
- History of The Hovercraft - Portsmouth 1955
- Sir Alec Rose ( 13th July 1908 – 11th January 1991 ) Famous Sailor
- Peter Sellers ( 8th September 1925 – 24th. July 1980 ) Famous Actor
- Samuel Pepys ( 23rd February 1633 – 26th May 1703 ) Famous Diarist
- The longitude's Marine Chronometer by John Harrison ( 24 March 1693 – 24 March 1776 )
- Captain Cook – His Travels and Life ( 1728 – 1779 )
- The First Fleet – Australia 1787 – A View from Portsmouth, England
- Jonas Hanway ( 1712-1786 ) Pioneer of Umbrella
- Admiral Lord Horatio Nelson ( 1758-1805 )
- Battle of Trafalgar – 1805
- Battle of Waterloo - 1815
- HMS Victory 1759, The Mary Rose 1509, and HMS Warrior 1859 - History
- Charles Dickens ( 1812 – 1870 ) Famous Novelist
- Sir Arthur Conan Doyle ( 1859-1930 ) Famous Novelist
- Rudyard Kipling ( 1865-1936 ) Famous Novelist
- Herbert George Wells (1866 – 1946), known as H.G. Wells
- Isambard Kingdom Brunel ( 1806-1859 ) Famous Engineer
- Foundation of the Badminton Association
- Marc Bolan - T Rex his last UK Gig
- HMS Pinafore by Gilbert and Sullivan
- Wymering Manor House – The Most Haunted House in England
- George Villiers 1st duke of Buckingham, English courtier and royal favourite.
- Admiral Lord George Anson ( 1697 – 1762 )
- John Pounds ( 1766-1839 ) Famous Teacher
- Jeremiah Chubb ( 1793-1860 ) and Charles Chubb (1779-1846) Famous Locksmith
- George Meredith ( 1828-1909 ) Famous Novelist
- George Vicat Cole ( 1833-1893 ) Famous Artist
- Lionel William Wylie ( 1851-1931 ) Famous Artist
- Neville Shute ( 1899-1960 ) Famous Artist
- Sir Walter Besant ( 14-08-1836 to 9-06-1901 ) Famous Novelist
- Arnold Schwarzenegger (b 1947) Actor
- Henry Ayers (1821-1897) Famous Australian
- Paul Jones (b 1942) Pop Singer,
- Brian Howe (born 22nd July 1953) Pop Singer
- Francis Austen (1774 – 1865) Brother to Jane Austen
- Callaghan of Cardiff ex. British Prime Minister (1912-2005)
- Portsmouth Football Club ( Pompey )
- Lionel "Buster" Crabb OBE, GM (28 January 1909 – presumed dead 19 April 1956)
- Ghosts of Royal Naval Hospital Haslar
- Sir Winston Churchill – War Leader, Artist and Writer
- Sir Walter Raleigh 1552 to 1618 – British Icon
- Dir. John Dee an English 16th. Century Alchemist and Ghost Hunter
- Famous English and British Battles and Wars 59 AD to Present
- 10 Turning Points that could have lost Great Britain WW2
- Thomas Telford a Victorian Engineer 1757 to 1834
Introduction to History of Portsmouth, its Famous People and Events
I was born in Portsmouth, Hampshire, England in 1961 (Exactly a year to the day after my brother was born).
The history of Portsmouth is entwined with the history of Her Majesty's Naval Base Portsmouth which extends almost two thousand years. The time when the Romans first recognized its strategic significance and built the fort "Portus Adurni", and now the home to 80% of the Royal Navy's surface fleet.
As so many Famous events and People were Born, Lived and worked in Portsmouth over the centuries I thought it would be a good idea to tell its story and some of the famous people's history. I shall be adding to this article and the many other articles that I have written with updates and Pictures - so please bookmark my site and return often.
Mrs Duncan – The Last Woman to be tried as a Witch - Portsmouth
The last person to be tried as a witch was a Mrs Helen Duncan, a Scotswoman who travelled the country holding séances, was one of Britain's best-known mediums, reputedly numbering Winston Churchill and George VI among her clients, when she was arrested in January 1944 by two naval officers at a séance in Portsmouth. The military authorities, secretly preparing for the D-day landings and then in a heightened state of paranoia, were alarmed by reports that she had disclosed - allegedly via contacts with the spirit world - the sinking of two British battleships long before they became public. The most serious disclosure came when she told the parents of a missing sailor that his ship, HMS Barham, had sunk. It was true, but news of the tragedy had been suppressed to preserve morale.
Desperate to silence the apparent leak of state secrets, the authorities charged Mrs Duncan with conspiracy, fraud, and with witchcraft under an act dating back to 1735 - the first such charge in over a century. At the trial, only the "black magic" allegations stuck, and she was jailed for nine months at Holloway women's prison in north London. Churchill, then prime minister, visited her in prison and denounced her conviction as "tomfoolery". In 1951, he repealed the 200-year-old act, but her conviction stood.
Sir Francis Walsingham – Spymaster to Queen Elizabeth 1 - Portsmouth
Sir Francis Walsingham was one of England's greatest icons and is recognised worldwide as the greatest Spymaster of the 16th Century. I thought it would be interesting to write the story of this famous icon from his birth in 1532.
Francis Walsingham was born at the Walsingham family seat, Scadbury Park near Chislehurst, Kent to William Walsingham and Joyce Denny. His father died the following year, and later, his mother married Sir John Carey a relative by marriage of Queen Anne Boleyn.
On July 27th 1588 this letter was sent to Sir Francis Wasingham in reply concerning the Spanish Armada’s possible attack on Portsmouth.
“Your Honour's letter of the 25th of this present I received this last night at 12 of the clock, being then within 4 miles of Calais, and according to your Honour's commandment I have dealt with Mr Borough who is most ready to obey your Honour's commandment and will, I dare undertake, most faithfully to perform it. The long staying to the westwards of the King of Spain's army, which might have been here 4 days past if they had been disposed to have come so low, doth confirm the opinion which I have held that their intention is to surprise Portsmouth and to possess the Isle of Wight; for if that were had, in my poor conceit, it were the only degree to bring to pass their desires. And truly, I have ever loved and honour my Lord Admiral: but now, in respect of the wise and honourable carriage of himself in preventing of the army, that they gain not that place which, I do assure myself, is the only thing that they hunger for, doth double my service towards him; and under your Honour's correction, speaking for my Lord with his army to put it to a journey for that were the hazarding of all. Sir, these huge ships that are in the Spanish army shall have but a bad place to rest in, if they come so low to the eastward of Portsmouth.”
Walsingham was Principal Secretary to Elizabeth 1st of England from 1573 till 1590, and is popularly remembered as her “Spymaster”. Walsingham is frequently cited as one of the earliest practitioners of modern intelligence methods both for espionage and for domestic security. He oversaw operations which penetrated the heart of Spanish military preparation, gathered intelligence from across Europe, and disrupted a range of plots against the queen, securing the execution of Mary Queen of Scots.
Walsingham studied at Kings College, Cambridge from 1548 with many Protestants but as an undergraduate of high social status he did not sit for a degree. In 1550, he travelled abroad, returning two years later to enrol at Gray's Inn. Upon the death of Edward VI and accession of Catholic Queen Mary, he fled to continue his studies as a law student at the University of Padua. Between April 1556 and November 1558, he visited Switzerland and cultivated contacts among the leading Protestant statesmen on the continent.
When Elizabeth I ascended to the throne in 1558, Walsingham returned to England and, through the support of Sir William Cecil, was elected to the House of Commons for Banbury in 1559 and then Lyme Regis in 1563.
After his return, Walsingham was appointed joint principal secretary ("of state": the phrase was not used at this time in England) with Sir Thomas Smith, succeeding Sir William Cecil. Smith retired unexpectedly in 1576, leaving Walsingham in sole charge.
Elizabeth called him her "Moor", perhaps due to his complexion or a preference for sombre clothes. She put up with his blunt, often unwelcome, advice because she valued his competence and industry, his passion for her security, and his grasp of foreign affairs.
On 1 December 1577, Walsingham received a knighthood. He spent the years between 1574 and 1578 consolidating his control of the routine business of the English state, foreign and domestic. This included the substantial rebuilding of Dover Harbour and the coordination of support for Martin Frobisher's attempts to discover the North West passage and exploit the mineral resources of Labrador. Walsingham was among the foremost promoters of the career of Sir Francis Drake and was a major shareholder in his 1578–1581 circumnavigation of the world. Walsingham's participation in this venture was calculated to promote the Protestant interest by provoking the Spanish and demonstrating the vulnerability of their Pacific possessions.
He was sent on special embassies to the Netherlands in 1578, and again in 1581 to the French Court, suggesting both the Queen's high confidence in his abilities, and also that she knew how to exploit his standing as a committed Protestant statesman to threaten the Catholic powers.
Between 1578 and 1581, Walsingham was at the forefront of debate on the attempt by a group at court to encourage the Queen to marry the Duke of Anjou, heir to the French throne. Walsingham passionately opposed the marriage, perhaps to the point of encouraging public opposition. Walsingham canvassed the variety of consequences of a Catholic French consort of a Queen now past the age of childbearing, and with no clear successor. He believed that it would serve England better to seek a military alliance with France against Spanish interests, and the debates in council raged around the viability of an independent England against the increasing threat posed by Spain, and by the forces of international Catholicism which were undermining the unity of the French state.
Walsingham advocated direct English intervention in the Low Countries, and eventually, after the deaths of both Anjou and William of Orange in 1584, English military intervention was agreed at the Treaty of Nonesuch in 1585.
Espionage
In the realm of counter-espionage, Walsingham was behind the discovery of the Throckmorton and Babington Plots to overthrow Elizabeth I, return England to Catholicism and place Mary, Queen of Scots, on the throne.
In November 1583, after months of surveillance, Walsingham had Throckmorton arrested. He extracted, under torture, Throckmorton's confession — an admission that he had plotted against Elizabeth with the Spanish ambassador, Bernardino de Mendoza and others. The plot, which may not have been known to Mary, called for a two-pronged invasion of England and Scotland along with a domestic uprising. Throckmorton was executed in 1584, and Mendoza was expelled from England.
Although Mary was not prosecuted, Walsingham became so concerned about her influence that he was determined to hold her responsible for any further conspiracies.
Babington's Plot was the result of that determination. Walsingham drew deeply on his spies among the English Catholic community, and abroad, on whose divisions he was adept at playing. The uncover of the Babington plot, which is unusually well documented, is a compelling piece of counter-espionage, and stretched the policing resources of the Elizabethan state to the limits, with Walsingham's private secretaries carrying out surveillance in person. This led to Mary's execution in 1587, for which Walsingham had worked since before his advent to power. He was an active participant at her trial. He briefly experienced his share of the Queen's displeasure after the execution of Mary, which the queen claimed not to have sanctioned, due to Elizabeth's desire to distance herself from this action.
Prior to the attack of the Spanish Armada, he received a large number of dispatches from his agents from mercantile communities and foreign courts. Walsingham's recruitment of Anthony Standen in particular represented an intelligence triumph, and Standen's dispatches were deeply revealing. However the close security enforced by Philip II meant that Walsingham remained in the dark about the Spanish strategy and the planned destination of the Armada. This, plus his naturally bold spirit, lay behind his encouragement of the more aggressive strategies advocated by Drake in particular. The Cadiz raid in 1587 wrought havoc on Spanish logistics, and Walsingham would have repeated this the following year if more cautious counsels had not prevailed.
In foreign intelligence, the full range of Walsingham's network of "intelligencers" (of news as well as secrets) may never be known, but it was substantial. While foreign intelligence was part of the principal secretary's duties, Walsingham brought to it flair and ambition, and large sums of his own money. He also cast his net more widely than others had done hitherto, exploiting the insight into Spanish policy offered at the Italian courts; cultivating contacts in Constantinople and Aleppo, building complex connections with the Catholic exiles.
Among his minor spies may have been the playwright Christopher Marlowe, who seems to have been one of a stream of false converts whom Walsingham planted in foreign seminaries for gathering intelligence and insinuating counter-intelligence (citation needed). A more central figure was the cryptographer Thomas Phelippes, expert in deciphering letters, creating false handwriting and breaking and repairing seals without detection.
Walsingham was one of the small coterie who directed the Elizabethan state, overseeing foreign, domestic and religious policy. He worked to bring Scotland and England together. Overall, his foreign policy demonstrated a new understanding of the role of England as a maritime and Protestant power in an increasingly global economy. He was an innovator in exploration, colonization and the use of England's potential maritime power. He is also a convincing prototype of the modern bureaucrat.
Francis Walsingham died on 6 April 1590, leaving great debts, in part arising from his having underwritten the debts of his son-in-law and colleague, Sir Phillip Sidney. But the true state of his finances is undocumented and may have been less dismal than regularly alleged, and he pursued the Sidney estate for recompense, and had carried out major land transactions in his later years.
History of the Hovercraft - Portsmouth 1955
I thought it would be a good idea to tell the story of the invention of the Hovercraft in 1955.
The idea of using an air-cushion as a means or aid to acceleration and reduction in (hydrodynamic) drag was first explored by Sir John Thornycroft, a British engineer, who, in the 1870's built some experimental models on the basis of an air cushion system that would reduce the drag of water on boats and ships.
In 1877 he successfully patented the idea and his theory was that if a ship's hull was given a concave bottom, which could be filled - and replenished - with air, it would create significant additional lift. And so the air cushion effect was born.
Decades later scientists and inventors were still busy with his ideas but without any practical applications. With the coming of the airplane however, it was noticed that additional lift was obtained if the plane flew closer to land or water, creating a "funnel effect", a cushion of air.
The air lift that this funnel effect created differed with the type of wing and its height above ground. The effect was strongest if this height was between one half and one third of the (average) front-to-rear breadth of the wing. Also known as "chord".
The next two decades saw little interest in air cushion development.
The successful use of the air cushion effect was not lost on engineers after World War 2 was over and in the early 1950's British, American and Swiss engineers started to rethink Sir John Thorneycroft’s problem.
The Englishman Christopher Cockerell, commonly seen as the father of the hovercraft, being retired from the army, settled into boat building where he soon got captivated by Thorneycroft’s problem of reducing the hydrodynamic drag on the hull of a boat by using some kind of air cushion.
His theory was that, instead of using the plenum chamber - an empty box with an open bottom as Thornycroft had devised - air was instead pumped into a narrow tunnel circumnavigating the entire bottom, it would flow towards the centre and form a more effective air cushion. This peripheral jet would cause the air to build up enough pressure to equal the weight of the craft and, as it would have nowhere to go, the pressure would force the craft up, clearing it off the ground altogether.
Cockerell successfully tested his theory and filed his first patent in 1955. The year after he formed a company called Hovercraft Ltd. He further envisioned and partially worked out other problems of the hovercraft principle that still have to be fully exploited by modern hovercraft builders. One of these was to re-use the air for greater overall efficiency.
Thinking that his air cushion vehicles would be eminently suitable as amphibious craft he approached the British Ministry of Supply, the government's defence equipment procurement authority with his findings. Soon after, in 1956, the air cushion vehicle was classified as "secret" and a construction contract was placed with a British aircraft and seaplane manufacturer. The result was the SR.N1 in 1959.
The first SR.N1 weighed four tons and could carry three men. Its maximum speed was 25 knots (1 knot = 1.15 miles or 1.85 kilometres per hour) on calm water. It had a 6-inch (15 cm) rubberized skirt to make it easier to contain the air cushion on uneven ground.
Significant wear and tear of the skirt through friction with the water at high speeds made it necessary to use more durable material and a rubber and plastic mixture was developed by 1963. The length of the skirt had also been extended to about 4 feet (1.2 m).
Early interest in hovercraft enjoyed a peak in the early 1960's as everyone jumped to take advantage of this amazing vehicle. However, by the end of the decade only the British had produced a range of feasible and practical craft.
The problems inherent of the air cushion vehicle, such as Cockerell and others had foreseen, regarding steering control, noise, salt and skirt erosion, caused many countries to abandon their hovercraft development programs in favour of other, more established multi-function vehicles or to use different vehicles specialised in each terrain or function.
Since the 1970's however, and especially over the last decade, a renewed interest in the hovercraft as (passenger) transport, military transport and weapons carrier and exploratory vehicle has taken ground, solving many of these problems in their development.
Technology in general made large steps forward during the past twenty-five years, enabling organisations and governments, as well as many enthusiasts at Hovercraft Clubs to enjoy the hovercraft vehicle in its many forms including the very popular Remote Control model size hovercraft!.
As far as hovercraft and their spinoff technology are concerned the future looks ever brighter.
Sir Alec Rose (13 July 1908 - 11 January 1991) Famous Sailor - Portsmouth
Alec Rose was born in Canterbury. During World War II he served in the British Navy as a diesel mechanic on a convoy escort, the HMS Leith. In 1964, Rose participated in the second single-handed transatlantic race, placing fourth across the line in his 36 foot cutter Lively Lady, originally built of paduak by Mar. Cambridge, the previous owner, in Calcutta.
Rose then modified the boat, including the addition of a mizzenmast, to sail single-handed around the world. He attempted to start this journey at approximately the same time as Francis Chichester sailing Gypsy Moth IV in 1966, but a series of misfortunes delayed Rose's departure until the following year. The journey was closely followed by the British and international press, and culminated in his successful return in Portsmouth on July 4, 1968, 354 days later, to cheering crowds of hundreds of thousands. The following day he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II, and nine days later he turned 60 years old. His voyages are detailed in his book "My Lively Lady."
On 17 December 1967, the then Australian Prime Minister, Harold Holt, drove with some family members to Port Phillip Heads, south of Melbourne, to view Rose complete this leg of his voyage. Holt then went for a swim at nearby Cheviot Beach, but the surf was rough, he disappeared from view, and was presumed to have drowned.
Peter Sellers (8th September 1925 – 24th. July 1980) Famous Actor - Portsmouth
The Famous international Comic Actor was born at 96 Castle Road in Southsea, Portsmouth in 1925, whose full name was Richard Henry which his parents always called him Peter after his elder stillborn brother
Samuel Pepys FRS, MP, JP, 23rd February 1633 – 26th May 1703)- Portsmouth
Samuel Pepys the famous diarist worked at the Navy board and as such his job took him to Portsmouth Dockyard. The following is taken from his diary: “In 1661 Samuel Pepys made his first visit to Portsmouth Dockyard and declared himself, ‘much pleased with the sight of the place’. Now, Samuel Pepys returns exactly 350 years after he started work for the Royal Navy." He was also given the freedom of the City of Portsmouth on 30th April 1662 he received the freedom of Portsmouth.
The longitude's Marine Chronometer by John Harrison (24 March 1693 – 24 March 1776)- Portsmouth
as part of the competition to find a chronometer for use at sea John Harrison visited and stayed in Portsmouth on many occasions.
John Harrison (24 March 1693 – 24 March 1776) was a self-educated English Clockmaker and Yorkshire Carpenter who invented the marine chronometer, a long-sought device in solving the problem of establishing the East-West position or Longitude of a ship at sea, thus revolutionising and extending the possibility of safe long distance sea travel in the Age of Sail. The problem was considered so intractable that the British Parliament offered a prize of £20,000 (comparable to £2.87million / €3.65million / $4.72million in modern currency) for the solution.
John Harrison was born in Foulby near Wakefield in West Yorkshire the first of five children in his family. His father worked as a carpenter at the nearby Nostell Priory estate. The house where he was born bears a blue plaque.
Around 1700, the family moved to the North Lincolnshire village of Barrow upon Humber. Following his father's trade as a carpenter, Harrison built and repaired clocks in his spare time. Legend has it that at the age of six while in bed with smallpox he was given a watch to amuse himself, spending hours listening to it and studying its moving parts.
In 1730 Harrison created a description and drawings for a proposed marine clock to compete for the
Longitude Prize and went to London seeking financial assistance. He presented his ideas to Edmond Halley, the Astronomer Royal. Halley referred him to George Graham the country's foremost clockmaker. He must have been impressed by Harrison, for Graham personally loaned Harrison money to build a model of his marine clock.
It took Harrison five years to build Harrison Number One or H1. He demonstrated it to members of the Royal Society who spoke on his behalf to the Board of Longitude. The clock was the first proposal that the Board considered to be worthy of a sea trial. In 1736, Harrison sailed to Lisbon on HMS Centurion and returned on HMS Oxford. On their return, both the captain and the sailing master of the Orford praised the design. The master noted that his own calculations had placed the ship sixty miles east of its true landfall which had been correctly predicted by Harrison using H1.
This was not the transatlantic voyage demanded by the Board of Longitude, but the Board was impressed enough to grant Harrison £500 for further development. Harrison moved on to develop H2, a more compact and rugged version. In 1741, after three years of building and two of on-land testing, H2 was ready, but by then Britain was at war with Spain in the War of Austrian succession and the mechanism was deemed too important to risk falling into Spanish hands. In any event, Harrison suddenly abandoned all work on this second machine when he discovered a serious design flaw in the concept of the bar balances. He was granted another £500 by the Board while waiting for the war to end, which he used to work on H3. Harrison spent seventeen years working on this third 'sea clock' but despite every effort it seems not to have performed exactly as he would have wished. Despite this, it had proved a very valuable experiment. Certainly in this machine Harrison left the world two enduring legacies — the bimetallic strip and the caged roller bearing.
After steadfastly pursuing various methods during thirty years of experimentation, Harrison moved to London in the late 1750's where to his surprise he found that some of the watches made by Graham's successor Thomas Mudge kept time just as accurately as his huge sea clocks. Harrison then realized that a mere watch after all could be made accurate enough for the task and was a far more practical proposition for use as a marine timekeeper. He proceeded to redesign the concept of the watch as a timekeeping device, basing his design on sound scientific principles.
He had already in the early 1750's designed a precision watch for his own personal use, which was made for him by the watchmaker John Jeffery’s C. 1752 - 53. This watch incorporated a novel frictional rest escapement and was also probably the first to have both temperature compensation and a going fusee, enabling the watch to continue running whilst being wound. These features led to the very successful performance of this "Jeffery’s" watch and therefore Harrison incorporated them into the design of two new timekeepers which he proposed to build. These were in the form of a large watch and another of a smaller size but of similar pattern. However only the larger No. 1 (or "H4" as it sometimes called) watch appears ever to have been finished. (See the reference to "H6" below) Aided by some of London's finest workmen, he proceeded to design and make the world's first successful marine timekeeper that for the first time, allowed a navigator to accurately assess his ship's position in Longitude. Importantly, Harrison showed everyone that it could be done. This was to be Harrison's masterpiece — an instrument of beauty, resembling an oversized pocket watch from the period. It is engraved with Harrison's signature, marked Number 1 and dated 1759.
This first marine watch (or "Sea watch" as Harrison called it) is a 5.2" diameter watch in silver pair cases. The movement has a novel type of escapement which can be classed as a frictional rest type, and superficially resembles the verge escapement with which it is often incorrectly associated. The pallets of this escapement are both made of diamond, a considerable feat of manufacture at the time. The balance spring is a flat spiral but for technical reasons the balance itself was made much larger than in a conventional watch of the period. The movement also has centre seconds motion with a sweep seconds hand. The Third Wheel is equipped with internal teeth and has an elaborate bridge similar to the balance cocks of the period. It runs at 5 beats (ticks) per second, and is equipped with a tiny remontoire. A balance-brake stops the watch half an hour before it is completely run down, in order that the remontoire does not run down also. Temperature compensation is in the form of a 'compensation curb' (or 'Thermometer Kirb' as Harrison put it). This takes the form of a bimetallic strip mounted on the regulator sector-rack, and carrying the curb pins at the free end. During development of No.1, Harrison abandoned the regulator, but left the regulator disc in place for æsthetic reasons, and the compensation.
H4 took six years to construct and Harrison, by then 68 years old, sent it on its transatlantic trial in the care of his son, William, in 1761. When HMS Deptford reached Jamaica the watch was 5 seconds slow, corresponding to an error in longitude of 1.25 minutes, or approximately one nautical mile. When the ship returned, Harrison waited for the £20,000 prize but the Board believed the accuracy was just luck and demanded another trial. The Harrisons were outraged and demanded their prize, a matter that eventually worked its way to Parliament, which offered £5,000 for the design. The Harrisons refused but were eventually obliged to make another trip to the Caribbean city of Bridgetown on the island of Barbados to settle the matter.
At the time of the trial, another method for measuring longitude was ready for testing: the Method of Lunar Distances. The moon moves fast enough, some twelve degrees a day, to easily measure the movement from day to day. By comparing the angle between the moon and the sun for the day one left for Britain, the "proper position" (how it would appear in Greenwich, England at that specific time) of the moon could be calculated. By comparing this with the angle of the moon over the horizon, the longitude could be calculated.
During Harrison's second trial of "H4" the Reverend Neville Maskelyne was asked to accompany HMS Tarter and test the Lunar Distances system. Once again "H4" proved almost astonishingly accurate, keeping time to within 39 seconds, corresponding to an error in the longitude of Bridgetown of less than 10 miles (16km). Maskelyne's measures were also fairly good, at 30 miles (48 km), but required considerable work and calculation in order to use. At a meeting of the Board in 1765 the results were presented, and once again they could not believe it was not just luck. Once again the matter reached Parliament, which offered £10,000 in advance and the other half once he turned over the design to other watchmakers to duplicate. In the meantime H4 would have to be turned over to the Astronomer Royal for long-term on-land testing.
Harrison began working on his H5 while the H4 testing was conducted, with H4 being effectively held hostage by the Board. After three years he had had enough; Harrison felt "extremely ill used by the gentlemen who I might have expected better treatment from" and decided to enlist the aid of King George III. He obtained an audience by the King, who was extremely annoyed with the Board. King George tested H5 himself at the palace and after ten weeks of daily observations between May and July in 1772, found it to be accurate to within one third of one second per day. King George then advised Harrison to petition Parliament for the full prize after threatening to appear in person to dress them down. In 1773, when he was 80 years old, Harrison received a monetary award in the amount of £8,750 from Parliament for his achievements, but he never received the official award (which was never awarded to anyone). He was to survive for just three more years.
In total, Harrison received £23,065 for his work on chronometers. He received £4,315 in increments from the Board of Longitude for his work, £10,000 as an interim payment for H4 in 1765 and £8,750 from Parliament in 1773. This gave him a reasonable income for most of his life (equivalent to roughly £45,000 per year in 2007, though all his costs, such as materials and subcontracting work to other horologists, had to come out of this). He became the equivalent of a multi-millionaire (in today's terms) in the final decade of his life.
James Cook used K1, a copy of H4, on his second and third voyages, having used the lunar distance method on his first voyage. K1 was made by Larcum Kendall, who had been apprenticed to John Jeffrey’s. Cook's log is full of praise for the watch and the charts of the southern Pacific Ocean John Jeffrey's made with its use were remarkably accurate. K2 was on HMS Bounty was recovered from Pitcairn Island, and then passed through several hands before reaching the National Maritime Museum in London.
Harrison died on his eighty-third birthday and is buried in the graveyard of St. John's Church, Hampstead along with his second wife Elizabeth and their son William. His tomb was restored in 1879 by the Worshipful Company of Clockmaker's even though Harrison had never been a member of the Company.
Harrison's last home was in Red Lion Square in London, now a short walk from the Holborn Underground Station. There is a plaque dedicated to Harrison on the wall of Summit House in the south side of the square. A memorial tablet to Harrison was unveiled in Westminster Abbey on 24 March 2006 finally recognising him as a worthy companion to his friend George Graham and Thomas Tompion, "The Father of English Watchmaking", who are both buried in the Abbey. The memorial shows a meridian line (line of constant longitude) in two metals to highlight Harrison's most widespread invention, the bimetallic strip thermometer. The strip is engraved with its own longitude of 0 degrees, 7 minutes and 35 seconds west.
The Corpus Christie Clock in Cambridge, unveiled in 2008, is a homage to Harrison's work. Harrison's grasshopper escapement — sculpted to resemble a grasshopper — is the clock's defining feature.
Captain James Cook took the first Chronometer on his voyage of discovery which forced the British government to give his reward. Though the British Parliament rewarded John Harrison for his marine chronometer in 1773, his chronometers were not to become standard such as those by Thomas Earnshaw, suitable for general nautical use by the end of the 18th century. However, they remained very expensive and the lunar distance method continued to be used for some decades.
Captain Cook – His Travels and Life ( 1728 – 1779 ) - Portsmouth
I thought it would be of interest to write this article about one of England's greatest explorer’s scientist - Captain Cook and his explorations and discoveries.
James Cook was born on 27th October 1728 at Marton in Yorkshire. A self-educated son of a farm labourer, he first went to sea at the age of 19, working the East Coast coal trade.
At 27 he enlisted in the Royal Navy and soon became boatswain on the 60-gun ship Eagle. Four years later he surveyed the St Lawrence River, Newfoundland, in preparation for the capture of Quebec, and for three summers he conducted further surveys of the St Lawrence and the Nova Scotia and Newfoundland coasts.
In 1768, Cook began the first of the three great Pacific voyages which would see him chart the whole ocean, from New Zealand to the Arctic, so accurately that his charts can still be used today. Cook spent over eight and a half years charting
previously unknown islands.
Cook's ship for his first Pacific voyage was H.M. Bark Endeavour. The aim of the voyage was to observe the passage of Venus over the disc of the Sun from Tahiti and then to search for a "Great Southern Continent" south of Tahiti. Endeavour left Plymouth on 25th August 1768, called at Madeira and Rio de Janeiro and, after rounding Cape Horn, reached Tahiti on 10th April 1769. The transit of Venus was duly recorded on 3rd June 1769 and Cook soon began the second part of the voyage.
He searched for, and proved, that there was no continent to the south and west of Tahiti, discovered the east coast of New Zealand and charted its coasts, and discovered and charted the east coast of Australia. During this voyage Cook discovered and named Botany Bay (so called because of the many botanists on board Endeavour). But when Cook reached Batavia on 10th October 1770, malaria and dysentery spread among the crew. A number died at Batavia and on the way back to the Cape. The expedition had been, however, a great success.
The second voyage began in 1772. Cook had been promoted to Commander and given two new ships, Resolution and Adventure to replace the dilapidated Endeavour. Cook took a copy of John Harrison's prize-winning marine chronometer, H4, made by Larcum Kendall, which, following a successful voyage, he called "my trusty friend the watch".
In January 1773, Cook became the first navigator to cross the Antarctic Circle and soon proved that no continent existed in the Southern Ocean above polar latitudes. During this voyage, Cook landed at New Zealand, Tahiti, the Friendly Islands (Tonga), Easter Island, the Marquesas Islands, the New Hebrides, New Caledonia, the Isle of Pines and the South Sandwich Islands. Artist William Hodges, who accompanied the voyage, captured the beauty of the newly-discovered islands in his famous paintings.
The object of the third voyage was to search for a 'North-East or North-West Passage. From the Pacific Ocean into the Atlantic Ocean'. From the start of the voyage there were problems. Cook's ships. Resolution and Discovery, had been badly refitted and defects occurred during the voyage. Cook's crew searched to the edge of the Arctic ice without finding a northern passage into the Atlantic, explored and charted the northern Pacific coasts and discovered the islands of the Sandwich Group in the North Pacific Ocean, including Hawaii.
Upon going ashore at Hawaii, Cook was baffled by the great ceremony which greeted his arrival. He did not realise that he was being accepted as a Polynesian god, whose return to the island bringing gifts was prophesied in Polynesian legends. Priests and chiefs called upon the islanders to make contributions, putting a heavy strain on their resources. By the time the two ships sailed again on 4th February 1779, their departure was hailed with relief. It was a tragic twist of fate that forced them to return two days later after Resolution had sprung her foremast. This time the natives were hostile.
On 14th February 1779 a ship's boat was stolen by the islanders, forcing Cook ashore to bring a chief off the island as a hostage for its return. A large group of natives gathered with weapons to resist the arrest of their chief. Upon attack, Cook fired his musket but the shot bounced harmlessly off a warrior's armour. Cook was overwhelmed and stabbed to death.
In 2009 the native Hawaiians invited the descendants of Captain Cook back to Hawaii to apologise for the killing of Captain Cook.
The First Fleet – Australia 1787 – A View from Portsmouth, England
The first fleet to Australia left Portsmouth, England in 1787.
Captain Arthur Philip R.N, set sail on May 13th 1787 from Portsmouth with 11 vessels and with about 1,487 people, including 778 convicts (192 women and 586 men). This fleet could be classed as the most important expedition since “The Mayflower” from Plymouth, England. Capt. Arthur Philip R.N. was also commissioned as the first Governor of New South Wales.
Captain Arthur Philip arrived in N.S.W. with 717 convicts of whom 180 were women, guarded by 191 marines under 19 officers. The ships arrived at Botany Bay between 18th and 20th January 1788. HMS Supply arrived on 18 January, The Alexander, Scarborough and Friendship arrived on 19th January and the remaining ships on 20th January 1788.
During the voyage there were seven births, while 69 people either died, were discharged, or deserted (61 males and 8 females). As no complete crew musters have survived for the six transports and three store ships, there may have been as many as 110 more seamen.
This was one of the world's greatest sea voyages — eleven vessels carrying about 1,487 people and stores had travelled for 252 days for more than 15,000 miles (24,000 km) without losing a ship. Forty-eight people had died on the journey, a death rate of just over three per cent. Given the rigours of the voyage, the navigational problems, the poor condition and sea-faring inexperience of the convicts, the primitive medical knowledge, the lack of precautions against scurvy, the crammed and foul conditions of the ships, poor planning and inadequate equipment, this was a remarkable achievement.
Embarked at Portsmouth Landed at Port Jackson
Officials & Passengers 16 14
Ships' crews 324 269
Marines 247 245
Marines wives & children 46 54
Convicts (men) 579 543
Convicts (women) 193 189 Convicts'
Convicts (children) 14 18
Total 1,403 1,332
below is a list of Named Convicts which may be of interest to the reader.
Convicts Name: Where sentenced Term
ABEL, Robert, London - - - - - - - - - - - 7
ABRAMS, Henry, - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
ABRAHAMS, Esther, London - - - - - - - - - 7
ABELL, Mary, alias Tilley, Worcester - - - 7
ACRES, Thomas, Exeter - - - - - - - - - - 7
ADAMS, John, London - - - - - - - - - - - 7
ADAMS, Mary, London - - - - - - - - - - - 7
AGLEY, Richard, Winchester - - - - - - - - 7
ALLEN, John, Hertford - - - - - - - - - - 7
ALLEN, William, Ormskirk - - - - - - - - - 7
ALLEN, Charles, London - - - - - - - - - - 7
ALLEN, Susannah, London - - - - - - - - - 7
ALLEN, Mary, London - - - - - - - - - - -
ALLEN, Jamasun, alias Boddington, London - 7
ALLEN, Mary, alias Conner, London - - - - 7
ANDERSON, John, Exeter - - - - - - - - - - 7
ANDERSON, Elizabeth, London - - - - - - - 7
ANDERSON, John, London - - - - - - - - - - 7
ANDERSON, Fanny, Winchester - - - - - - - 7
ARCHER, John, London - - - - - - - - - - - 7
ARSCOTT, John, Bodmin - - - - - - - - - - 7
ATKINSON, George, London - - - - - - - - - 7
AULT, Sarah, London - - - - - - - - - - - 7
AYNERS, John, alias Agnew, London - - - - 7
AYRES, John, London - - - - - - - - - - - 7
BARTLETT, James, Winchester - - - - - - - 7
BARSBY, George, Winchester - - - - - - - Life
BARNETT, Henry, alias Barnard, alias
Burton, Warwick - - - - - - - - 7
BAILS, Robert, Reading - - - - - - - - - Life
BARNES, Stephen, York - - - - - - - - - - 7
BANNISTER, George, London - - - - - - - - 7
BARFERD, John, London - - - - - - - - - - 7
BARLAND, George, London - - - - - - - - - 7
BALDING, James, alias William, London - - 7
BASON, Elizabeth, wife of William
Bason, New Sarum - - - - - - - 7
BAYLEY, James, New Sarum - - - - - - - - - 7
BAZLEY, John, Exeter - - - - - - - - - - - 7
BAKER, Thomas, Exeter - - - - - - - - - - 7
BARRETT, Thomas, Exeter - - - - - - - - Life
BATLEY, Caten, Exeter - - - - - - - - - - 7
BARSBY, Samuel, Exeter - - - - - - - - - - 7
BALL, John, Exeter - - - - - - - - - - - - 7
BARRY, John, Bristol - - - - - - - - - - - 7
BARRET, Daniel - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
BARRER, Elizabeth - - - - - - - - - - - -
BALDWIN, Ruth, alias Bowyer, London - - - 7
BAKER, Martha, London - - - - - - - - - - 7
BELL, William, London - - - - - - - - - - 7
BENEAR, Samuel, London - - - - - - - - - - 7
BELLET, Jacob, London - - - - - - - - - - 7
BEARDSLEY, Ann, Derby - - - - - - - - - - 5
BEST, John - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
BECKFORD, Elizabeth, London - - - - - - - 7
BELLAMY, Thomas, Worcester - - - - - - - - 7
BRID, James, Croydon - - - - - - - - - - - 7
BIRD, Samuel, Croydon - - - - - - - - - - 7
BISHOP, Joseph - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
BINGHAM, John, alias Boughan - - - - - - -
BINGHAM, Elizabeth, alias Mooring, London-
BIRD, Elizabeth, alias Winifred, Maidstone 7
BLACKHALL, William, Abingdon - - - - - - - 7
BLUNT, William London - - - - - - - - - - 7
BLAKE, Francis, London - - - - - - - - - - 7
BLATHERHORN, William, Exeter - - - - - - Life
BLOEDWORTH, James, Kingstone - - - - - - - 7
BLANCHETT, Susannah, Kingston - - - - - - 7
BOND, Peter, London - - - - - - - - - - - 7
BOYLE, John, London - - - - - - - - - - - 7
BOGGIS, William - - - - - - - - - - - - -
BOND, William, Exeter - - - - - - - - - - 7
BOND, Mary, wife of John Bond, Wells - - - 7
BOULTON, Rebecca, Lincoln - - - - - - - - 7
BONNER, Jane, London - - - - - - - - - - 7
BOLTON, Mary, Shrewsbury - - - - - - - - - 7
BROWN, James, Hertford - - - - - - - - - - 7
BROWN, William, Southwark - - - - - - - - 7
BRINDLEY, John, Warwick - - - - - - - - - 7
BROWN, Richard, Reading - - - - - - - - - 7
BROUGH, William, Stafford - - - - - - - - 7
BRADLEY, James, London - - - - - - - - - - 7
BROWN, Thomas, London - - - - - - - - - - 7
BRADBURY, William, London - - - - - - - - 7
BRYANT, Thomas, Maidstone - - - - - - - - 7
BRYANT, William, Launceston - - - - - - - 7
BROWN, Thomas, Exeter - - - - - - - - - - 7
BRADFORD, John, Exeter - - - - - - - - - - 7
BRANNEGAN, James, Exeter - - - - - - - - - 7
BRUCE, Robert, Exeter - - - - - - - - - - 7
BROWN, William, Exeter - - - - - - - - - - 7
BRYANT, John, Exeter - - - - - - - - - - - 7
BREWER, William, Exeter - - - - - - - - - 7
BRICE, William, Bristol - - - - - - - - - 7
BRAND, Curtis - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
BRYANT, Michael - - - - - - - - - - - - -
BRAND, Lucy, alias Wood, London - - - - - 7
BRANHAM, Mary, London - - - - - - - - - - 7
BRUCE, Elizabeth, London - - - - - - - - - 7
BURLEIGH, James, London - - - - - - - - - 7
BURN, Peter, London - - - - - - - - - - - 7
BURNE, James, London - - - - - - - - - - - 7
BUTLER, William, London - - - - - - - - - 7
BUCKLEY, Joseph, Dorchester - - - - - - - 7
BURRIDGE, Samuel, Dorchester - - - - - - - 7
BURN, Patrick - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
BURN, Simon - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
BUFLEY, John - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
BUNN, Margaret, London - - - - - - - - - - 7
BURKITT, Mary, London - - - - - - - - - - 7
BURDO, Sarah, London - - - - - - - - - - - 7
CARVER, Joseph, Maidstone - - - - - - - - 7
CASTLE, James, London - - - - - - - - - - 7
CAMPBELL, James, alias George, London - - 7
CAMPBELL, James, Guildford - - - - - - - - 7
CARNEY, John, Exeter - - - - - - - - - - - 7
CARTY, Francis, Bodmin - - - - - - - - - - 7
CAREY, Ann, Taunton - - - - - - - - - - - 7
CARTER, Richard, alias Michael
Cartwright, Shrewsbury - - - - - 7
CABLE, Henry - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
CARROLL, Mary, wife of James Carroll,
London - - - - - - - - - - - - - 7
CESAR, John, Maidstone - - - - - - - - - - 7
CHIELDS, William - - - - - - - - - - - - -
CHADDICK, Thomas London - - - - - - - - - 7
CHURCH, William, Dorchester - - - - - - - 7
CHAAF, William, Exeter - - - - - - - - - - 7
CHINERY, Samuel, Exeter - - - - - - - - - 7
CHANIN, Edward, Exeter - - - - - - - - - - 7
CLOUGH, Richard, Durham - - - - - - - - - 7
CLEMENTS, Thomas, London - - - - - - - - - 7
CLARK, John, alias Hosier, London - - - - 7
CLARK, William, London - - - - - - - - - - 7
CLARKE, John, Exeter - - - - - - - - - - - 7
CLEAVER, Mary, Bristol - - - - - - - - - - 7
CLEAR, George - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
CLARK, Elizabeth - - - - - - - - - - - - -
CONNELLY, William, Bristol - - - - - - - - 7
CORMICK, Edward, Hertford - - - - - - - - 7
CORDEN, James, Warwick - - - - - - - - - - 7
COLLING, Joseph, London - - - - - - - - - 7
COLE, William, London - - - - - - - - - - 7
COX, John Matthew, London - - - - - - - - 7
COLLIER, Richard, Kingstone - - - - - - - 7
CONNOLLY, William, Bodmin - - - - - - - - 7
CONELLY, Cornelius, Exeter - - - - - - - - 7
COLMAN, Ishmael, Dorchester - - - - - - - 7
COFFIN, John, Exeter - - - - - - - - - - - 7
COLE, Elizabeth, Exeter - - - - - - - - - 7
CON, James, Exeter - - - - - - - - - - - Life
COPP, James, Exeter - - - - - - - - - - - 7
COOMBES, Ann, wife of Samuel Coombes,
Taunton - - - - - - - - - - - - 7
COLE, Elizabeth, London - - - - - - - - - 7
COLLEY, Elizabeth, London - - - - - - - 14
COOKE, Charlotte, London - - - - - - - - - 7
COOPER, Mary, Worcester - - - - - - - - - 7
COLPITTS, Ann, Durham - - - - - - - - - - 7
CROSS, John, New Sarum - - - - - - - - - - 7
CROPPER, John, London - - - - - - - - - - 7
CROSS, William, Coventry - - - - - - - - - 7
CREAMER, John, Exeter - - - - - - - - - - 7
CREEK, Jane, London - - - - - - - - - - - 7
CUNNINGHAM, Edward, London - - - - - - - - 7
CULLEN, James Bryen, London - - - - - - - 7
CULLYHORN, John, Exeter - - - - - - - - - 7
CUDLIP, Jacob, alias Norris, Bodmin - - - 7
CUSS, John, alias Hunsboy, New Sarum - - - 7
CUCKOW, William, - - - - - - - - - - - - -
DAVIS, Aaron, Bristol - - - - - - - - - - 7
DAY, Richard, Reading - - - - - - - - - - 7
DAVIES, Edward, Stafford - - - - - - - - - 7
DAY, Samuel, Glocester - - - - - - - - - 14
DAVIS, Samuel, Glocester - - - - - - - - - 7
DAVIS, William - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
DAVIS, James, London - - - - - - - - - - - 7
DANIELLS, Daniel, London - - - - - - - - - 7
DALEY, James, London - - - - - - - - - - - 7
DAVIDSON, John, London - - - - - - - - - - 7
DAVIS, William, Brecon - - - - - - - - - Life
DAVIS, Richard, - - - - - - - - - - - - -
DALEY, Ann, wife of Gore Daley, alias
Ann Warburton, Nether Knutsford- 7
DARNELL, Margaret, London - - - - - - - - 7
DAVIS, Ann, London - - - - - - - - - - - - 7
DALTON, Elizabeth, London - - - - - - - - 7
DAVIDSON, Rebecca, wife of Robert
Davidson, London - - - - - - - - 7
DAWSON, Margaret, London - - - - - - - - - 7
DAVIS, Frances, Chelmsford - - - - - - - 14
DAVIES, Sarah, Worcester - - - - - - - - - 7
DAVIES, Mary, Shrewsbury - - - - - - - - - 7
DENNISON, Michael, Poole - - - - - - - - - 7
DENISON, Barnaby, Bristol - - - - - - - - 7
DELANY, Patrick - - - - - - - - - - - - -
DICKSON, Thomas, alias Ralph Raw, Durham - 7
DISCALL, Timothy, Bodmin - - - - - - - - - 7
DIXON, Mary, London - - - - - - - - - - - 7
DICKENSON, Mary, Southwark - - - - - - - - 7
DOUGLAS, William, Lincoln - - - - - - - - 7
DOWLAND, Ferdinand, London - - - - - - - - 7
DODDING, James, alias Doring, - - - - - -
DRING, William, Kingston upon Hull - - - - 7
DUNNAGE, Joseph, London - - - - - - - - Life
DUDGENS, Elizabeth - - - - - - - - - - - -
DUNDASS, Jane, London - - - - - - - - - - 7
DUTTON, Ann, London - - - - - - - - - - - 7
DEYER, Leonard, Southwark - - - - - - - - 7
DYKES, Mary, London - - - - - - - - - - - 7
EARLE, William, New Sarum - - - - - - - - 7
EAGLETON, William, alias Bones, Kingston - 7
EATON, Mary, alias Shephard - - - - - - -
EARLY, Rachel, Reading - - - - - - - - - - 7
EATON, Martha - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
ECCLES, Thomas, Guildford - - - - - - - Life
EDMUNDS, William, Monmouth - - - - - - - - 7
EDWARDS, William - - - - - - - - - - - - -
EGGLESTON, George, Maidstone - - - - - - - 7
ELLAM, Peter, Ormskirk - - - - - - - - - - 7
ELLIOT, William, Croydon - - - - - - - - - 7
ELLIOT, Joseph, Croydon - - - - - - - - - 7
ELAM, Deborah, Chester - - - - - - - - - - 7
ENGLISH, Nicholas, London - - - - - - - - 7
EVERETT, John, Hertford - - - - - - - - - 7
EVERINGHAM, Matthew, London - - - - - - - 7
EVANS, Williams, Shrewsbury - - - - - - - 7
EVANS, Elizabeth, London - - - - - - - - - 7
FARRELL, Phillip, London - - - - - - - - - 7
FARLEY, William, Bristol - - - - - - - - - 7
FARMER, Ann, London - - - - - - - - - - -
FENTUM, Benjamin, London - - - - - - - - - 7
FERGUSON, John, Exeter - - - - - - - - - - 7
FILLESEY, Thomas, Bristol - - - - - - - - 7
FITZGERALD, Jane, alias Phillips, London - 7
FIELD, William, - - - - - - - - - - - - -
FINLOW, John, alias Hervey - - - - - - - -
FIELD, Jane, London - - - - - - - - - - -
FITZGERALD, Elizabeth, London - - - - - - 7
FLYN, Edward - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
FLARTY, Phebe, London - - - - - - - - - - 7
FOWKES, Francis, London - - - - - - - - - 7
FORRESTER, Robert, London - - - - - - - - 7
FOYLE, William, New Sarum - - - - - - - - 7
FOWLES, Ann, London - - - - - - - - - - - 7
FOWNES, Margaret, Shrewsbury - - - - - - - 7
FORBES, Ann, Kingston - - - - - - - - - - 7
FREEMAN, James, Hertford - - - - - - - - - 7
FREEMAN, Robert, London - - - - - - - - - 7
FRANCIS, William, London - - - - - - - - - 7
FRANCISCO, George, London - - - - - - - - 7
FRY, George - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 7
FRYER, Catherine, alias Prior - - - - - -
FRASER, William, Manchester - - - - - - - 7
FRASER, Ellen, Manchester - - - - - - - - 7
FULLER, John, Manchester - - - - - - - - - 7
GARDNER, Francis, London - - - - - - - - - 7
GARTH, Edward, London - - - - - - - - - - 7
GARLAND, Francis, Exeter - - - - - - - - - 7
GARTH, Susannah, alias Grath - - - - - - -
GABEL, Mary, Southwark - - - - - - - - - - 7
GASCOYGNE, Olive, Worcester - - - - - - - 7
GEARING, Thomas, Oxford - - - - - - - - Life
GESS, George, Gloucester - - - - - - - - - 7
GEORGE, Anne, London - - - - - - - - - - - 7
GLENTON, Thomas, Northallerton - - - - - - 7
GLOSTER, William, London - - - - - - - - - 7
GORDON, Daniel, Winchester - - - - - - - - 7
GOODWIN, Edward, London - - - - - - - - - 7
GOODWIN, Andrew, London - - - - - - - - - 7
GOULD, John, Exeter - - - - - - - - - - - 7
GRAY, Charles, Southwark - - - - - - - - - 7
GRIFFITHS, Samuel, alias Briscow, alias
Butcher, Gloucester - - - - - - 7
GREENWELL, Nicholas, London - - - - - - - 7
GREEN, John, Reading - - - - - - - - - - - 7
GRIFFITHS, Thomas, London - - - - - - - - 7
GRANGER, Charles, Plymouth - - - - - - - - 7
GRACE, James - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
GREEN, Hannah - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
GROVES, Mary, Lincoln - - - - - - - - - - 7
GREEN, Mary, London - - - - - - - - - - - 7
GREEN, Ann, London - - - - - - - - - - - - 7
GREENWOOD, Mary (?), London - - - - - - - 7
GUNTER, William, Bristol - - - - - - - - - 7
HANDFORD, John, Winchester - - - - - - - - 7
HATCHER, John, Winchester - - - - - - - - 7
HATFIELD, William, Maidstone - - - - - - - 7
HAWKES, Richard, Reading - - - - - - - - - 7
HARRIS, William, Maidstone - - - - - - - - 7
HATCH, John, Reading - - - - - - - - - - - 7
HARTLEY, John, Oxford - - - - - - - - - - 7
HART, John, Stafford - - - - - - - - - - - 7
HAINES, Joseph, Gloucester - - - - - - - - 7
HATHAWAY, Henry, Gloucester - - - - - - - 7
HAYES, Dennis, London - - - - - - - - - - 7
HALL, Samuel, London - - - - - - - - - - - 7
HARBINE, Joseph, London - - - - - - - - - 7
HARPER, Joshua, London - - - - - - - - - - 7
HAYTON, George, alias Clayton, London - - 7
HARRISON, Joseph, London - - - - - - - - - 7
HART, John, London - - - - - - - - - - - - 7
HARRIS, John, London - - - - - - - - - - Life
HAYES, John, Guildford - - - - - - - - - - 7
HATTOM, Joseph - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
HARRIFON, Joseph - - - - - - - - - - - - -
HAMLIN, William, Exeter - - - - - - - - - 7
HALL, Joseph, Exeter - - - - - - - - - - Life
HALL, John, Exeter - - - - - - - - - - - - 7
HADON, John, Exeter - - - - - - - - - - - 7
HA?ES, William - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
HANDY, Cooper - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
HAYNES, William - - - - - - - - - - - - -
HERVEY, Elizabeth - - - - - - - - - - - -
HALL, Margaret - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
HART, Frances - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
HARRISON, Mary, Lincoln - - - - - - - - - 7
HEADING, James, Chelmsford - - - - - - - Life
HEADINGTON, Thomas, Abingdon - - - - - - - 7
HERBERT, John, London - - - - - - - - - - 7
HART, Catherine, London - - - - - - - - - 7
HERBERT , John, Exeter - - - - - - - - - - 7
HANDLAND, Dorothy, alias Gray, London - - 7
HALL, Sarah, London - - - - - - - - - - - 7
HAMILTON, Maria, london - - - - - - - - - 7
HARRISON, Mary, London - - - - - - - - - - 7
HARWOOD, Ester, alias Howard, London - - - 7
HAYWARD, Elizabeth, London - - - - - - - - 7
HALL, Elizabeth, Newcastle - - - - - - - - 7
HERBERT, Jane, alias Rose, alias Jenny
Russell, London - - - - - - - - 7
HENRY, Catherine, London - - - - - - - - - 7
HILL, John, Maidstone - - - - - - - - - Life
HINDLEY, William, alias Platt, Ormskirk - 7
HINDLE, Ottiwell, Preston - - - - - - - - 7
HILL, John, London - - - - - - - - - - - - 7
HILL, Thomas, London - - - - - - - - - - - 7
HILT, William, Exeter - - - - - - - - - Life
HILL, Thomas - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 7
HIPSLEY, Eliabeth, London - - - - - - - - 7
HILL, Mary, London - - - - - - - - - - - - 7
HOLLISTER, Job, Bristol - - - - - - - - - 7
HAWELL, Thomas, Stafford - - - - - - - - - 7
HOLMES, William, London - - - - - - - - - 7
HOLLOWAY, James, London - - - - - - - - - 7
HOWARD, Thomas, London - - - - - - - - - - 7
HOGG, William, London - - - - - - - - - 14
HOWARD, John, London - - - - - - - - - - - 7
HORTOP, James, Exeter - - - - - - - - - - 7
HOLLAND, William, Exeter - - - - - - - - - 7
HOLMES, Susannah - - - - - - - - - - - - -
HOLLOGIN, Elizabeth, London - - - - - - - 7
HUGHES, Hugh, Southwark - - - - - - - - - 7
HUMPHREY, Edward, London - - - - - - - - - 7
HUSBAND, William, London - - - - - - - - - 7
HUGHES, John, Maidstone - - - - - - - - - 7
HURLEY, Jeremiah, Exeter - - - - - - - - - 7
HUBBARD, William - - - - - - - - - - - - -
HUMPHREYS, Henry, Exeter - - - - - - - - - 7
HUGHES, Thomas - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
HUDSON, John - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
HUSSEY, James - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
HUGHES, Frances Ann, Lancaster - - - - - - 7
HUFFNELL, Susannah, Worcester - - - - - - 7
HUMPHRIES, Mary, - - - - - - - - - - - - -
HYLIDS, Thomas, Guildford - - - - - - - - 7
IRVINE, John, alias Aderson, alias Law,
Lincoln - - - - - - - - - - - - 7
JACKSON, William, Durham - - - - - - - - - 7
JACOBS, David, London - - - - - - - - - - 7
JACOBS, John, London - - - - - - - - - - - 7
JACKSON, Hannah, Bristol - - - - - - - - - 7
JAGET, Joseph, Exeter - - - - - - - - - - 7
JAMESON, James - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
JACKSON, Jane, alias Esther Roberts,
London - - - - - - - - - - - - - 7
JACKSON, Mary, London - - - - - - - - - - 7
JEFFRIES, Robert, Devizes - - - - - - - - 7
JEFFERIES, John, Maidstone - - - - - - - - 7
JENKINS, Robert, alias Brown, Maidstone - 7
JEPP, John, London - - - - - - - - - - - - 7
JENKINS, William, Exeter - - - - - - - - - 7
INGRAM, Benjamin, London - - - - - - - - - 7
INETT, Ann, Worcester - - - - - - - - - - 7
JONES, Francis, Winchester - - - - - - - - 7
JONES, Thomas, Warwick - - - - - - - - - - 7
JOHNSON, Charles, Manchester - - - - - - - 7
JONES, Edward, London - - - - - - - - - - 7
JOSEPHS, Thomas, London - - - - - - - - - 7
JOHNSON, William, Kingston - - - - - - - - 7
JOHNS, Stephen, Launceston - - - - - - - - 7
JONES, Margaret, Launceston - - - - - - 14
JOHNSON, Edward, Dorcester - - - - - - - - 7
JONES, John, Exeter - - - - - - - - - - 14
JONES, William, Shewsbury - - - - - - - - 7
JONES, Richard, Shewsbury - - - - - - - - 7
JONES, Thomas, Bristol - - - - - - - - - 14
JOHNSON, Catherine, London - - - - - - - - 7
JOHNSON, Mary, London - - - - - - - - - - 7
KELLY, Thomas, Pontefract - - - - - - - - 7
KELLAN, John, alias Keeling, London - - Life
KENNEDY, Martha, Kingston - - - - - - - - 7
KIDNEY, Thomas, Bristol - - - - - - - - - 7
KILBY, William, Reading - - - - - - - - - 7
KING, John, London - - - - - - - - - - - - 7
KILPACK, David, London - - - - - - - - - Life
KIMBERLEY, Edward, Coventry - - - - - - - 7
KNOWLER, John, Maidstone - - - - - - - - - 7
KNOWLAND, Andrew - - - - - - - - - - - - -
LANKEY, David, London - - - - - - - - - - 7
LANE, Richard, Winchester - - - - - - - - 7
LAWRELL, John, Bodmin - - - - - - - - - - 7
LANE, William, Chelmsford - - - - - - - - 7
LARNE, James, Exeter - - - - - - - - - - - 7
LAMBETH, John, Bristol - - - - - - - - - - 7
LAVELL, Henry - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
LARA, Flora, London - - - - - - - - - - -
LAYCOCK, Caroline, London - - - - - - - -
LANGLEY, Jane, London - - - - - - - - - - 7
LAWRENCE, Mary, London - - - - - - - - - - 7
LEMON, Isaac, Chelmsford - - - - - - - - - 7
LEVY, Joseph, London - - - - - - - - - - - 7
LEARY, John, Winchester - - - - - - - - - 7
LEGG, George, Dorchester - - - - - - - - - 7
LEARY, Jeremiah, Bristol - - - - - - - - 14
LEGROVE, Stephen - - - - - - - - - - - - -
LEE, Elizabeth, London - - - - - - - - - - 7
LEWIS, Sophia, London - - - - - - - - - - 7
LEONARD, Elizabeth, London - - - - - - - - 7
LEVY, Amelia, Southwark - - - - - - - - - 7
LIFT, George, London - - - - - - - - - - Life
LIMEBURNER, John, New Sarum - - - - - - - 7
LIMPUS, Thomas, Exeter - - - - - - - - - Life
LIGHTFOOT, Samuel, Exeter - - - - - - - - 7
LONGSTREET, Joseph, Marlborough - - - - - 7
LONG, Joseph, Gloucester - - - - - - - - 14
LOCKLEY, John, London - - - - - - - - - - 7
LONG, Mary, London - - - - - - - - - - - Life
LOVE, Mary, Maidstone - - - - - - - - - - 7
LOCK, Elizabeth, Gloucester - - - - - - - 7
LUCAS, Nathaniel, London - - - - - - - - - 7
LYNCH, Humphry, New Sarum - - - - - - - - 7
LYNCH, Ann, Bristol - - - - - - - - - - 14
LYDE, John - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
MAY, Richard, New Sarun - - - - - - - - - 7
MARTIN, Stephen, Bristol - - - - - - - - - 7
MANSFIELD, John, Chelmsford - - - - - - - 7
M'LEAN, Francis, Guildford - - - - - - - - 7
M'LEAN, Thomas, Guildford - - - - - - - - 7
MATON, Thomas, Maidstone - - - - - - - - - 7
M'DONNAUGH, James, Maidstone - - - - - - - 7
MARINER, William, Oxford - - - - - - - - - 7
MARROTT, John, Gloucester - - - - - - - - 7
M'LAUGHLIN, Charles, Durham - - - - - - - 7
MACINTIRE, John, Durham - - - - - - - - - 7
MARTIN, John, London - - - - - - - - - - - 7
M'DONALD, Alexander, London - - - - - - - 7
MARNEY, William, London - - - - - - - - - 7
MARSHALL, Joseph, London - - - - - - - - 14
M'LEAN, Edward, Maidstone - - - - - - - - 7
MARTIN, Abraham, New Sarum - - - - - - - - 7
MARTIN, Thomas, Exeter - - - - - - - - - - 7
MARTYN, James, Exeter - - - - - - - - - - 7
McCORMICK, Sarah, Manchester - - - - - - - 7
McCORMACK, Mary, Liverpool - - - - - - - - 7
MASON, Betty, Gloucester - - - - - - - - 14
McGRAH, Redman - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
McDEED, Richard - - - - - - - - - - - - -
McNA MAR, William - - - - - - - - - - - -
MACKRIE, James - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
MARRIOTT, Jane, London - - - - - - - - - - 7
MATHER, Ann, London - - - - - - - - - - - 7
MATHER, Mather, London - - - - - - - - - - 7
MASON, Susannah, alias Gibbs, London - - -
McCABE, Eleanor, London - - - - - - - - - 7
MARSHALL, Mary, London - - - - - - - - - Life
MARSHALL, Mary, London - - - - - - - - - - 7
MARTIN, Ann, Southwark - - - - - - - - - -
MEYNELL, John, alias William Radford,
Nottingham - - - - - - - - - - - 7
MESSIAH, Jacob - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
MEECH, Jane, wife of William Meech, Exeter 7
MILTON, Charles, Maidstone - - - - - - - - 7
MIDGLEY, Samuel, Lancaster - - - - - - - - 7
MIDDLETON, Richard, London - - - - - - - - 7
MITCHELL, Nathaniel, Dorchester - - - - - 7
MILLS, Matthew - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
MITCHCRAFT, Mary, Kingston - - - - - - - - 7
MITCHELL, Mary, Kingston - - - - - - - - - 7
MORRIS, Peter, Bristol - - - - - - - - - - 7
MOWBRAY, John, Lincoln - - - - - - - - - - 7
MORGAN, Richard, Gloucester - - - - - - - 7
MORRISBY, John, London - - - - - - - - - - 7
MOORE, William, London - - - - - - - - - - 7
MORLEY, John, London - - - - - - - - - - - 7
MOORIN, John, London - - - - - - - - - - - 7
MORGAN, Robert, London - - - - - - - - - - 7
MOBBS, Samuel, London - - - - - - - - - - 7
MORGAN, William, London - - - - - - - - - 7
MOULD, William, Guildford - - - - - - - - 7
MOLLANDS, John, Launceston - - - - - - - - 7
MOYLE, Edward, Launceston - - - - - - - - 7
MOOD, Charles - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 7
MORTIMORE, John, Exeter - - - - - - - - - 7
MORLEY, Joseph - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
MORTON, Mary, London - - - - - - - - - - - 7
MULLOCK, Jesse, New Sarum - - - - - - - - 7
MURPHY, William, Liverpool - - - - - - - - 7
MUNROE, John, alias Nurse, London - - - - 7
MULLIS, Stephen, Exeter - - - - - - - - - 7
MURPHY, James - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 7
MUNRO, Lydia, Kingston - - - - - - - - - 14
MULLENS, Hannah, London - - - - - - - - Life
NEWLAND, John, London - - - - - - - - - - 7
NETTLETON, Robert, Kingston upon Hull - - 7
NEAL, John, London - - - - - - - - - - - - 7
NEAL, James, Bristol - - - - - - - - - - - 7
NEEDHAM, Elizabeth, London - - - - - - - - 7
NICHOLLS, John, London - - - - - - - - - - 7
NORTON, Phebe, London - - - - - - - - - - 7
NUNN, Robert, London - - - - - - - - - - 7
O'CRAFT, John, Exeter - - - - - - - - - - 7
OGDEN, James, Manchester - - - - - - - - - 7
OKEY, William, Gloucester - - - - - - - - 7
OLDFIELD, Thomas, Manchester - - - - - - - 7
OLDFIELD, Isabella, Manchester - - - - - - 7
OPLEY, Peter, Maidstone - - - - - - - - - 7
ORFORD, Thomas, London - - - - - - - - - - 7
OSBORNE, Thomas, London - - - - - - - - - 7
OSBORNE, Elizabeth, alias Jones, London - 7
OWLES, John, Croydon - - - - - - - - - - - 7
OWEN, John, London - - - - - - - - - - - - 7
OWEN, Joseph, Shewsbury - - - - - - - - 14
PAGE, Paul, Lincoln - - - - - - - - - - - 7
PANE, William, Nottingham - - - - - - - - 7
PARRY, Edward, Stafford - - - - - - - - - 7
PARR, William, Liverpool - - - - - - - - - 7
PALMER, John Henry, London - - - - - - - - 7
PARKER, John, London - - - - - - - - - - - 7
PARISH, William, London - - - - - - - - - 7
PARTRIDGE, Richard, London - - - - - - - Life
PARRIS, Peter, Exeter - - - - - - - - - - 7
PARKINSON, Jane, alias Partington, alias
Ann Marsden, Manchester - - - - 7
PARKER, Elizabeth, Gloucester - - - - - - 7
PARFLEY, Ann, London - - - - - - - - - - - 7
PARKER, Mary, London - - - - - - - - - - - 7
PARTRIDGE, Sarah, alias Roberts, London - 7
PARRY, Sarah, London - - - - - - - - - - Life
PERROT, Edward Bearcroft, Bristol - - - - 7
PETRIE, John, London - - - - - - - - - - - 7
PEYTON, Samuel, London - - - - - - - - - - 7
PERCIVAL, Richard, London - - - - - - - - 7
PETTITT, John, London - - - - - - - - - - 7
PEAULET, James, London - - - - - - - - - - 7
PEET, Charles, London - - - - - - - - - Life
PECK, Joshua, Exeter - - - - - - - - - - - 7
PERKINS, Edward, Plymouth - - - - - - - - 7
PETHERICK, John, Plymouth - - - - - - - - 7
PENNY, John - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 7
PHILLIMORE, William, London - - - - - - - 7
PHILLIPS, Richard, London - - - - - - - - 7
PHILLIPS, Mary, Taunton - - - - - - - - - 7
PHYFIELD, Roger, alias Twyfield,
Shrewsbury - - - - - - - - - - - 7
PHYN, Mary, London - - - - - - - - - - - - 7
PIGOTT, Samuel, Exeter - - - - - - - - - - 7
PINDER, Mary, Lincoln - - - - - - - - - - 7
PIPKIN, Elizabeth, London - - - - - - - - 7
PILES, Mary, London - - - - - - - - - - - 7
POPE, David, Southwark - - - - - - - - - - 7
POWER, John, London - - - - - - - - - - - 7
PONTIE, John, London - - - - - - - - - - Life
POOLE, Jane, Wells - - - - - - - - - - - - 7
POWER, William - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
POWLEY, Elizabeth - - - - - - - - - - - -
POWELL, Ann, London - - - - - - - - - - - 7
PRICE, John, Southwark - - - - - - - - - - 7
PRIOR, Thomas, Reading - - - - - - - - - - 7
PRICE, James, Gloucester - - - - - - - - - 7
PRITCHARD, Thomas - - - - - - - - - - - -
PUGH, Edward, Gloucester - - - - - - - - - 7
RANDALL, John, Manchester - - - - - - - - 7
REYMOND, George, London - - - - - - - - - 7
RAMFEY, John, Kingston - - - - - - - - - - 7
REPEAT, Charles, Warwick - - - - - - - - - 7
READ, William, Croydon - - - - - - - - - - 7
REARDON, Bartholomew, Winchester - - - - - 7
READ, Ann, London - - - - - - - - - - - Life
RISDALE, Thomas, alias Crowder, Bristol- Life
RICHARD, James, East Grinstead - - - - - - 7
RICHARDSON, James, Maidstone - - - - - - - 7
RISBY, Edward, Gloucester - - - - - - - - 7
RICHARDSON, William, London - - - - - - - 7
RICHARDSON, Hardwicke, London - - - - - - 7
RICHARDSON, John, London - - - - - - - - - 7
RICHARD, David, London - - - - - - - - - - 7
RICHARDSON, Samuel, London - - - - - - - - 7
RICKSON, William, Chelmsford - - - - - - - 7
RICHARDS, John, alias Williams, Winchester 7
RICHARD, James, Launceston - - - - - - - - 7
RICE, John, Exeter - - - - - - - - - - - - 7
ROPE, Anthony, Chelmsford - - - - - - - - 7
ROGERS, Daniel, Croydon - - - - - - - - - 7
ROBINSON, George, Lincoln - - - - - - - - 7
ROGERS, Isaac, Gloucester - - - - - - - 14
ROBINSON, Thomas, Kingston upon Hull - - - 7
ROBERTS, John, Liverpool - - - - - - - - - 7
ROBINSON, George, London - - - - - - - - - 7
ROMAIN, John, London - - - - - - - - - - - 7
ROWE, John, Launceston - - - - - - - - - - 7
ROWE, William, Launceston - - - - - - - - 7
ROBERTS, William, Bodmin - - - - - - - - - 7
ROBINSON, William, Exeter - - - - - - - - 7
ROACH, Henry, Exeter - - - - - - - - - - - 7
ROBINS, John, alias Major, Exeter - - - - 7
ROUS, Walton, alias Batley - - - - - - - -
ROLT, Mary, London - - - - - - - - - - - -
ROSSON, Isabella, London - - - - - - - - - 7
RUSSEL, John, London - - - - - - - - - - - 7
RUGLASS, John, London - - - - - - - - - Life
RUSSLER, John, London - - - - - - - - - Life
RUCE, James, Bodmin - - - - - - - - - - - 7
RUTH, Robert, Exeter - - - - - - - - - - - 7
RYAN, John - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
SALTMARSH, William, Kingston - - - - - - - 7
SANDERSON, Thomas, Lincoln - - - - - - - - 7
SANDS, William, Lincoln - - - - - - - - - 7
SAMPSON, Peter, London - - - - - - - - - - 7
SANDLIN, Ann, alias Lynes, alias
Pattens, London - - - - - - - - 7
SCATTERGOOD, Robert, Stafford - - - - - - 7
SCOTT, Elizabeth, London - - - - - - - - - 7
SELSHIRE, Samuel, London - - - - - - - - - 7
SEYMOUR, John, Sherborne - - - - - - - - - 7
SHEARMAN, William, Reading - - - - - - - - 7
SHAW, Joseph, Stafford - - - - - - - - - - 7
SHEPHERD, Robert, Durham - - - - - - - - - 7
SHARPE, George, Durham - - - - - - - - - - 7
SHORE, William, Lancaster - - - - - - - - 7
SHORE, John - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
SHIERS, James, London - - - - - - - - - Life
SILVERTHORN, John, New Sarum - - - - - - - 7
SIDEWAY, Robert - - - - - - - - - - - - -
SLATER, Sarah, London - - - - - - - - - - 7
SMALL, John, Exeter - - - - - - - - - - - 7
SMART, Richard, Gloucester - - - - - - - - 7
SMART, Daniel, Gloucester - - - - - - - - 7
SMITH, Thomas, Lancaster - - - - - - - - - 7
SMITH, William, Liverpool - - - - - - - - 7
SMITH, Edward, London - - - - - - - - - - 7
SMITH, William, London - - - - - - - - - - 7
SMITH, Thomas, alias Haynes, London - - - 7
SMITH, James, London - - - - - - - - - - - 7
SMITH, John, Guildford - - - - - - - - - - 7
SMITH, William, Bodmin - - - - - - - - - - 1
SMITH, Ann, wife of John Smith, Winchester 7
SMITH, Hannah, Winchester - - - - - - - - 7
SMITH, William, Dorchester - - - - - - - - 7
SMITH, Edward, Exeter - - - - - - - - - - 7
SMITH, John, Exeter - - - - - - - - - - - 7
SMITH, Ann, London - - - - - - - - - - - - 7
SMITH, Catherine, London - - - - - - - - - 7
SMITH, Ann, London - - - - - - - - - - - - 7
SMITH, Catherine, London - - - - - - - - - 7
SMITH, Mary, London - - - - - - - - - - - 7
SNALEHAM, William, London - - - - - - - - 7
SPARKS, Henry - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
SPENCER, Daniel, Dorchester - - - - - - 14
SPENCER, John, alias Pearce - - - - - - -
SPENCE, Mary, Wigan - - - - - - - - - - - 5
SPRIGMORE, Charlotte, London - - - - - - - 7
SPRINGHAM, Mary, London - - - - - - - - - 7
SQUIRES, James, Kingston - - - - - - - - - 7
STANLEY, William, New Sarum - - - - - - - 7
STRONG, James, Dorchester - - - - - - - - 7
STOW, James, Lincoln - - - - - - - - - - - 7
STONE, Martin, Warwick - - - - - - - - - - 7
STOKEE, John, Durham - - - - - - - - - - - 7
STONE, Charles, London - - - - - - - - - - 7
STONE, Henry, London - - - - - - - - - - - 7
STOGDELL, John, London - - - - - - - - - 14
STUART, James, London - - - - - - - - - - 7
STANTON, Thomas, alias Ebden, Launceston - 7
STEPHENS, John Morris, Dorchester - - - - 7
STEWART, Margaret, Exeter - - - - - - - - 7
STRECH, Thomas, Shrewsbury - - - - - - - - 7
SUMMERS, John, Gloucester - - - - - - - - 7
TAYLOR, Joshua, Manchester - - - - - - - - 7
TAYLOR, Henry - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
TAYLOR, Sarah, Kingston - - - - - - - - - 7
TENANT, Thomas Hilton, alias Phillip
Divine, Chelmsford - - - - - - - 7
TEAGUE, Cornelius, Bodmin - - - - - - - - 7
TENCHALL, James, alias Tenninghill - - - -
THACKERY, Elizabeth, Manchester - - - - - 7
THOMPSON, William, Durham - - - - - - - - 7
THOMAS, James, London - - - - - - - - - - 7
THOMPSON, James, London - - - - - - - - - 7
THOMAS, James, London - - - - - - - - - - 7
THOMAS, John, London - - - - - - - - - - - 7
THOMPSON, William, London - - - - - - - - 7
THOUDY, James - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
THOMAS, Elizabeth, Wigan - - - - - - - - - 7
THORNTON, Ann, London - - - - - - - - - - 7
TUNMINS, Thomas, Warwick - - - - - - - - - 7
TILLEY, Thomas, Stafford - - - - - - - - - 7
TILL, Thomas, London - - - - - - - - - - - 7
TODD, Nicholas, London - - - - - - - - - - 7
TROTTER, Joseph, Maidstone - - - - - - - - 7
TRACE, John, Exeter - - - - - - - - - - - 7
TRIPPETT, Susannah, London - - - - - - - - 7
TURNER, Ralph, Manchester - - - - - - - - 7
TUSO, Joseph, London - - - - - - - - - - Life
TURNER, John - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
TUCKER, Moses, Plymouth - - - - - - - - - 7
TURNER, Thomas - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
TURNER, John - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
TURNER, Mary, Worcester - - - - - - - - - 7
TWYNEHAM, William, Reading - - - - - - - - 7
TWYFIELD, Ann, since said to be married
to William Dawley, a convict,
Shrewsbury - - - - - - - - - - - 7
TYRRELL, William, Winchester - - - - - - - 7
VANDELL, Edward, East Grinstead - - - - - 7
VINCENT, Henry, London - - - - - - - - - - 7
VICKERY, William, Exeter - - - - - - - - - 7
UNDERWOOD, James, New Sarum - - - - - - 14
USHER, John, Maidstone - - - - - - - - - - 7
WATERHOUSE, William, Kingston - - - - - - 7
WATSAN, John, Maidstone - - - - - - - - - 7
WARD, John, Lowth - - - - - - - - - - - - 7
WALL, William, Oxford - - - - - - - - - - 7
WAGER, Benjamin, London - - - - - - - - - 7
WALSH, William, London - - - - - - - - - - 7
WALKER, John, London - - - - - - - - - - - 7
WALBOURNE, James, London - - - - - - - - - 7
WATSON, Thomas, Exeter - - - - - - - - - - 7
WARE, Charlotte - - - - - - - - - - - - -
WATKINS, Mary - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
WAINWRIGHT, Ellen, alias Esther Eccles,
Preston - - - - - - - - - - - - 7
WARD, Ann, London - - - - - - - - - - - - 7
WADE, Mary, alias Cacklane, London - - - 14
WELCH, James, Maidstone - - - - - - - - - 7
WELCH, John, Durham - - - - - - - - - - - 7
WEST, Benjamin, London - - - - - - - - - - 7
WESTWOOD, John, London - - - - - - - - - - 7
WELSH, John, London - - - - - - - - - - - 7
WELCH, John, London - - - - - - - - - - Life
WESTLALE, Edward, Exeter - - - - - - - - - 7
WADDICOMB, Richard, Exeter - - - - - - - - 7
WHEELER, Samuel, Croydon - - - - - - - - - 7
WHITAKER, George, Maidstone - - - - - - - 7
WHITING, William, Gloucester - - - - - - - 7
WHITTON, Edward, Maidstone - - - - - - - Life
WHITE, James, Maidstone - - - - - - - - - 7
WILCOCKS, Samuel, Dorcester - - - - - - - 7
WILTON, William, Bristol - - - - - - - - - 7
WILSON, Charles, London - - - - - - - - Life
WILSON, Peter, Manchester - - - - - - - - 7
WILLIAMS, Charles, London - - - - - - - - 7
WILLIAMS, James, London - - - - - - - - - 7
WILLIAMS, John, alias Black Jack,
Maidstone - - - - - - - - - - - 7
WILLIAMS, Robert, Launceston - - - - - - - 7
WILLIAMS, John, alias Floyd, Bodmin - - - 7
WILDING, John, alias Warren, Bury - - - - 7
WICKHAM, Mary, New Sarum - - - - - - - - 14
WILLIAMS, Peter, alias Flaggett,
alias Creamer, Exeter - - - - - 7
WILCOCKS, Richard, Exeter - - - - - - - - 7
WILLIAMS, John, Exeter - - - - - - - - - - 7
WISEHAMMER, John, Bristol - - - - - - - - 7
WILLIAMS, Daniel, Preston - - - - - - - - 7
WILLIAMS, Frances, Mold - - - - - - - - - 7
WILLIAMS, Mary, London - - - - - - - - - - 7
WOOD, George, London - - - - - - - - - - - 7
WOODCOCK, Peter, London - - - - - - - - - 7
WOODHAM, Samuel, London - - - - - - - - Life
WORSDELL, William, Launceston - - - - - - 7
WOOLCOT, John, Exeter - - - - - - - - - Life
WOODCOCK, Francis, Shrewsbury - - - - - - 7
WOOD, Mark - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
WRIGHT, Thomas, Reading - - - - - - - - - 7
WRIGHT, Benjamin, London - - - - - - - - - 7
WRIGHT, Joseph, London - - - - - - - - - - 7
WRIGHT, William, London - - - - - - - - - 7
WRIGHT, James, Maidstone - - - - - - - - - 7
WRIGHT, Ann, London - - - - - - - - - - - 7
YARDSLEY, Thomas, Shrewsbury - - - - - - - 7
YATES, Nancy, York - - - - - - - - - - - - 7
YOUNG, John, London - - - - - - - - - - - 7
YOUNG, Simon, London - - - - - - - - - - - 7
YOUNGSON, Elizabeth, Lancaster - - - - - - 7
YOUNGSON, George, Lancaster - - - - - - - 7
The above list of convicts was authored by a Barbara Turner in 1992.
Jonas Hanway (1712-1786) Pioneer of Umbrella - Portsmouth
He was the founder of the Magdalen Hospital and has the credit of being the first man who ventured to dare public reproach and ridicule by carrying an umbrella habitually in London. As he died in 1786, and he is said to have carried an umbrella for thirty years, the date of its first use by him may be set down at about 1750.
While still a child, his father, a victualler, died, and the family moved to London. In 1729 Jonas was apprenticed to a merchant in Lisbon. In 1 743, after he had been some time in business for himself in London, he became a partner with Mr Dingley, a merchant in St Petersburg, and in this way was led to travel in Russia and Persia. Leaving St Petersburg on the 10th of September 1743, and passing south by Moscow, Tsarist and Astrakhan, he embarked on the Caspian on the 22nd of November, and arrived at Astrabad on the 18th of December. He was the first Londoner, it is said, to carry an umbrella and he lived to triumph over all the hackney coachmen who tried to hoot and hustle him down.
Admiral Lord Horatio Nelson (1758-1805) - Portsmouth
Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, KB (29 September 1758 – 21 October 1805) was a British admiral famous for his participation in the Napoleonic Wars, most notably in the Battle of Trafalgar, a decisive British victory in the war, during which he lost his life. Prior to most of his sailings he would stay in a local Inn in Portsmouth.
Nelson was noted for his considerable ability to inspire and bring out the best in his men, to the point that it gained a name: "The Nelson Touch".
His actions during these wars meant that before and after his death he was revered like few military figures have been throughout British history.
During the 18th century, even though he had been married for some time, Nelson became famous for his love affair with Emma, Lady Hamilton, the wife of the British Ambassador to Naples and she became Nelson's mistress, returning to the United Kingdom to live openly with him, and eventually they had a daughter, Horatia. It was the public knowledge of this affair that induced the Navy to send Nelson back out to sea after he had been recalled. By his death in 1805 Nelson had become a national hero, and he was given a State Funeral. To this day his memory lives on in numerous monuments, the most notable of which is London's Nelson's Column, which stands in the centre of Trafalgar Square.
Battle of Trafalgar – 1805
The Battle of Trafalgar was fought on the 21st of October 1805 off Cape Trafalgar on the Spanish coast, between the combined fleets of Spain and France and the Royal Navy as part of the Napoleonic Wars. During the battle one of the most recognised English icons was killed and will forever be remembered – Admiral Lord Horatio Nelson as one of the many saviours of England and Britain.
In 1805 Nelson left Portsmouth to prepare for his forthcoming battle with the French. The first French Empire, under the dictator Napoleon Bonaparte was the dominant military power on the European Continent. The British Royal Navy controlled the seas. During the course of the war we British imposed a naval blockade on France, which affected trade and kept the French from truly mobilising their own naval resources. Despite several successful evasions of the blockade by the French navy, it failed to inflict a major defeat upon us British. We brits were able to attack French interests at home and abroad with relative ease.
When the third coalition declared war on France after the short-lived Peace of Amiens, Napoleon was determined to invade Great Britain. To do so he needed to ensure that the royal navy would be unable to disrupt the invasion flotilla, this would require control of the English Channel.
The main French fleets were at Brest in Brittany and at Toulouse on the Mediterranean coast. Other ports on the French Atlantic coast harboured smaller squadrons. France and Spain were allied, so the Spanish fleet based in Cadiz and Ferrol was also available.
The British possessed an experienced and well-trained corps of naval officers. By contrast, most of the best officers in the French navy had been either executed or dismissed from the service during the early part of the French Revolution. As a result, Vice-Admiral Pierre-Charles Villeneuve was the most competent senior officer available to command Napoleon's Mediterranean fleet. However, Villeneuve
Had shown a distinct lack of enthusiasm for facing Nelson and the Royal Navy after the defeat at the Battle of the Nile.
Napoleon's naval plan in 1805 was for the French and Spanish fleets in the Mediterranean and Cadiz to break through the blockade and join forces in the West Indies. They would then return, assist the fleet in Brest to emerge from the blockade, and together clear the English Channel of Royal Navy ships, ensuring a safe passage for the invasion barges.
The battle was the most decisive British naval victory of the war. Twenty-seven British ships of the line and led by Lord Nelson aboard HMS Victory defeated thirty-three French and Spanish ships of the line under Admiral Pierre Villeneuve of the south west coast of Spain, just west of cape Trafalgar.
It was also the last great sea action of the period and its significance to any invasion of England by the French and Spanish was ended and helped in the dominance of the Seas by us British for over 100 years. The Franco-Spanish fleet lost twenty-two ships, without a single British vessel being lost.
The British victory spectacularly confirmed the naval supremacy that Britain had established during the past century and was achieved in part through Nelson's departure from the prevailing naval tactical orthodoxy, which involved engaging an enemy fleet in a single line of battle parallel to the enemy to facilitate signalling in battle and disengagement, and to maximise fields of fire and target areas. Nelson instead divided his smaller force into two columns directed perpendicularly against the larger enemy fleet, with decisive results.
Nelson was mortally wounded during the battle, becoming one of Britain's greatest war heroes. The commander of the joint French and Spanish forces, Admiral Pierre de Villeneuve, was captured along with his ship Bucentaure and the Spanish admiral Federico Gravina escaped with the remnant of the fleet, and succumbed months later to wounds he sustained during the battle.
Only eleven ships escaped to Cádiz, and of those, only five were considered seaworthy. Under Captain Julien Cosmao, they set sail two days later and attempted to re-take some of the British prizes; they succeeded in recapturing two ships, and forced Collingwood to scuttle a number of his prizes. The four van ships which escaped with Dumanoir were taken on 4 November by Sir Richard Strachan at the Battle of Cape Ortegal.
When Rosily arrived in Cádiz, he found only five French ships, rather than the 18 he was expecting. The surviving ships remained bottled up in Cádiz until 1808, when Napoleon invaded Spain. The French ships were then seized by the Spanish Forces and put into service against France.
British Ships at the Battle of Trafalgar- Portsmouth
Ship No of Guns Commander Killed/
(Weather Column) Wounded
VICTORY 100 Capt. Thomas Masterman HARDY 57/102
TEMERAIRE 98 Capt. Eliab HARVEY 47/76
NEPTUNE 98 Capt. Thomas Francis FREEMANTLE 10/34
LEVIATHAN 74 Capt. Henry William BAYNTUN 4/22
BRITANNIA 100 Capt. Charles BULLEN 10/42
CONQUEROR 74 Capt. Israel PELLEW 3/9
AFRICA 64 Capt. Henry DIGBY 18/44
AGAMEMNON 64 Capt. Sir Edward BERRY 2/8
AJAX 74 Lieut John PILFORD 2/9
ORION 74 Capt. Edward CODRINGTON 1/23
MINOTAUR 74 Capt. Charles John Moore MANSFIELD 3/22
SPARTIATE 74 Capt. Sir Francis LAFOREY 3/20
(Lee Column)
ROYAL SOVEREIGN 100 Capt. Edward ROTHERAM 47/94
BELLEISLE 74 Capt. William HARGOOD 33/93
MARS 74 Capt. George DUFF 29/69
TONNANT 80 Capt. Charles TYLER 26/50
BELLERPHON 74 Capt. John COOKE 27/123
COLOSSUS 74 Capt. James Nicoll MORRIS 40/160
ACHILLE 74 Capt. Richard KING 13/59
DREADNOUGHT 98 Capt. John CONN 7/26
POLYPHEMUS 64 Capt. Robert REDMILL 2/4
REVENGE 74 Capt. Robert MOORSOM 28/51
SWIFTSURE 74 Capt. William Gordon RUTHERFORD 9/8
DEFIANCE 74 Capt. Philip Charles DURHAM 17/53
THUNDERER 74 Lieut John STOCKHAM 4/12
DEFENCE 74 Capt. George HOPE 7/29
PRINCE 98 Capt. Richard GRINDALL 0/0
EURYALUS 36 Capt. Hon Henry BLACKWOOD
NAIAD 38 Capt. Thomas DUNDAS
PHOEBE 36 Capt. Hon. Thomas Bladen CAPELL
SIRIUS 36 Capt. William PROWSE
PICKLE (Schooner) 10 Lieut John Richards La PENOTIERE
ENTREPRENANTE 8 Lieut Robert Benjamin YOUNG
The rightmost column above gives the numbers of killed and wounded in each
ship of the Fleet.
These figures have been extracted from "The Royal Navy - A History" by
Sir Wm Laird CLOWES Volume 5 page 131.
Battle of Waterloo - 1815- Portsmouth
At the start of his many campaigns the Duke of Wellington used to sail from Portsmouth.
I once lived in an English town called Waterlooville which was named after the famous battle of Waterloo and as such I have decided to write about one of British History's greatest Icons the Duke of Wellington who saved Europe and helped in the creation of peace in Europe for nearly 100 years. The Battle of Waterloo took place near Waterloo, Belgium on June 18th 1815. In this battle, the forces of the French Empire under the leadership of Michael Ney and the Dictator Napoleon Bonaparte were defeated by an Anglo-Allied Army commanded by the Duke of Wellington.
Napoleon’s final defeat, ending 23 years of recurrent warfare between France and the other powers of Europe. It was fought during the Hundred Days of Napoleon’s restoration, 3 miles (5 km) south of Waterloo village (which is 9 miles [14.5 km] south of Brussels), between Napoleon’s 72,000 troops and the combined forces of the Duke of Wellington Allied army of 68,000 (with British, Dutch, Belgian, and German units) and about 45,000 Prussians, the main force of Gebhard Leberecht von Blucher's command.
After defeating the Prussians at Ligny and holding Wellington at Quatre-Bras in secondary battles south of Waterloo on June 16th Napoleon’s marshals, Michel Ney and Emmanuel de Grouchy, failed to attack and annihilate either enemy while their armies were separated. Grouchy, with 33,000 men, nearly one-third of Napoleon’s total strength of 105,000 led a dilatory pursuit of Blücher.
On the 18th he was tied down at Wavre by 17,000 troops of Blücher’s rear guard, while Blücher’s main force escaped him, re-joined Wellington, and turned the tide of battle at Waterloo, 8 miles (13 km) to the southwest. At Waterloo, Napoleon made a major blunder in delaying the opening of his attack on Wellington from morning until midday, to allow the ground to dry; this delay gave Blücher’s troops exactly the time they needed to reach Waterloo and support Wellington. The four main French attacks against Wellington’s army prior to 6:00 pm on June 18th all failed in their object—to decisively weaken the Allied centre to permit a French breakthrough—because they all lacked coordination between infantry and cavalry.
Meanwhile, a secondary battle developed, in which the French were on the defensive against the 30,000 Prussian troops of Karl von Bülow’s corps of Blücher’s army. The Prussians arrived at Waterloo gradually and put pressure on Napoleon’s eastern flank. To prevent the Prussians from advancing into his rear, Napoleon was forced to shift a corps under Georges Mouton, Count de Lobau, and to move several Imperial Guard battalions from his main battle against Wellington.
Finally, at 6:00 pm, Ney employed his infantry, cavalry, and artillery in a coordinated attack and captured La haye Sainte, a farmhouse in the centre of the Allied line. The French artillery then began blasting holes in the Allied centre. The decisive hour had arrived: Wellington’s heavy losses left him vulnerable to any intensification of the French attack. But Ney’s request for infantry reinforcements was refused because Napoleon was preoccupied with the Prussian flank attack. Only after 7:00pm, with his flank secured, did he release several battalions of the Imperial Guard to Ney; but by then Wellington had reorganized his defences, aided by the arrival of a Prussian corps under H.E.K. von Zieten. Ney led part of the guard and other units in the final assault on the Allies. The firepower of the Allied infantry shattered the tightly packed guard infantry. The repulse of the guard at 8:00 pm, followed in 15 minutes by the beginning of the general Allied advance and further Prussian attacks in the east, threw the French army into a panic; a disorganized retreat began.
The pursuit of the French was taken up by the Prussians. Napoleon lost 25,000 men killed and wounded and 9,000 captured. Wellington’s casualties were 15,000 and Blücher’s were about 8,000. Four days later Napoleon abdicated for the second time. The defeat of the Dictator Napoleon helped in the creation of peace in Europe for nearly 100 years.
HMS Victory 1759, the Mary Rose 1509, and HMS Warrior 1859 - History- Portsmouth
I have decided to create this article about the history of some of the most famous British Warships which can still be found at Portsmouth Dockyard. The three famous ships are Henry VIII's flagship The Mary Rose, Nelson's HMS Victory and the World's first all Ironclad Warship, HMS Warrior.
HMS Victory 1759
Ordered by the Navy Board on June 6, 1759, HMS Victory was designed by Surveyor of the Navy, Sir Thomas Slade. Building commenced the following month at Chatham Dockyard under the watchful eye of Master Shipwright John Lock. On October 30, 1760, the name Victory was chosen for the new ship, perhaps in honour of Britain's "Annus Mirabilis" (Year of Victories) in 1759, during the Seven Years' War. The work was completed in 1765, under the supervision of Master Shipwright Edward Allen. Launched on May 7 of that year, the finished 100-gun ship cost a total of £63,176.
Service History:
After completing sea trials, Victory was placed in ordinary as the war had been concluded. It remained in this reserve role until May 1778, when it was first commissioned as the flagship of Admiral Augustus Keppel during the War of American Independence. Two months later, on July 27, Keppel's fleet encountered a French fleet off Ushant and gave battle. Though the First Battle of Ushant was inconclusive, it was Victory's baptism by fire. Two years later, in March 1780, the ship was placed in dry dock and its hull sheathed with copper to protect against shipworm.
Returning to sea, Victory served as Rear Admiral Richard Kempenfelt's flagship during his triumph at the Second Battle of Ushant on December 12, 1781, and later took part in Admiral Richard Howe's relief of Gibraltar in October 1782. With the war's conclusion, Victory underwent a £15,372 refit and had its armament increased. With the beginning of the War of the First Coalition in 1793, Victory became the flagship of the Mediterranean fleet under Admiral Lord Samuel Hood. After participating in the capture (and loss) of Toulon and Corsica, Victory returned to Chatham for a brief overhaul in 1794.
Returning to the Mediterranean the following year, Victory remained in the area until the British fleet was forced to withdraw to Portugal. In December 1796, Admiral John Jervis made Victory his flagship when he took command of the Mediterranean fleet. Two months later, he led the fleet to victory over the Spanish at the Battle of Cape St. Vincent. Growing old, Victory returned to Chatham that fall to be surveyed and have its fate decided. Ruled unfit for service on December 8, 1797, orders were issued to convert Victory into a hospital ship.
With the loss of the first-rate HMS Impregnable in October 1799, Victory's conversion orders were countermanded and new ones issued to repair and restore the ship. Initially estimated at £23,500, the reconstruction project eventually cost £70,933 due to an ever increasingly list of defects in the hull. Completed in April 11, 1803, Victory sailed to re-join the fleet. On May 16, 1803, Vice Admiral Horatio Nelson hoisted his flag aboard Victory as the commander of the Mediterranean fleet. Serving as Nelson's flagship, Victory patrolled off Toulon as part of the British blockade of that port.
In May 1805, the French fleet under Admiral Pierre-Charles Villeneuve escaped from Toulon. After sailing east first, Nelson learned that the French were heading for the West Indies. Pursuing them across the Atlantic and back again, Nelson finally was able to bottle them up in the Spanish port of Cadiz. When Villeneuve departed Cadiz on October 19, Nelson was able to bring him to battle off Cape Trafalgar two days later. Splitting his force in two, Nelson drove his ships in two columns into the heart of the combined French-Spanish fleet.
Aggressively attacking, the British decimated Villeneuve's fleet, winning one of the greatest naval victories in history. During the battle Victory engaged Villeneuve's flagship, Bucentaure (80) and Redoutable (74). After inflicting heavy damage on Bucentaure, Victory duelled Redoutable with both ships suffering heavy casualties. During the fight, Nelson was shot through shoulder by a marine aboard Redoutable. Taken below, he died three hours later as his fleet was completing the victory. After the battle, the badly damaged Victory transported Nelson's body back to England.
Repaired after Trafalgar, Victory saw service as a flagship in the Baltic and off the coast of Spain. On December 20, 1812, the 47-year old warship was paid off for the last time at Portsmouth. Though the ship was refitted a final time after the war, it remained in ordinary and became the flagship for the Port Admiral in 1824. In 1889, the ship was fitted out for use as the Naval School of Telegraphy and later the Signals School. These remained on board until 1904, when they were moved HMS Hercules and then to the Royal Naval Barracks.
By 1921, Victory was in poor condition and a campaign was started to raise money for the ship's restoration. Moved to the oldest dry dock in the world, No. 2 Dock at Portsmouth, on January 12, 1922, Victory underwent a massive six-year restoration which returned the ship to its 1805 appearance. Victory saw its last wartime action in 1941, during World War II when it was hit by a Luftwaffe bomb which caused some hull damage. Under constant restoration, Victory is still in commission and is open to the public as a museum ship at Portsmouth.
Overview:
Nation: Great Britain
Builder: Chatham Dockyard
Laid Down: July 23, 1759
Launched: May 7, 1765
Commissioned: May 1778
Decommissioned: November 7, 1812
Fate: Preserved as a museum ship at Portsmouth, England.
Specifications:
Ship Type: Ship of the Line (First Rate)
Displacement: 3,500 tons
Length: 227 ft., 6 in.
Beam: 51 ft., 10 in.
Draft: 28 ft. 9 in.
Complement: approx. 850
Speed: 8-10 knots
Armament (at Trafalgar):
Gun Deck: 30 x long 32-pdrs
Middle Gun Deck: 28 × long 24-pdrs
Upper Gun Deck: 30 × short 12-pdrs
Quarterdeck: 12 × short 12-pdrs
Forecastle: 2 × medium 12-pdrs, 2 × 68 pdr carronades
The Mary Rose 1509
The Mary Rose was built in Portsmouth in 1509. One of Henry VIII's 'great ships', Mary Rose was named after the king's favourite sister Mary and the Tudor emblem the Rose. Typical of the larger sailing ships of the fleet with high castles at the bow and stern, she was one of the first ships with gun ports cut out along the side of the hull for the firing of heavy guns.
Mary Rose had a long career and was frequently in battle against the French. On 10 August 1512 she was part of an English force that attacked the French fleet at Brest. Mary Rose crippled the enemy flagship, bringing down her mast and causing 300 casualties. This was possibly the first battle in the Channel when ships fired their heavy guns through gun ports.
The sinking of the Mary Rose is the event for which the ship is best known. On 19 July 1545 Mary Rose was part of an English fleet that sailed out of Portsmouth to engage the French. She fired a broadside at the enemy and was turning to fire the other broadside when water flooded into her open gun ports and the ship suddenly capsized in full view of Henry VIII watching from the shore. It is not certain what caused Mary Rose to capsize; she was overloaded with extra soldiers and may have been caught by a gust of wind, which made the ship heel over.
The wreck of the Mary Rose was rediscovered in 1968 and before her recovery divers carried out much preparation work. On 11 October 1982 the hull was lifted off the seabed and placed on a cradle before being raised by a giant floating crane. It was then towed back into Portsmouth harbour from where the ship had left on her last fateful journey 437 years before. Today the Mary Rose is preserved in No.3 dock in Portsmouth.
HMS Warrior 1860
During the early decades of the 19th century the Royal Navy began add steam power to many of its ships and was slowly introducing new innovations, such as iron hulls, into some of its smaller vessels. In 1858, the Admiralty was stunned to learn that the French had commenced construction of a Wood Mixed iron warship named La Gloire. It was the desire of Emperor Napoleon III to replace all of France's warships with iron-hulled ironclads, however French industry lacked the capacity to produce the needed plate. As a result, La Gloire was initially built of wood then clad in iron armour.
Commissioned in August 1860, La Gloire became the world's first ocean-going ironclad warship. Sensing that their naval dominance was being threatened, the Royal Navy immediately commenced construction on a vessel superior to La Gloire. Conceived by Admiral Sir Baldwin Wake-Walker and designed by Isaac Watts, HMS Warrior was laid down at Thames Ironworks & Shipbuilding on May 29, 1859. Incorporating a variety of new technologies, Warrior was to be a composite sail/steam armoured frigate. Built with an iron hull – the world's first fully iron built warship and Warrior's steam engines turned a large propeller.
Central to the ship's design was its armoured citadel. Built into the hull, the citadel contained Warrior's broadside guns and possessed 4.5" iron armour which was bolted onto 9" of teak. During construction, the design of the citadel was tested against the most modern guns of the day and none were able to penetrate its armour for further protection, innovative watertight bulkheads were added to the vessel. Though Warrior was designed to carry fewer guns than many other ships in the fleet, it compensated by mounting heavier weapons.
These included 26 68-pdr guns and 10 110-pdr breech-loading Armstrong rifles. Warrior was launched at Blackwall on December 29, 1860. A particularly cold day, the ship froze to the ways and required six tugs to pull it into the water. Commissioned on August 1, 1861, Warrior cost the Admiralty £357,291. Joining the fleet, Warrior served primarily in home waters as the only dry dock large enough to take it was in Britain. Arguably the most powerful warship afloat when it was commissioned, Warrior quickly intimidated rival nations and launched the competition to build bigger and stronger iron/steel battleships.
Upon first seeing Warrior's power the French naval attaché in London sent an urgent dispatch to his superiors in Paris stating, "Should this ship meet our fleet it will be as a black snake among rabbits!" Those in Britain were similarly impressed including Charles Dickens who wrote, "A black vicious ugly customer as ever I saw, whale-like in size, and with as terrible a row of incisor teeth as ever closed on a French frigate." A year after Warrior was commissioned it was joined by its sister ship, HMS Black Prince. During the 1860s, Warrior saw peaceful service, its gun battery upgraded between 1864 1867.
Warrior's routine was interrupted in 1868, following a collision with HMS Royal Oak. The following year it made one of its few trips away from Europe when it towed a floating dry dock to Bermuda. After undergoing a refit in 1871-1875, Warrior was placed in reserve status. A ground breaking vessel, the naval arms race that it helped inspire had quickly led to it becoming obsolete. From 1875-1883, Warrior performed summer training cruises to the Mediterranean and Baltic for reservists. Laid up in 1883, the ship remained available for active duty until 1900.
In 1904, Warrior was taken to Portsmouth and renamed Vernon III as part of the Royal Navy's torpedo training school. Providing steam and power for the neighbouring hulks that comprised the school, Warrior remained in this role until 1923. After attempts to sell the ship for scrap in the mid-1920s failed, it was converted for use a floating oil jetty at Pembroke, Wales. Designated Oil Hulk C77, Warrior humbly fulfilled this duty for half a century. In 1979, the ship was saved from the scrap yard by the Maritime Trust. Initially led by the Duke of Edinburgh, the Trust oversaw the eight-year restoration of the ship. Returned to its 1860s glory, Warrior entered its berth at Portsmouth on June 16, 1987, and began a new life as a museum ship.
General:
Nation: Great Britain
Builder: Thames Ironworks & Shipbuilding Co. Ltd.
Laid Down: May 25, 1859
Launched: December 29, 1860
Commissioned: August 1, 1861
Decommissioned: May 31, 1883
Fate: Museum ship at Portsmouth, England
Specifications:
Type: Armoured Frigate
Displacement: 9,210 tons
Length: 418 ft.
Beam: 58 ft.
Draft: 27 ft.
Complement: 705
Power Plant: Penn Jet-Condensing, horizontal-trunk, single expansion steam engine
Speed: 13 knots (sail), 14.5 knots (steam), 17 knots (combined)
Armament:
26 x 68-pdr. Guns (muzzle-loading)
10 x 110-pdr. Armstrong guns (breech-loading)
4 x 40-pdr. Armstrong guns (breech-loading).
Charles Dickens ( 1812 – 1870 )
Charles Dickens was born in Landport, Portsmouth in Hampshire, the second of eight children to John Dickens (1786–1851), a clerk in the Navy Pay Office at Portsmouth, and his wife Elizabeth Dickens (née Barrow, 1789–1863).
When he was five, the family moved to Chatham, Kent. In 1822, when he was ten, the family relocated to 16 Bayham Street, Camden Town in London.
Charles Dickens published over a dozen major novels, a large number of short stories (including a number of Christmas-themed stories), a handful of plays, and several nonfiction books. Dickens's novels were initially serialised in weekly and monthly magazines, then reprinted in standard book formats.
The travelling shows were extremely popular and, after three tours of British Isles, Dickens gave his first public reading in the United States at a New York City theatre on 2 December 1867.
On 9 June 1870, he died at home at Gad's Hill Place after suffering a stroke, after a full, interesting and varied life. He was mourned by all his readers.
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle ( 1859-1930 )- Portsmouth
Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle was born on May 22, 1859, in Edinburgh, Scotland. The Doyle’s were a prosperous Irish-Catholic family, who had a prominent position in the world of Art. Charles Altamont Doyle, Arthur's father, a chronic alcoholic, was the only member of his family, who apart from fathering a brilliant son, never accomplished anything of note. At the age of twenty-two, Charles had married Mary Foley, a vivacious and very well educated young woman of seventeen.
Mary Doyle had a passion for books and was a master storyteller. Her son Arthur wrote of his mother's gift of "sinking her voice to a horror-stricken whisper" when she reached the culminating point of a story. There was little money in the family and even less harmony on account of his father's excesses and erratic behaviour. Arthur's touching description of his mother's beneficial influence is also poignantly described in his biography, "In my early childhood, as far as I can remember anything at all, the vivid stories she would tell me stand out so clearly that they obscure the real facts of my life."
After Arthur reached his ninth birthday, the wealthy members of the Doyle family offered to pay for his studies. He was in tears all the way to England, where for seven years he had to go to a Jesuit boarding school. Arthur loathed the bigotry surrounding his studies and rebelled at corporal punishment, which was prevalent and incredibly brutal in most English schools of that epoch.
During those gruelling years, Arthur's only moments of happiness were when he wrote to his mother, a regular habit that lasted for the rest of her life, and also when he practiced sports, mainly cricket, at which he was very good.
The young medical student met a number of future authors who were also attending the university, such as for instance James Barrie and Robert Louis Stevenson. But the man who most impressed and influenced him, was without a doubt, one of his teachers, Dr. Joseph Bell. The good doctor was a master at observation, logic, deduction, and diagnosis. All these qualities were later to be found in the persona of the celebrated detective Sherlock Holmes.
A couple of years into his studies, Arthur decided to try his pen at writing a short story. Although the result called The Mystery of Sasassa Valley was very evocative of the works of Edgar Alan Poe and Bret Harte, his favourite authors at the time, it was accepted in an Edinburgh magazine called Chamber's Journal, which had published Thomas Hardy's first work.
Dr. Arthur Conan Doyle's first gainful employment after his graduation was as a medical officer on the steamer Mayumba, a battered old vessel navigating between Liverpool and the west coast of Africa. Unfortunately he found Africa as detestable as he had found the Arctic seductive, so he gave-up that position as soon as the boat landed back in England. Then came a short but quite dramatic stint with an unscrupulous doctor in Plymouth of which Conan Doyle gave a vivid account of forty years later in The Stark Munro Letters. After that debacle, and on the verge of bankruptcy, Conan Doyle left for Portsmouth, to open his first practice.
He rented a house but was only able to furnish the two rooms his patients would see. The rest of the house was almost bare and his practice was off to a rocky start. But he was compassionate and hardworking, so that by the end of the third year, his practice started to earn him a comfortable income.
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle also became one of the first goalkeepers of Portsmouth Football club in the 1880s.
Arthur Conan Doyle died on Monday, July 7, 1930, surrounded by his family. His last words before departing for "the greatest and most glorious adventure of all," were addressed to his wife. He whispered, "You are wonderful."
Rudyard Kipling ( 1865-1936 )- Portsmouth
Who lived in Portsmouth and also attended School in Portsmouth.
Kipling's days of "strong light and darkness" in Bombay were to end when he was six years old. As was the custom in British India, he and his three-year-old sister, Alice ("Trix"), were taken to England—in their case to Southsea (Portsmouth), to be cared for by a couple that took in children of British nationals living in India. The two children would live with the couple, Captain and Mrs Holloway, at their house, Lorne Lodge, for the next six years. In his autobiography, written some 65 years later, Kipling would recall this time with horror, and wonder ironically if the combination of cruelty and neglect he experienced there at the hands of Mrs Holloway might not have hastened the onset of his literary life.
Kipling kept writing until the early 1930s, but at a slower pace and with much less success than before. He died of a haemorrhage from a perforated duodenal ulcer on 18 January 1936, two days before George V, at the age of 70.
Herbert George Wells (1866 – 1946), known as H.G. Wells
Saint Paul's Road, Southsea where HG Wells used to work at a Draper's Shop 1881-1883
was an English writer best known for such science fiction novels as The Time Machine, The War of the Worlds, The Invisible Man, The First Men in the Moon and The Island of Doctor Moreau. He was a prolific writer of both fiction and non-fiction, and produced works in many different genres, including contemporary novels, history, and social commentary. He was also an outspoken socialist. His later works become increasingly political and didactic, and only his early science fiction novels are widely read today. Both Wells and Jules Verne are sometimes referred to as "The Father of Science Fiction".
No longer able to support themselves financially, the family instead sought to place their boys as apprentices to various professions. From 1881 to 1883 Wells had an unhappy apprenticeship as a draper at the Southsea Drapery Emporium. His experiences were later used as inspiration for his novels The Wheels of Chance and Kipps, which describe the life of a draper's apprentice as well as being a critique of the world's distribution of wealth.
In 1883, Wells's employer dismissed him, claiming to be dissatisfied with him. The young man was reportedly not displeased with this ending to his apprenticeship. Later that year, he became an assistant teacher at Midhurst Grammar School, in West Sussex (teaching students such as A.A. Milne, until he won a scholarship to the Normal School of Science (later the Royal College of Science, now part of Imperial College London), studying biology under T. H. Huxley. As an alumnus, he later helped to set up the Royal College of Science Association, of which he became the first president in 1909.
Isambard Kingdom Brunel ( 1806-1859 ) - Portsmouth
Brunel, perhaps, was the most prodigious Engineer of his time and many of his works, which challenged and inspired his colleagues during this period, have survived to our own time and some are still in use.
He was born in 1806, the son of a distinguished French engineer, Sir Marc Brunel, who had come to England at the time of the French Revolution. Unlike most engineers of the time, Isambard Brunel received a sound education and practical training - partly in France - before entering his father's office and taking full charge of the Thames Tunnel at Rotherhithe when he was only 20.
At the age of 26, he was appointed Engineer to the newly-formed Great Western Railway and acted with characteristic boldness and energy. His great civil engineering works on the line between London and Bristol, are used by today's high-speed trains and bear witness to his genius He eventually engineered over 1,200 miles of railway, including lines in Ireland, Italy and Bengal. Each of his three ships represented a major step forward in naval architecture.
Brunel's other works included docks, viaducts, tunnels and buildings and the remarkable prefabricated hospital, with its air-conditioning and drainage systems for use in the Crimean War. Inevitably, in such a prolific career, there were setbacks and disappointments such as the atmospheric railway but he readily admitted his mistakes. Indeed he himself suffered financially by supporting his ventures with his own money.
Brunel suffered several years of ill health, with kidney problems, before a stroke at the age of 53. Brunel was said to smoke up to 40 cigars a day and to sleep four hours each night.
Badminton Association- Portsmouth
The first British Badminton Association was founded in Waverley Grove, Portsmouth in 1893.
Marc Bolan - T Rex- Portsmouth
The last UK Concert by T-Rex and Marc Bolan was in 1977 at The Guildhall, Portsmouth. As an interesting addendum Marc Bolan's brother worked for many years as a Portsmouth Bus Conductor.
HMS Pinafore by Gilbert and Sullivan- Portsmouth
The Comic Opera HMS Pinafore by Gilbert and Sullivan was set in and around Portsmouth and its Harbour.
Wymering Manor House – The Most Haunted House in England.- Portsmouth
As I am from Portsmouth, England I thought it may be of interest to write about the oldest house in Portsmouth and the most haunted house in England, called “Wymering Manor House” and dated from 1042 AD.
Although most of the current structure dates back to the 16th century, the manor goes back much further. Records show the first owner of Wymering Manor was King Edward the Confessor in 1042 and then after the Battle of Hastings it fell into the hands of King William the Conqueror until 1084. The house has been altered and renovated continually over the centuries, yet remarkably it has retained materials dating back to medieval and even ancient Roman times.
Having changed ownership many times over these hundreds of years, the property was eventually adopted by the Portsmouth City Council, then sold for a short time to a private organization for development into a hotel. When the development fell though, the property reverted to the council, which has again put it up for auction.
Once a country manor, the structure is now surrounded by modern houses. And when it was saved from demolition and used as a youth hostel, many areas of the building were "modernized" and have an unfortunate, institutional feel.
With this rich history it's no surprise perhaps that Wymering Manor should be haunted.
Below are some of the Ghosts that haunt Wymering Manor:
The Lady in the Violet Dress. When Mr Thomas Parr lived at Wymering Manor, he awoke one night to the sight of an apparition standing at the foot of his bed. It was his cousin, who had died in 1917. Dressed in a full-length violet-coloured dress, the spirit spoke to him in a friendly and matter-of-fact manner, telling him of her recent religious experiences and about other deceased family members. Suddenly the ghost said, "Well, Tommy dear, I must leave you now as we are waiting to receive Aunt Em." In the morning, Parr received a telegram with the news that his Aunt Em had died during the night.
The Blue Room. An elderly relative of Thomas Parr, who was staying in the "Blue Room," was careful always to lock her door at night, as she feared break-ins by burglars. One morning she was surprised to find her door unlocked and open.
The Choir of Nuns. Mr Leonard Metcalf, an occupant of the house who died in 1958, said he occasionally saw a choir of nuns crossing the manor's hall at midnight. They were chanting, he claimed, to the clear sound of music. His family never believed his story as they didn't know - and neither did Mr Metcalf - that nuns from the Sisterhood of Saint Mary the Virgin visited the house in the mid-1800s.
The Panelled Room. The so-called "Panelled Room" may be the manor's most dreaded. The Panelled Room served as a bedroom in the manor's south east corner, and as Metcalf was using the washbasin one day, he was startled by the distinct feeling of a hand on his shoulder. He turned quickly to find no one there. Others have felt an oppressive air in this room, instilling a strong feeling to flee. When the building served as the youth hostel, its warden and wife expressed an unexplained fear of the room.
Other Paranormal occurrences reported at the manor include visitors who claim to have heard the whispers of children, spotted strange apparitions and seen items in the manor move of their own accord. Dramatic drops in temperature and accounts of unusual or intimidating 'spirit energies' have also been reported. Film and video footage has captured both orbs and other strange light anomalies.
George Villiers 1st duke of Buckingham, English courtier and royal favourite - Portsmouth.
While organizing a second campaign he was stabbed and killed at the high street, Old Portsmouth on August 23, 1628 by John Felton, an army officer who had been wounded in the earlier military adventure. Felton was hanged in November and Buckingham was buried in Westminster Abbey. His tomb bears a Latin inscription translating: "The Enigma of the World" and was also one of the most rewarded royal courtiers in all history.
The romantic aspects of the duke's career figure largely in Alexander Dumas's historical novel, The Three Musketeers. The Duke of Buckingham died leaving his wife Katherine Manners, their daughter Mary and son George, 1628.
Admiral Lord George Anson ( April 23rd. 1697 - 1762 )- Portsmouth
George Anson, 1st Baron Anson was a British admiral and a wealthy aristocrat, noted for his circumnavigation of the globe. Sailed around the world between 1740-1744 on HMS Centurion and brought back 500,000 pounds sterling value of Gold ( Equivalent in today’s money 250 Million Pounds!!) as Booty from the Spanish in South America.
John Pounds (1766-1839)- Portsmouth
John Pounds was born in Portsmouth on 17th June 1766. His father was a sawyer in the royal dockyard and when was twelve years old, his father arranged for him to be apprenticed as a shipwright. Three years later John fell into a dry dock and was crippled for life.
Unable to work as a shipwright, John became a shoemaker and by 1803 had his own shop in St. Mary Street, Portsmouth. While working in the shop, John began teaching local children how to read. His reputation as a teacher grew and he soon had over 40 pupils attending his lessons. Unlike other schools, John did not charge a fee for teaching the poor of Portsmouth. As well as reading and arithmetic, John gave lessons in cooking, carpentry and shoe making. John Pounds died in 1839.
Jeremiah Chubb (1793-1860) and Charles Chubb (1779-1846) - Portsmouth
Both brotherswere born, lived and worked in Portsmouth & are Famous Chubb Locksmiths.
The name of Chubb is famous in the lock world for the invention of the detector lock and for the production of high quality lever locks of outstanding security during a period of 140 years. The detector lock was patented in 1818 by Jeremiah Chubb of Portsmouth, England, who gained the reward offered by the Government for a lock which could not be opened by any but its own key. It is recorded that, after the appearance of this detector lock, a convict on board one of the prison ships at Portsmouth Dockyard, who was by profession a lock maker, ad had been employed in London in making and repairing locks, asserted that he had picked with ease some of the best locks, and that he could pick Chubb's lock with equal facility. Improvements in the lock were made under various patents by Jeremiah Chubb and his brother Charles.
George Meredith (1828-1909) Famous Novelist- Portsmouth
Famous Novelist & Poet who was born in Portsmouth.
Contributed poems to various periodicals; an associate of the Pre-Raphaelite group around Dante Gabriel Rossetti and Algernon Swinburne; published
the poem Modern Love 1862; author of several novels including Diana of the Crossways 1885, which first brought him popular acclaim.
George Vicat Cole (1833-1893) Famous Artist- Portsmouth
George Vicat Cole (usually known as Vicat Cole) was an important landscape painter working in the mid-19th century. In keeping with the realist mood of that period, he painted naturalistic English landscape scenes, without attempting deeper meanings or looking for rustic ideals. His speciality was the effect of atmosphere and light.
Cole was born in Portsmouth, and trained in the studio of his father George Cole (1810-1883), an eminent painter of landscapes, animals and portraits who rose as far as the Vice-Presidency of the Society of British Artists. As a young man, Cole copied prints of works of Turner, Constable and Cox, and the paintings of these men had a strong influence on him.
Lionel William Wylie (1851-1931) Famous Artist - Portsmouth
Famous Marine Artist who Lived and died in Portsmouth. Wylie was born into a family of artists in 1851. The rather bohemian family spent their summers on the coast of northern France. Wylie recalled the journey by steamer down the crowded Thames from London on their way to Boulogne. When he was about 12 he went to art school in London, and in 1866 he started at the Royal Academy School. In 1869 he won the Turner Gold Medal for landscape. In 1870 one of the first pictures he exhibited at the Royal Academy was London from the Monument, a panoramic view of the city and the river and he began working as an illustrator of maritime subjects for The Graphic magazine. He had to reproduce detail accurately in black and white, and this discipline probably influenced him when he began making etchings in the early 1880s. Wyllie's first known etching, made in 1884, is Toil, glitter, grime and wealth on a flowing tide. It was commissioned by the print publisher Robert Dunthorne. Wyllie's Thames pictures led him to be elected an Associate of the Royal Academy in 1889. By 1907, when he became a Royal Academician, he had moved to a house at the entrance of Portsmouth Harbour. He had largely turned to painting naval and historical subjects. Nevertheless, he continued to make prints of London and the Thames to the end of his life.
Neville Shute (1899-1960) Famous Author- Portsmouth
Famous Author/Aero-Engineer who worked in Portsmouth.
Born in Somerset Road, Ealing, London, he was educated at the Dragon School, Shrewsbury School and Balliol College, Oxford. Shute's father, Arthur Hamilton Norway, was the head of the post office in Dublin in 1916 and Shute was commended for his role as a stretcher bearer during the Easter Rising. Shute attended the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich but because of his stammer was unable to take up a commission in the Royal Flying Corps, instead serving in World War I as a soldier in the Suffolk Regiment. An aeronautical engineer as well as a pilot, he began his engineering career with de Havilland Aircraft Company but, dissatisfied with the lack of opportunities for advancement, took a position in 1924 with Vickers Ltd., where he was involved with the development of airships. Shute worked as Chief Calculator (stress engineer) on the R100 Airship project for the subsidiary Airship Guarantee Company. In 1929, he was promoted to Deputy Chief Engineer of the R100 project under Sir Barnes Wallis.
Sir Walter Besant (14-08-1836 to 9-06-1901) Famous Novelist- Portsmouth
Famous Novelist/Scientist and historian from London. His sister-in-law was Annie Besant.
The son of a merchant, he was born at Portsmouth, Hampshire and attended school at St Paul's, Southsea, Stockwell Grammar, London and King's College London. In 1855, he was admitted as a pensioner to Christ's College, Cambridge, where he graduated in 1859 as 18th wrangler. After a year as Mathematical Master at Rossall School, Fleetwood, Lancashire and a year at Leamington College, he spent 6 years as professor of mathematics at the Royal College, Mauritius. A breakdown in health compelled him to resign, and he returned to England and settled in London in 1867. He took the duties of Secretary to the Palestine Exploration Fund, which he held 1868–85. In 1871, he was admitted to Lincoln's Inn.
Besant was a Freemason, serving as Master Mason in the Marquis of Dalhousie Lodge, London from 1873. He conceived the idea of a Masonic research lodge, the Quatuor Coronati Lodge of which he was first treasurer from 1886.
Arnold Schwarzenegger (b 1947) Famous Actor- Portsmouth
When I was growing up in Portsmouth in the 1960s and 1970s most people had heard of the Austrian bodybuilder - Arnold Schwarzenegger the actor and ex. Governor of California - who used to work out in a gym in Albert Road, Southsea with the owner Mr Wilson who also helped train him win for various Body Building Titles.
Henry Ayers (1821-1897) Famous Australian- Portsmouth
Who was born in Portsmouth and was an early Premier of the colony of South Australia and the famous Ayers Rock was named after him.
Paul Jones (b 1942) Famous Pop Singer,- Portsmouth
Was born in Portsmouth in 1942 and was the vocalist with Manfred Mann and latterly also a solo singer and radio presenter.
Brian Howe (born 22nd July 1953) Famous Pop Singer- Portsmouth
Brian Howe was the lead vocalist with bad Company and was born in Portsmouth in 1953.
Sir Francis Austen (1774 – 1865) Brother to Jane Austen- Portsmouth
Sir Francis Austen was the brother of Jane Austen and Admiral of the fleet who lived and worked in Portsmouth.
Callaghan of Cardiff ex. British Prime Minister (1912-2005)- Portsmouth
Born in Portsmouth and schooled at Portsmouth Grammar School. He was first elected to Parliament as a Labour member in 1945. As Chancellor of the Exchequer (1964–67), he introduced extremely controversial taxation policies, including employment taxes; he resigned when he was forced to accept devaluation of the pound. Prime Minister Harold Wilson Wilson, Harold (James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx), 1916–95, British statesman. A graduate of Oxford, he became an economics lecturer there (1937) and a fellow of University College (1938).
Callaghan served as foreign secretary (1974–76). He succeeded Wilson when the latter resigned as prime minister in 1976. Callaghan was by nature a moderate man, but his government was plagued by inflation, unemployment, and its inability to restrain trade unions' wage demands, and foundered after a series of paralyzing labour strikes in the winter of 1978–79. In the elections later in 1979, the Labour party lost to the Conservatives, led by Margaret Thatcher, Margaret Hilda Roberts Thatcher, Baroness, 1925–, British political leader.
Portsmouth Football Club ( Pompey )
Portsmouth F.C. was founded in the back garden of 12 High Street, Old Portsmouth on 5th April 1898 with John Brickwood, owner of the local Brickwoods Brewery as chairman and Frank Brettell as the club's first manager. Portsmouth F.C. is an English football club based in the city of Portsmouth. The city and hence the club are nicknamed Pompey and sometimes called 'The Blues', with fans known across Europe. Pompey were early participants in the Southern League, One of their first Goalkeepers Pre -1898 was Arthur Conan Doyle the author of Sherlock Holmes.
The club joined the Southern League in 1898 and their first league match was played at Chatham Town on 2nd September 1899 (a 1–0 victory), followed three days later by the first match at Fratton Park, a friendly against local rivals Southampton, which was won 2–0, with goals from Dan Cunliffe (formerly with Liverpool) and Harold Clarke (formerly with Everton.
That first season was hugely successful, with the club winning 20 out of 28 league matches, earning them the runner-up spot in the league. During 1910-11 saw Portsmouth relegated, but with the recruitment of Robert Brown as manager the team were promoted the following season.
The team play in the Football League Championship after being relegated from the Premier League after the 2009/10 season. Until then, Portsmouth had been a member of the Premier League for seven consecutive seasons.
Portsmouth's debut season in the English First Division was during the 1920's that alas, turned out to be a difficult one. However, despite disappointing league form the club fought off stiff competition to reach the FA Cup final closely losing out to Bolton Wanderers.
Having solidified their position in the top flight, the 1938-1939 seasons saw Portsmouth again reach the FA Cup final. This time Portsmouth were successful beating Wolves in a convincing 4-1 win. The club had secured their first major trophy.
After the end of World War Two league football began again and Portsmouth quickly proved to the footballing masses that they were a team to be reckoned with, lifting the League title in 1949 season. The club then crowned this achievement by retaining the title the following year 1950 and becoming only one of five English teams to have won back to back championships since World War Two.
Portsmouth was the first club to hold a floodlit Football League match when they played Newcastle in 1956.
Finally under the management of Harry Redknapp Portsmouth were promoted into the Premier League and have held a solid place in the top flight since this date despite coming close to relegation a number of times.
Portsmouth went from strength to strength under the careful management of Harry Redknapp and a much-needed injection of cash. In the 2007-2008 seasons Portsmouth won the English F.A. Cup and qualified for the UEFA Cup qualification. They had proven themselves as a consistent and strong team.
Alas during the 2009-2010 seasons they had financial difficulties and were at the root of the Premier League because of their financial difficulties they were deducted 9 points due to going into Administration and subsequently relegated into the Championship league Division. The only bright part of the season was when they reached the F.A.Cup final in 2010 and lost to Chelsea.
They are now in season 2012 -13 are playing in the English League one.
Lionel "Buster" Crabb OBE, GM (28 January 1909 – presumed dead 19 April 1956)- Portsmouth
Buster Crabbe was a royal naval diver and was kidnapped or killed by the Soviet secret police - i.e. KGB when the soviet naval ship called Ordzhonikidze was visiting Portsmouth in April 1956. In a 1990 interview Joseph Zwerkin, a former member of Soviet Naval intelligence who had moved to Israel after the fall of the Soviet Union, claimed that the Soviets had noticed Crabb in the water and that a Soviet sniper had shot him. Official government documents regarding Crabb's disappearance are not scheduled to be released until 2057.
Ghosts of Royal Naval Hospital Haslar - near Portsmouth
As RN Hospital Haslar is one of the most haunted hospitals in the world I thought I would list the most famous hauntings. There is a lot of poltergeist activity which has been reported in the hospital galley.
According to a clairvoyant who worked in the hospital there are three ghosts occupying the kitchen area and many more around the hospital.
1) Michael Connelly, an Irishman who apparently likes the cooking. 'Michael' apparently likes to let the galley workers know that they are there. It has been reported that all the files in the office have been tipped on the floor several times by unexplained means and witnesses have claimed that the taps have turned on by themselves. The radio has apparently turned itself down.
2) An angry man called Derek who appears to have died from stab wounds. 'Derek' and The evening supervisor has reported that cutlery has been thrown around and it has also been claimed by witnesses that the kettle has switched itself on and that doors have opened by themselves
3) A woman called Margaret who haunts the spiral staircase. She is believed to have tripped over something before the stairs were built and died as a result. One of the Wardroom stewards claimed to have met 'Margaret' a few years ago walking up the spiral staircase. She said she met an elderly woman coming down and, thinking
she was lost the steward asked her if she needed some help. However, the woman had vanished.
4) There is also a spirit who inhabits the old Senior Rates Mess. Several people have claimed that some parts of the galley are bitterly cold where the rest of it is warm; another favourite trick of all the ghosts is leaving puddles of water on the floor. Many members of the galley staff have claimed to have heard tapping on the window of the chef's office, which has encouraged them to leave for the public restaurant in a hurry.
5) Several members of staff have reported seeing the figure of a man in the corridor outside the galley. One claims to have seen a man look in the door (she went to ask if he was lost but when she got there there was nobody in sight).
6) Another reports having seen the reflection of an older man in the window (he turned around to ask if the man was looking for something, again nobody could be seen). Many people have complained that this corridor gets bitterly cold even when all the windows are shut and the heaters are on.
7) In F Block which used to be the lunatic asylum - the galley, which is opposite, used to be the yard where those in the asylum had their exercise and this area is claimed to be a 'psychic hotspot.
8) Outside the Operating Theatre's Staff have claimed to experience a sensation of being followed and most have reported a feeling of fear while being in this area. Staff members have claimed to hear footsteps as they have walked down the corridor and have admitted that they have quickened their pace while walking alone along it. Most members of the nursing staff choose to take the long route from B block to E Block in order to avoid it.
A clairvoyant has claimed that the spirit residing in the corridor died because of a botched operation - an emergency procedure (as he was in immense pain), probably to save him from a blood clot.
A hole was drilled in his left temple to relieve the pressure but he died in the corridor. It is claimed that he can only rest once the operation is repeated and the new patient dies. The original spirit is attempting to guide
the other man's spirit back to his body. This is supposedly because there was nobody around to help him when he died.
9) In the Children's Ward a member of staff claims to have seen the ghost of a little girl who runs around the top floor of D Block. A large number of children were killed in a fire in this part of the building, but nothing specific is known about this tragedy. The area is now closed as the paediatric department has moved to another hospital.
10) In the Cellar's where I used to use to cut across the hospital (which are now closed), but before that, they were used as a short cut to the X-Ray department. In the days before anaesthetic the cellars accommodated the operating theatres and housed the insane; it has been reported that you can still hear screams and the rattling of chains. During the Second World War the cellars were once again used as operating theatres and as wards during the height of air raids.
11) In the Canada Block the money used to build this accommodation block was raised by the 'Women of Canada' during the Great War. It has been claimed that many spirits supposedly inhabit Canada Block along with unexplained noises and lights turning on and off. The ghost that most have reported seeing is that of a nurse who hanged herself during the First World War. Just to add to this, Canada Block is also built in the site of the original hospital graveyard.
12) Near St. Luke’s Church and MoD Police officer described a ghost he'd witnessed while on a night patrol at St. Luke's church at Haslar Hospital. He'd seen an elderly woman walking towards the church, but when he returned less than a minute later, she had disappeared. An hour later, the hospital mortician told him about the body he'd dealt with earlier that day. The description matched that of the woman the police officer had seen.
With its history of pain and distress it’s not surprising that Haslar is haunted by distressed spirits.
Interesting Facts about RNH Haslar
a) in 1902 the hospital became known as the Royal Naval Hospital Haslar (abbreviated to RNH Haslar).
b) In the 1940s, RNH Haslar set up the country’s first ’blood bank’ to help treat wounded soldiers from the Second
World War.
c) In 1966 the remit of the hospital expanded to serve all three services - the Royal Navy, Army and Royal Air Force.
d) In 1996 the hospital again became known as the Royal Hospital Haslar.
e) In 2001 the provision of acute healthcare within Royal Hospital Haslar was transferred from the Defence
Secondary Care Agency to the NHS Trust. The Royal Hospital was the last MOD-owned acute hospital in the UK. The change from military control to the NHS, and the complete closure of the hospital has been the subject of
considerable local controversy.
f) The last military-run ward was ward E5, a planned orthopaedic surgery ward. The ward encompasses 21 beds in small ’rooms’, and is run by the military staff with some NHS colleagues; the ward manager is a serving military officer. The ward is served by both military and NHS doctors; the ancillary staffs are non-military.
g) The ward E5 closed in 2009 along with the rest of the site and military staff will move to new posts within MDHU Portsmouth or other units around the country.
h) To mark the handover of control to the civilian NHS trust, the military medical staff marched out of RH Haslar in 2007, exercising the unit’s rights of the freedom of Gosport.
I) the staff consisted of Royal Air Force, Royal Navy and Army led by a band of the Royal Marines. The Gosport citizens are said to deeply saddened by the closure of Haslar and there are campaigns to keep the hospital open. Gosport politicians cite that that the UK is the only country in the Western world not to have a dedicated Military hospital, run by and for its military staff - who understand the needs and ideology of the service person. At present, most casualties from conflicts return to Selly Oak Hospital, Birmingham.
J) The grounds are said to contain the bodies of at least 20,000 service personnel.
In 2001 Haslar was designated a Grade II listed historic park. Several of the buildings are listed.
Sir Winston Churchill – War Leader, Artist and Writer- Portsmouth
Sir Winston Churchill was one of Britain's greatest icons and is recognised worldwide as one of the greatest Leader and Politician of the 20th Century. I thought it would be interesting to write the story of this famous icon from his birth on November 30th 1874 at Blenheim Palace, a home given by Queen Anne to Churchill's ancestor, the Duke of Marlborough. He is best known for his determination yet courageous leadership as Prime Minister for Great Britain when he led the British people from the brink of defeat during World War II. In 1950 he was given the freedom of the city of Portsmouth.
He was the eldest son of Lord Randolph Churchill, a Tory Democrat (a British political party) who achieved early success as a rebel in his party. Later, after Randolph Churchill failed, he was cruelly described as "a man with a brilliant future behind him." His mother was Jenny Jerome, the beautiful and talented daughter of Leonard Jerome, a New York businessman. Winston idolized his mother, but his relations with his father, who died in 1895, were cold and distant. It is generally agreed that as a child Winston was not shown warmth and affection by his family.
As a child Churchill was sensitive and suffered from a minor speech impediment. He was educated following the norms of his class. He first went to preparatory school, then to Harrow in 1888 when he was twelve years old. Winston was not especially interested in studying Latin or mathematics and spent much time studying in the lowest level courses until he passed the tests and was able to advance. He received a good education in English, however, and won a prize for reading aloud a portion of Thomas Macaulay's (1800–1859) Lays of Ancient Rome (1842). After finishing at Harrow, Winston failed the entrance test for the Royal Military College at Sandhurst three times before finally passing and being allowed to attend the school. His academic record improved a great deal once he began at the college. When he graduated in 1894 he was eighth in his class.
Very early on Churchill demonstrated the physical courage and love of adventure and action that he kept throughout his political career. His first role was that of a soldier-journalist.
In 1895 he went to Cuba to write about the Spanish army for the Daily Graphic. In 1896 he was in India, and while on the North-West Frontier with the Malakand Field Force he began work on a novel, Savrola: A Tale of the Revolution in Laurania. The book was published in 1900.
More important, however, were Churchill's accounts of the military campaigns in which he participated. Savrola was followed by a book about the reconquest of the Sudan (1899), in which he had also taken part. As a journalist for the Morning Post, he went to Africa during the Boer War (1899–1902), where British forces fought against Dutch forces in South Africa. The most romantic of his adventures as a youth was his escape from a South African prison during this conflict and the “Wanted Dead or Alive Poster” put up all over South Africa.
In 1899 Churchill lost in his first attempt at election to the House of Commons, one of two bodies controlling Parliament in England. This was to be the first of many defeats in elections, as Churchill lost more elections than any other political figure in recent British history. But in 1900 he entered the House of Commons, in which he served off and on until 1964. Churchill's early years in politics were characterized by an interest in the radical reform (improvement) of social problems. The major intellectual achievement of this period of Churchill's life was his Liberalism and the Social Problem (1909). In this work he stated his belief in liberalism, or political views that stress civil rights and the use of government to promote social progress. Churchill was very active in the great reforming government of Lord Asquith between 1908 and 1912, and his work fighting unemployment was especially significant.
In 1912 Churchill became first lord of the Admiralty, the department of British government that controls the naval fleet. He switched his enthusiasm away from social reform to prepare Britain's fleet for a war that threatened Europe. While at the Admiralty Churchill suffered a major setback. He became committed to the view that the navy could best make an impact on the war in Europe (1914–18) by way of a swift strike through the Dardanelles, a key waterway in central Europe. This strategy proved unsuccessful, however, and Churchill lost his Admiralty post. In 1916 he was back in the army, serving for a time on the front lines in France.
Churchill soon re-entered political life. He was kept out of the Lloyd George War Cabinet by conservative hostility toward his style and philosophy. But by 1921 Churchill held a post as a colonial secretary. A clash with Turkish president Kemal Atatürk, however, did not help his reputation, and in 1922 he lost his seat in the House of Commons. The Conservative Party gained power for the first time since 1905, and Churchill began a long-term isolation, with few political allies.
In 1924 Churchill severed his ties with liberalism and became Chancellor of the Exchequer (British treasury) in Stanley Baldwin's (1867–1947) government. Churchill raised controversy when he decided to put Britain back on the gold standard, a system where currency equals the value of a specified amount of gold. Although he held office under Baldwin, Churchill did not agree with his position either on defence or on imperialism, Britain's policy of ruling over its colonies. In 1931 he resigned from the conservative "shadow cabinet" in protest against its Indian policy.
After the outbreak of the Second World War, on 3 September 1939 the day Britain declared war on Germany, Churchill was appointed First Lord of The Admiralty and a member of the War Cabinet, just as he had been during the first part of the First World War. When they were informed, the Board of the Admiralty sent a signal to the Fleet: "Winston is back". In this job, he proved to be one of the highest-profile ministers during the so-called “Phoney War”, when the only noticeable action was at sea. Churchill advocated the pre-emptive occupation of the neutral Norwegian iron-ore port of Narvik and the iron mines in Kiruna, Sweden, early in the war. However, Chamberlain and the rest of the War Cabinet disagreed, and the operation was delayed until the successful German Invasion of Norway.
On 10 May 1940, hours before the German invasion of France by a lightning advance through the Low Countries, it became clear that, following failure in Norway, the country had no confidence in Chamberlain's prosecution of the war and so Chamberlain resigned. The commonly accepted version of events states that Lord Halifax turned down the post of prime minister because he believed he could not govern effectively as a member of the House of Lords instead of the House of Commons. Although the prime minister does not traditionally advise the King on the formers successor, Chamberlain wanted someone who would command the support of all three major parties in the House of Commons.
A meeting between Chamberlain, Halifax, Churchill and David Margesson, the government Chief Whip, led to the recommendation of Churchill, and, as we are a constitutional monarch, King George VI asked Churchill to be prime minister and to form an all-party government. Churchill's first act was to write to Chamberlain to thank him for his support.
Churchill had been among the first to recognise the growing threat of Hitler long before the outset of the Second World War, and his warnings had gone largely unheeded. Although there was an element of British public and political sentiment favouring negotiated peace with a clearly ascendant Germany, among them the Foreign Secretary Lord Halifax.
Churchill nonetheless refused to consider an armistice with Hitler's Germany. His use of rhetoric hardened public opinion against a peaceful resolution and prepared the British for a long war. Coining the general term for the upcoming battle, Churchill stated in his “Finest Hour” speech to the House of Commons on 18 June 1940, "I expect that the Battle of Britain is about to begin." By refusing an armistice with Germany, Churchill kept resistance alive in the British Empire and created the basis for the later Allied Counter-attacks of 1942–45, with Britain serving as a platform for the supply of Soviet Union and the liberation of Western Europe.
In response to previous criticisms that there had been no clear single minister in charge of the prosecution of the war, Churchill created and took the additional position of Minister of Defence. He immediately put his friend and confidant, the industrialist and newspaper baron Lord Beaverbrook, in charge of aircraft production. It was Beaverbrook's business acumen that allowed Britain to quickly gear up aircraft production and engineering that eventually made the difference in the war.
Churchill's speeches were a great inspiration to the embattled British. His first speech as prime minister was the famous "I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat”.
He followed that closely with two other equally famous ones, given just before the Battle of Britain. One included the words:
... we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender.
The other:
Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves, that if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, “This was their finest hour”.
At the height of the Battle of Britain, his bracing survey of the situation included the memorable line “Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few” which engendered the enduring nickname “The Few” for the RAF fighter pilots who won it.
One of his most memorable war speeches came on 10 November 1942 at the Lord Mayor's Luncheon at Mansion House in London, in response to the Allied victory at the Second Battle of El Alamein. Churchill stated:
“This is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning”.
Without having much in the way of sustenance or good news to offer the British people, he took a risk in deliberately choosing to emphasise the dangers instead.
"Rhetorical power", wrote Churchill, "is neither wholly bestowed, nor wholly acquired, but cultivated."
As an Englishman I am proud we were able to stand alone from 1939 to the beginning of 1942 against Hitler, Stalin and the various Nazi quisling governments from continental Europe.
The final period of Churchill's career began with the British people rejecting him in the general election of 1945. In that election 393 Labour candidates were elected members of Parliament against 213 Conservatives and their allies. It was one of the most striking reversals of fortune in democratic history. It may perhaps be explained by the British voters' desire for social reform.
In 1951, the voters returned Churchill as prime minister. This was a belated thank you from the voters.
He resigned in April 1955 due to his age and health problems during his term in office. For many of the later years of his life, even his personal strength was not enough to resist the persistent cerebral arteriosclerosis, a brain disorder, from which he suffered. He died on January 24, 1965, and was given a state funeral.
Other famous people given the freedom of Portsmouth:
Freedom of the City
In addition, the Freedom of the City has been conferred on the following:
1895 - The Rt Hon The Baron McNaughton, PC
1898 - Field Marshal The Rt Hon The Earl Roberts, VC KP GCB GCSI GCIE PC
1901 - Alderman Sir John Baker, MP JP
1901 - General Sir Frederick Wellington John Fitzwygram, Baronet, MP
1905 - Alderman Sir William Pink, KLH JP
1906 - Alderman Sir T Scott Foster, JP
1921 - Field Marshal HRH The Duke of Connaught and Strathearn, KG
1924 - Alderman F G Foster, JP
1924 - The Rt Hon David Lloyd George, OM PC MP
1926 - HRH The Prince of Wales, KG
1927 - Major-General The Rt Hon J E B Seely, CB CMG DSO PC (Lord Mottistone)
1927 - The Rt Hon Sir William Johnson-Hicks Baronet, PC MP (Viscount Brentford)
1928 - Councillor Frank J Privett, JP
1928 - Alderman Sir Harold R Pink, JP FTCI
1942 - Admiral Sir William Janes, GCB
1946 - Field Marshal The Rt Hon The Viscount Montgomery of Alamein, KG PC GCB DSO
1950 - The Rt Hon Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill, KG OM CH MP
1966 - Alderman Albert Johnson
1966 - Alderman J P D Lacey, OBE JP
1968 - Sir Alec Rose
1976 - Admiral of the Fleet Earl Mountbatten of Burma, KG PC GCB OM GCS, GCIE GCVO DSO FRS
1979 - His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales, KG KT PC GCB
1991 - The Rt Hon Lord Callaghan of Cardiff, KG PC
1992 - Her Royal Highness The Princess of Wales
1995 - The Lord Judd of Portsea
1996 - Lady Daley, MBE
1997 - Herr Josef Krings, OBE
2000 - Present
2002 - Honorary Alderman Ian G Gibson, OBE
2003 - Milan Mandaric
2003 - Sir Alfred Blake, KCVO MC LLB DL
2003 - Brian Kidd
2008 - Harry Redknapp and Portsmouth Football Club's 2008 FA Cup winning Squad
Organizations Given Freedom of the City:
1950 - The Royal Hampshire Regiment
1959 - The Corps of Royal Marines
1965 - The Portsmouth Command of the Royal Navy
1992 - The Freedom bestowed on The Royal Hampshire Regiment transferred to The Princess of Wales's Regiment (Queen's and Royal Hampshire’s)
2003 - Portsmouth Football Club
2003 - HMS King Alfred Royal Naval Reserve
2007 - HMS Endurance
Sir Walter Raleigh 1552 to 1618 – British Icon- Portsmouth
Sir Walter Raleigh is one of Britain's greatest icons and is recognised worldwide as an English aristocrat, great sailor, navigator, frontierman's, writer, poet, soldier, courtier, spy and explorer and is also largely known for popularising tobacco and potato's in England. I thought it would be interesting to write the history of this famous icon from his early cloudybeginnings. Walter Raleigh was born on his father’s estate at Hays Burton, England. Little is known about Raleigh's birth. Some historians believe Raleigh was born in 1552, while others guess as late as 1554. In 1578, he joined forces with his half-brother Humphrey Gilbert to organize an exploratory venture in North America. However, the ships were prevented from sailing by a series of storms and eventually the expedition was cancelled. This failed effort was important to Raleigh because it had planted a seed within his mind - he was determined to establish English colonies in the New World. Raleigh’s reputation was enhanced by service at Munster during the Irish rebellion (1580). That contribution, coupled with immense personal charm, led to a close friendship with Elizabeth I and knighthood in 1585. Raleigh further increased his standing by helping to expose a plot by Catholic elements to depose the queen in favour of Mary, Queen of Scots. During the mid-1580s, Raleigh began efforts to establish permanent settlements in North America in an area he thoughtfully named Virginia, to honour his patroness the Virgin Queen. The culmination of these labours was the ill-fated Lost Colony on Roanoke Island under a Royal Patent. With the looming threat of the Spanish Armada (1588), Raleigh played a leading role at court in planning for the island's defence. Records do not indicate that Raleigh participated in the fighting, however. With the crown nearly hamstrung by an empty treasury, Raleigh provided the government with a new warship, the Ark Royal, in exchange for an IOU. In 1591 he secretly married Elizabeth Throckmorton, one of the Queen's ladies-in-waiting, without the Queen's permission, for which he and his wife were sent to the Tower of London. After his release, they retired to his estate at Sherborne, Dorset. Raleigh served briefly in Parliament in the 1590s, but his reputation was tarnished by his association with a group of poets known as the “school of night,” most of whom were widely known religious skeptics. An actual rupture with Elizabeth and imprisonment in the Tower of London occurred when the queen learned that Raleigh had secretly married one of her maids of honour, Elizabeth Throckmorton.
Following his release, Raleigh turned his attention In1594, to the "City of Gold" in South America and sailed to find it, publishing an exaggerated account of his experiences in a book that contributed to the legend of “El Dorado” in Guiana in South America. He explored portions of the Orinoco River and returned to England with only small amounts of gold.
Following the queen’s death in 1603, Raleigh’s enemies conspired against him and had him tried on charges of treason. Allegedly he had plotted against the accession of the new king, James I. A guilty verdict carried with it the death sentence, but James commuted the sentence to life imprisonment in the Tower of London.
Raleigh spent his confinement writing poetry, history, and tales of his adventures. In 1616, he managed to arrange release from prison in exchange for his promise to provide a huge ransom. He was to gather the treasure in Guiana and solemnly pledged that in doing so he would not disturb Spanish installations in the area.
The venture turned out to be an unmitigated failure. No gold was found. The group decided to attack a Spanish fort and Raleigh’s son was killed. He returned home in disgrace.
The Spanish ambassador protested Raleigh’s actions in Guiana and his earlier death sentence was reinstated. On October 29th 1618, he faced the executioner. As custom provided, he took the opportunity to examine the axe and is reported to have remarked, “This is a sharp medicine, but is a physician for all diseases.” His embalmed head was given to his wife, another customary practice, and she never let it out of her sight during the remaining 30 years of her life.
Sir Walter Raleigh was one of the most colourful figures of the Elizabethan Era and is important to World history because of his success in establishing permanent settlements in America and his world beating circumnavigation of the World.
Dr. John Dee An English 16th. Century Alchemist and Ghost Hunter- Portsmouth
English history is full of weird and wonderful characters and one of the most spooky characters was John Dee who was born in London on 13th July 1527 and died in 1608 and was a noted mathematician, Astronomer, Astrologer, Occultist, Navigator, Imperialist and consultant to Queen Elizabeth I. He devoted much of his life to the study of alchemy, divination and hermetic philosophy.
He visited Portsmouth a few times during his lifetime - mainly when embarking for Europe.
By the time of his death the whole of Europe new him as the Magician of Queen Elizabeth.
His writings are said to have influenced Shakespeare and he frequently consulted mediums in his attempts to communicate with spirits. Dee had a large library of books on witchcraft, the occult and magic.
When Queen Elizabeth I ascended the throne, Dee was asked by Lord Dudley to name a propitious day for the coronation. On this occasion he was introduced to the queen, who took lessons in the mystical interpretation of his writings, and made him great promises, which, however, were never fulfilled. In 1564 he again visited the continent, in order to present his Monas hieroglyphica to the Emperor Maximillian, to whom he had dedicated it. He returned to England in the same year; but in 1571 he was in Lorraine, whither two physicians were sent by the queen to his relief in a dangerous illness.
Returning to his home at Mortlake, in Surrey, he continued his studies, and made a collection of curious books and manuscripts, and a variety of instruments. In 1578 Dee was sent abroad to consult with German physicians and astrologers in regard to the illness of the queen. On his return to England, he was employed in investigating the title of the crown to the countries recently discovered by British subjects, and in furnishing geographical descriptions. Two large rolls containing the desired information, which he presented to the queen, are still preserved in the Cottonian Library. A learned treatise on the reformation of the calendar, written by him about the same time, is also preserved in the Ashmolean Library at Oxford.
From this period the philosophical researches of Dee were concerned entirely with necromancy. In 1581 he became acquainted with Edward Kelly, an apothecary, who had been convicted of forgery and had lost both ears in the pillory at Lancaster. He professed to have discovered the philosopher's stone, and by his assistance Dee performed various incantations, and maintained a frequent imaginary intercourse with spirits.
He began his experiments in trying to contact discarnate entities in 1581, mainly fuelled by strange dreams, feelings and mysterious noises within his home. On 25th May 1582 he recorded that he had made his first contact with the spirit world, through the medium of his crystal ball. This had taken Dee years of work to achieve, through studying the occult, alchemy and crystallomancy. Spirit contact would prove to be a major driving force behind Dee for the rest of his life.
Dee found contacting the spirits tiring, and started to employ gifted scryers so that he would be free to make extensive notes on the communications received. Dee had been working with a scryer called Barnabas Saul, until he had experienced some disturbing encounters, and could no longer see nor hear beings from the other realm, so in March 1582 Dee started to search for a work colleague.
Shortly afterwards Kelly and Dee were introduced by the Earl of Leicester to a Polish nobleman, Albert Laski, palatine of Siradz, devoted to the same pursuits, who persuaded them to accompany him to his native country.
They embarked for Holland in September 1583, and arrived at Laski's residence in February following. Upon Dee's departure the mob, believing him a wizard, broke into his house, and destroyed a quantity of furniture and books and his chemical apparatus. Dee and Kelly lived for some years in Poland and Bohemia in alternate wealth and poverty, according to the credulity or scepticism of those before whom they exhibited.
They professed to raise spirits by incantation; and Kelly dictated the utterances to Dee, who wrote them down and interpreted them.
Dee at length quarrelled with his companion, and returned to England in 1589. He was helped over his financial difficulties by the queen and his friends. In May of 1595 he became warden of Manchester College. In November 1604 he returned to Mortlake, where he died in December 1608, at the age of eighty-one, in the greatest poverty.
Aubrey describes him as "of a very fair, clear sanguine complexion, with a long beard as white as milk — a very handsome man — tall and slender. He wore a goune like an artist's goune with hanging sleeves." Dee's Speculum or mirror, a piece of solid pink-tinted glass about the size of an orange, is preserved in the British Museum.
Famous English and British Battles and Wars 59 AD to Present- Portsmouth
Soldiers in the trenches of the First World War would often quote that they fought for each other. It makes us English a united culture, the envy of so many around the world. It is part of the English Enigma. It is why the English can laugh at themselves and celebrate defeats. It is their confidence and their very character.
As Portsmouth is a Military and Royal Navy city and was the main port of departure from the UK for most wars over the centuries. Below is a list of famous battles and wars:
Queen Boudicca and the Rebellion of 59 AD Boudicca was the wife of Prasutagus, who was head of the Iceni tribe in East England, in what is now Norfolk and Suffolk. After Prasutagus died in 59 AD the Romans arrived to take over half the kingdom and seize control. To humiliate the former rulers, the Romans beat Boudicca publicly, raped their two daughters, seized the wealth of many Iceni and sold much of the royal family into slavery.
Led by Boudicca, about 100,000 British attacked Camulodunum (now Colchester), where the Romans had their main centre of rule. With Suetonius and most of the Roman forces away, Camulodunum was not well-defended, and the Romans were driven out. The Procurator Decianus was forced to flee. Boudicca's army burned Camulodunum to the ground; only the Roman temple was left.
Immediately Boudicca's army turned to the largest city in the British Isles, Londinium (London). Suetonius strategically abandoned the city, and Boudicca's army burned Londinium and massacred the 25,000 inhabitants who had not fled. Archaeological evidence of a layer of burned ash shows the extent of the destruction.
List of Anglo – Welsh Wars from 446 AD to 598 AD this is a list of wars and battles between the English or England and the Welsh from the Adventus Saxonum in c.446AD to the late middle Ages when they ceased.
The Battle of Mons Badonicus 490 - 517 AD The Battle of Mons Badonicus (English Mount Badon, Welsh Mynydd Baddon) was a battle between a force of Britons and an Anglo – Saxon army, probably sometime between 490 and 517 AD. Though it is believed to have been a major political and military event, there is no certainty about its date or place.
Battle of Edington – 878 AD In the late 9th century the Danes had slowly but surely infiltrated the British Isles and pushed back the Anglo-Saxon inhabitants. They already held the north and east of the country. A temporary defeat at Ashdown had interrupted, but not stopped, the Danish advances. Under Guthrum, they pushed into Wessex from the south and east. They launched a winter attack on a surprised King Alfred at his court of Chippenham.
The Battle of Ethandun by King Alfred the Great 878 AD Alfred won a decisive victory in the ensuing Battle of Ethandun, which may have been fought near Westbury, Wiltshire. He then pursued the Danes to their stronghold at Chippenham and starved them into submission. One of the terms of the surrender was that Guthrum convert to Christianity; and three weeks later the Danish king and 29 of his chief men were baptised at Alfred's court at Aller, near Athelney, with Alfred receiving Guthrum as his spiritual son.
Battles of Brunanburh 937 AD was an Anglo-Saxon victory in 937 by the army of Æthelstan, King of Angle-Land, and his brother, Edmund, over the combined armies of Olaf III Guthfrithson, Norse-Gael King of Dublin, Constantine II, King of Scots, and Owen I, King of Strathclyde.
The Battle of Maldon AD 991Took place on the shores of the River Blackwater in Essex. There was a heroic stand by the Anglo-Saxons against the Viking invasion which ended in utter defeat for Brithnoth and his men. The battle's progress is related in a famous Anglo-Saxon poem, only part of which survives.
Battle of Fulford - 1066 AD and Battle of Stamford Bridge – 1066.The Battle of Fulford, on the outskirts of York, has been overshadowed by the other great battles of 1066 at Stamford Bridge and Hastings.
The Battle of Hastings 1066 AD The Battle of Hastings which took place on October 14th. 1066 is considered to be the decisive battle resulting in the Norman conquest of England. The battle took place at Senlac Hill, about eighteen miles from Hastings.
Battle of The Standard or The Battle of Northallerton 1138 AD The Battle of the Standard, sometimes called the Battle of Northallerton, in which English Forces repelled a Scottish Army which took place on 22 August 1138 on Cowton Moor near Northallerton in Yorkshire.
Lincoln (First Battle of Lincoln) – 1141 AD the contest between Stephen of Blois and his cousin Maud ( Matilda ) for the throne of England was a messy affair, with first one side and then the other side gaining the upper hand. A supporter of Maud's cause, Ranulf de Tailebois, seized control of Lincoln Castle and fortified it against attack. The citizens of Lincoln appealed to King Stephen for help.
Lincoln ( Second Battle of Lincoln ) - 1217 AD King John's conflict with his powerful barons was at the root of the conflict known as the Battle of Lincoln Fair. The king was forced by his barons to sign the Magna Carta at Runnymede in 1215. Louis, Dauphin of France, sent troops to aid the baron's cause.
Battle of Lewes – 1264 AD The reign of Henry III was beset by conflict with the Barons. Henry's autocratic rule, his favouritism at Court towards unpopular French nobles, particularly his despised half-brothers, his foreign policies, and his refusal to discuss or negotiate policy with his Barons led ultimately to the Barons War of 1263 – 1267.
Battle of Evesham – 1265 AD The Battle of Evesham in 1265 restored Henry III to the English throne where he stayed until his death in 1272. He was succeeded by his son Edward I who went on to conquer Wales and nearly Scotland. Monks recovered de Montfort's mutilated body and buried him at Evesham Abbey. Today his grave is marked by a stone on which an inscription commemorates his death.
Battle of Stirling Bridge – 1297 AD In 1297 a commoner by the name of William Wallace was starting to oppose the English rule by attacking small English garrisons. The word soon spread throughout Scotland and in a short time Wallace soon had enough followers to defend Scotland. When Edward heard of Wallace and his followers, he decided to send a large English army to wipe out Wallace before he got too big. When the word got out that a large English army was heading for Stirling to meet Wallace, thousands of Scots came down from the Highlands to join Wallace and confront the advancing English army. They met at Stirling. The Scots heavily defeated the English at the Battle of Stirling Bridge (1297) which brought most of Scotland back to the Scots.
Battle of Falkirk – 1298 AD Wallace was knighted in 1298 and became a Guardian of Scotland, Wallace's army then continued over the border to ravage the north of England, sacking many towns and causing mayhem before returning back to Scotland. This prompted Edward into invading Scotland again. Edward's army advanced back into Scotland in 1298, and met Wallace at Falkirk.
Battle of Bannockburn – 1314 AD By 1314, only Stirling Castle was held by the English, and was not long till the Scots took it back. In a last attempt to stay in control of Scotland, Edward II and a large army marched north to relieve the castle. But was met by the Scots led by Robert the Bruce just outside of Stirling at Bannockburn.
The Hundred years War 1337 to 1453 AD The Hundred Years' War (French: Guerre de Cent Ans) was a series of separate wars lasting from 1337 to 1453 between two royal houses for the French throne, which was vacant with the extinction of the senior Capetian line of French kings.
The Battle of Crecy 1346 AD France, August 26, 1346: after a long march from Cherbourg to the town of Crécy, the invading English forces faced off against an overwhelmingly larger French and Genoese army. It was a battle royale that shook France and showed the lasting ability of the English to defeat overwhelming odds.
Battle of Stalling Down – 1405 AD Owain Glyndwr (variously called Glendower, Glyn Dwr, and Owain Gruffydd) was a noble Welshman and a descendent of Llewellyn the Last. For most of his life he lived - and fought - as an Englishman, but by 1400 his growing sense of Welsh patriotic pride - and a squabble over land with his English neighbour - led him to raise an insurrection against the English in Wales.
Battle of Agincourt 1415 AD On 11 August 1415, Henry V, the English king for two years, set sail for France with an army to substantiate his claim to the French Throne. His plan was to take Harfleur as a bridgehead before marching down the Seine to Paris and Bordeaux. There are a number of possible reasons for this campaign. It was an attempt not only to reclaim what Henry believed to be his lawful birth rights, the Duchy of Normandy and the French Throne, but also as a means of securing his reign by diverting attention from the problems at home. Moreover, it was not without provocation by the French who had raided the English coast. After a generation of defeats and setbacks, this English force held three main strengths. If properly deployed, the English archer was one of the most formidable fighting forces in Europe, the strength of Henry as a general and the disorder of the French leadership under the frequent insanity of a weak king.
List of Battles during War of the Roses: Yorkshire V Lancashire 1455 - 1487
1. The first Battle of St. Albans 1455
2. The Battle of Blore Heath 1459
3. The Battle of Northampton 1460
4. The Battle of Wakefield 1460
5. The Battle of Mortimer's Cross 1461
6. The Second Battle of St Albans – 1461 AD
7. The Battle of Ferry Bridge – 1461 AD
8. Battle of Towton – 1461 AD
9. The Battle of Hedgeley Moor 1464 AD
10. The Battle of Hexham 1464 AD
11. The Battle of Edgecote Moor 1469 AD
12. The Battle of Losecote Field 1470 AD
13. Battle of Barnet – 1471 AD
14. Battle of Tewkesbury – 1471 AD
15. Battle of Bosworth – 1485 AD
16. The Battle of Stoke – 1487 AD
Battle of Flodden – 1513 AD Even before the political significance of England's resounding thumping of the Scots at Flodden Field, where almost a third of the Scottish army were slaughtered in Northumbria, military historians have cause to note the Battle of Flodden Field. The most disastrous battle in Scotland's history was a watershed for medieval combat, where the decisive thrust of the longbow, so favoured by England, began to cede, giving way to a new weapon more suited to lusty battle at close quarters.
The Spanish Armada 1588 AD the spectacular but unsuccessful attempt by King Philip II of Spain to invade Elizabethan England. The Armada is for the us English the classic foreign threat to our country.
The English Civil War 1641 – 1651 AD The English Civil War (1641–1651) was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists. The first (1642–46) and second (1648–49) civil wars pitted the supporters of King Charles I against the supporters of the Long Parliament, while the third war (1649–51) saw fighting between supporters of King Charles II and supporters of the Rump Parliament. The Civil War ended with the Parliamentary victory at the Battle of Worcester on 3 September 1651.
Battle of Edgehill 1642 AD Edgehill was the first major set-piece battle of the Civil War. A clear victory for either side at this point could have meant a rapid end to the conflict. Instead a combination of the particular circumstances surrounding the battle and poor leadership of both armies saw the clash end indecisively. The war would drag on for four bloody years yet.
Battle of Marston Moor – 1644 AD Marston Moor has some claim to being the biggest battle ever fought on British soil, and it was certainly one of the most decisive in our history, tipping the scales in the Civil War very much the way of the Parliamentary cause.
Battle of Naseby 1645 AD The Battle of Naseby was the key battle of the first English Civil War. On the 14th of June 1645, the main army of King Charles I was destroyed by the Parliamentarian New Model Army under Sir Thomas Fairfax and Oliver Cromwell.
Battle of Worcester – 1651 AD in August 1651 Charles and his largely Scottish forces found themselves in Worcester, resting before either moving further south, or meeting Parliament's New Model Army in battle.
The Monmouth Rebellion 1685 AD The Monmouth Rebellion of 1685 AD was an attempt to overthrow James II, who had become King of England, King of Scots and King of Ireland at the death of his elder brother Charles II on 6 February 1685. James II was unpopular because he was Roman Catholic and many people were opposed to a papist king. James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth, an illegitimate son of Charles II, claimed to be rightful heir to the throne and attempted to displace James II. The rebellion ended with the defeat of Monmouth's forces at the Battle of Sedgemoor on 6 July 1685. Monmouth was executed for treason on 15 July, and many of his supporters were executed or transported in the "Bloody Assizes" of Judge Jeffrey’s.
Battle of Sedgemoor - 1685 AD took place at Westonzoyland near Bridgwater in Somerset, England. It was the final battle of the Monmouth Rebellion and followed a series of skirmishes around south west England between the forces of James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth and the crown he was trying to take. The royalist forces prevailed and about 500 troops captured. Monmouth escaped from the battlefield but was later captured and taken to London for trial and execution.
The War of the Spanish Succession (the Duke of Marlborough) 1701-1714 AD Battle of Blenheim 1704 , Battle of Ramillies 1706
The War of the Austrian Succession 1742 to 1748 AD
Battles of: Dettingen 1743, Fontenoy, Roucoux and Lauffeldt.
The Jacobite Rebellion 1745 to 1746 AD
The Jacobite Risings were a series of uprisings, rebellions, and wars in the British Isles occurring between 1688 and 1746. The uprisings were aimed at returning James VII of Scotland and II of England, and later his descendants of the House of Stuart, to the throne after he was deposed by Parliament during the Glorious Revolution. The series of conflicts takes its name from Jacobus, the Latin form of James. Battles of: Prestonpans, Falkirk and Battle of Culloden 1746.
The Seven Years War 1756 to 1763 AD
The Seven Years War was the first global conflict. It had two main fronts. The first, in Europe, was the hostility between Prussia and Austria, still simmering after the War of the Austrian Succession , which expanded through alliances to include all of Europe.
Battles of : Rossbach 1757, Minden 1759, Quebec 1759, Emsdorff 1760, Warburg 1760, Kloster Kamp 1760, Vellinghausen 1761 and Wilhelmstadt 1762.
The French and Indian War 1755 to 1763 AD
Braddock on the Monongahela, Ticonderoga 1758, Louisburg and Quebec 1759.
The American Revolutionary War 1775 to 1783 AD
Battles of: Concord and Lexington, Bunker Hill, Quebec 1775 - 1776, Long Island, Harlem Heights, White Plains, Fort Washington, Trenton, Princeton, Ticonderoga 1777, Hubbardton, Bennington 1777, Brandywine Creek, Freeman's Farm, Paoli, Germantown, Saratoga, Monmouth 1778, Camden, King's Mountain, Cowpens, Jersey 1781, Guilford Courthouse and Yorktown.
Battle of The Nile 1798 AD
The Battle of the Nile was Nelson's famous victory over the French fleet on 1st August 1798, leaving Napoleon stranded with his army in Egypt. It was fought in Aboukir bay near Alexandria, Egypt, on the 1st and 2nd of August 1798. The British fleet was under the command of Rear Admiral Horatio Nelson and the French fleet under Admiral Paul D'Brueys.
Battle of Trafalgar 1805 AD
The Battle of Trafalgar was fought on the 21st of October 1805 off Cape Trafalgar on the Spanish coast, between the combined fleets of Spain and France and the Royal Navy. It was the last great sea action of the period and its significance to any invasion of England by the French and Spanish was ended and helped in the dominance of the Seas by us British for over 100 years.
The Napoleonic Wars 1802 to 1814 AD
Trafalgar and Quatre Bras.
The Peninsular War 1808 to 1814 AD
Vimeiro, Corunna, Douro, Talavera, Busaco, Barossa, Fuentes de Onoro, Albuera, Salamanca and Vitoria.
The War of 1812 AD between USA and GB On June 18, 1812, the United States stunned the world by declaring war on Great Britain. Supporting its allies in Spain and Portugal, Britain's army was on the Iberian Peninsula, involved in a struggle with Napoleon Bonaparte, who had marshalled the forces of Revolutionary France under his penumbra.
Despite losing the Thirteen Colonies to George Washington and the American revolutionaries twenty-five years earlier, England, like many on the European continent, did not take the United States that seriously. Despite the fact that most of Britain's supplies for the Napoleonic war came from America and Canada -from beef to feed the Duke of Wellington's army, to the oak trees essential to maintain Britain's majestic navy. Britain found itself faced with another war, a war they had assiduously tried to avoid.
The Battle of Waterloo AD 1815
the Battle of Waterloo took place near Waterloo, Belgium on June 18, 1815. In this battle, the forces of the French Empire under the leadership of Michael Ney and the Dictator Napoleon Bonaparte were defeated by an Anglo-Allied Army commanded by the Duke of Wellington.
The First Afghan War 1839 to 1842 AD in which Britain suffered the humiliation of a British and Indian force massacred by Afghan tribesmen as they struggled to reach India from Kabul and saw an Army of Retribution exact revenge.
Battles: Ghuznee, Kabul and Gandamak, Jellalabad and Kabul 1842.
The Second Afghan War 1879 to 1882 AD which saw three British/Indian armies invade Afghanistan, fighting the battles of Ali Masjid and Peiwar Kotal, the death of the British envoy Cavagnari in the Billa Hissar citadel at Kabul and the second invasion of Afghanistan by General Roberts, leading to the battles of the Sherpur Cantonment (Kabul), Ahmed Khel, the disaster of Maiwand and the final victory of Kandahar, following Roberts' spectacular march from Kabul. Battles: Ali Masjid, Peiwar Kotal, Charasiab, Kabul 1879, Ahmed Khel, Maiwand, Kandahar.
The First Sikh Wars 1845-1846 AD The Sikhs fought First Anglo Sikh War with the British and lost Kashmir as they were defeated in the battle.
The Second Sikh War 1848-1849 AD
The Second Anglo-Sikh War fell out between the Sikh Empire and the British Empire. The war led to the subjugation of the Sikh kingdom and the annexation of Punjab and what subsequently became the North-West Frontier Province by the British East India Company.
The Crimean War 1854 to 1856 AD everyone interested in history has an impression of the Crimean war, if only because of the famous battle of the Charge of the Light Brigade, mistakenly charging the Russian cannon at the battle of Baklava in the aftermath of the Heavy Brigade's triumph in breaking the Russian line. The latter passed into oblivion but the former took on immortality after Alfred Tennyson, doing a good day's work as Poet Laureate. The battles included: Alma, Balaclava, Inkerman and Sevastopol.
World War One 1914 – 1918 The start of World War 1 was caused by the assassination of Archduke Francis Ferdinand on on June 14th. 1914 and the alliances throughout Europe which led to the First World War
World War Two 1939-1945 Europe : Adolf Hitler came to power in Germany 1933. He rearmed the country, in violation of a treaty signed after World War One, and soon began to threaten other European nations. After the invasion of Poland in 1939 Britain and France declared war on Germany and Italy declared war on Britain and France. At this time in 1939 the Soviet Union had a pact with Germany. After the fall of France, Britain and its Commonwealth stood alone for 18 months against Hitler and Stalin. Once Hitler invaded the Soviet Union, Britain signed an accord with the Soviet Union against Hitler. The end of the war came shortly after Hitler committed suicide at the end of April 1945.
World War Two 1941-1945 Japan in December 1941 The Japanese bombed pearl Harbour and declared war on the USA. Hitler shortly afterwards declared war on the USA. This led to Britain to declare war on japan.
The Soviet Union joined Britain and its Commonwealth plus the USA in the war against Japan, and shortly after the soviets joining war against Japan the USA dropped a second Atom Bomb and shortly afterwards Tokyo surrendered within days, with V-J Day declared on 15 August 1945. On 2 September 1945 World War II ended when representatives of Japan signed the instruments of surrender aboard the battleship USS Missouri (BB 63) in Tokyo Bay.
The Korean War 1950-1957 The first British units to arrive at Pusan on 28 August 1950 were the 1st Battalion the Middlesex Regiment and 1st Battalion the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders under the 27th British Infantry Brigade.
The Suez Conflict 1956 AD In 1956, the Suez Canal became the focus of a major world conflict. The canal represents the only direct means of travel from the Mediterranean to the Indian Ocean, making it vital to the flow of trade between Asia, the Middle East, Europe, and the U.S. Normally, free passage was granted to all who used the canal, but Britain and France desired control of it, not only for commercial shipping, but also for colonial interests. The Egyptian government had just been taken over by Gamal Abdel Nasser, who felt the canal should be under Egyptian control. The United States and Britain had promised to give aid to Egypt in the construction of the Asw_n High Dam in the Nile. This aid was retracted however, and in retaliation Nasser nationalized the canal. He intended to use the funds raised from the operation of the canal to pay for the Dam.
The Falklands War 1982 AD The Falklands War started on Friday, 2 April 1982 with the Argentine invasion and occupation of the Falkland Islands and South Georgia, and ended with the Argentine surrender on 14 June 1982. The war lasted 74 days, and resulted in the deaths of 255 British and 649 Argentine soldiers, sailors, and airmen, and three civilian Falklanders. It is the most recent conflict to be fought by the UK without any allied states and the only external Argentine war since the 1880s.
The First Iraq War 1990-1991 AD international conflict that was triggered by Iraq's invasion of Kuwait on August 2, 1990. Iraq's leader, Ṣaddām Ḥussein, ordered the invasion and occupation of Kuwait with the apparent aim of acquiring that nation's large oil reserves, cancelling a large debt Iraq owed Kuwait, and expanding Iraqi power in the region.
The Second Gulf War 2003 AD to 2008 prior to the war, the governments of the United States and the United Kingdom claimed that Iraq's alleged possession of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) posed a threat to their security and that of their coalition/regional allies. These were lies by Tony Blair and George W. Bush just to get the support of the UN and the populations of the Brits and Yanks.
The on-going Afghan War 2001 to present the War in Afghanistan is an on-going coalition conflict which began on October 7, 2001, as the US military's Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) that was launched, along with the British military, in response to the September 11th 2001 attacks on the US. The UK has, since 2002, led its own military operation, Operation Herrick, as part of the same war in Afghanistan. The character of the war evolved from a violent struggle against Al-Qaeda and its Taliban supporters to a complex counterinsurgency effort. The aim is to leave Afghanistan in 2014.
10 Turning Points that could have lost GB WW2- Portsmouth
I believe that during WW2 "Fate" seemed to be on the side of Great Britain. Ask yourselves What were the turning points of WW2 that could have meant defeat for GB and the whole of Europe becoming dominated by the Nazi's. Below is a list of turning points that I think could have gone either way. We English have always fought. It is part of our makeup, and provides much of our history. But what makes us so good at being Warriors is our ethos. The ability to stand side by side as ‘shoulder companions' in any conflict and fight for ‘each other'. The Nazi's during WW2 found this out and consequently lost. This is the reason for nearly 1,000 years why England has never been invaded.
1) Winston Churchill Boer War escape.
If Sir Winston Churchill had been caught by the Boers after he had escaped from prison, he would have been shot and he would not have been able to lead Great Britain during WW2. There were Dead or Alive posters posted all through South Africa concerning Winston Churchill's escape.
2) The Phony War
After the fall of France most of Mainland Europe were conquered and occupied by the Nazi's and during the following 18 months, Britain and its Commonwealth stood alone against Germany and its allies including the Soviets. If the Soviets had decided to join Germany by attacking GB then we may have lost the war.
3) British RADAR
Development work in 1937 led to "beamed radar" for airborne sets and for Coastal Defense (CD) radar that operated on 1.5 m wavelength. The CD system was also called the Chain Home Low (CHL). The CHL used a rotating antenna, which rotated at 1-2.3 rpm and had a range of 160 km with an azimuth accuracy of 1.5 degrees. The Navy used a similar set to the CHL. Called the type 281; it was tested on the HMS Dido in October of 1940 and the HMS Prince of Wales in January of 1941. Over 59 sets were produced during the war. This set could operated on a wavelength of 50 cm and it could locate ships up to a distance of 20 km. Without Radar during the Battle of Britain GB would have lost the battle and been invaded shortly afterwards.
4) Battle of Britain
Towards the end of the Battle of Britain, Britain begun slowly running out of aircraft and pilots. The Germans were targeting airfields and then suddenly changed direction and started to bomb London over a period of days. This gave the RAF time to repair the airfields and replace the damaged aircraft. The other result of losing the Battle of Britain would have been the Invasion of Britain by the Germans.
5) The Battle of Dunkirk
Dunkirk was a battle in the Secomnd World War between the Allies and Germany. A part of the Battle of France on the Western Front, the Battle of Dunkirk was the defence and evacuation of British and allied forces in Europe from 24 May to 4 June 1940.
In one of the most widely-debated decisions of the war, Adolf Hitler ordered his generals to halt for three days, giving the Allies time to organise an evacuation and build a defensive line. If Hitler had told his troops to continue to Dunkirk GB would have lost the War. Despite the Allies' gloomy estimates of the situation, with Britain discussing a conditional surrender to Germany,in the end over 338,000 Allied troops were rescued.
6) Japan's Declaring war on the USA
After the japanese declared war on the USA by bombing its Naval base at Pearl harbour, Hitler also made the mistake of declaring war on the USA. If Hitler hadn't declared war on the USA then the Americans may not have become British allies for years in the future.
7) Breaking of enigma code in 1940,
If the British hadn't cracked the ULTRA enigma code than the war would have lasted longer and maybe even had lost the war.
8) Using first computer "COLOSSUS" to break higher settings enigma code in 1943
Colossus was built for the code-breakers at Bletchley Park by Tommy Flowers and his team of post office engineers in 1943. Using standard post office equipment, Tommy Flowers developed a machine that could work at 5000 characters a second, four times faster than anything built before. He went on to develop Colossus Mark 2, which could work at five time faster than the original Colossus.
The computer was as big as a room - 5 metres long, 3 metres deep and 2.5 metres high - and weighed over a ton. Colossus worked by 'reading', through a photoelectric system, a teleprinter tape containing the letters of the coded message. It read5,000 letters a second.
All possible combinations of the coded message were checked with the cypher key generated by Colossus. A teleprinter typed out the results of Colossus's search, revealing the settings which had been used by the Germans to send their messages. Ten Colossus Mark 2s were eventually built. A complete Mark 2 Colossus machine has recently been rebuilt and is on display at Bletchley Park.
The information revealed by the code-breakers at Bletchley Park was called ULTRA. ULTRA was so secret that only those who needed to know about it - like the British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill - were told of its existence. The use of this first computer helped in the organising of the D-DAy Landings. If we hadn't had Colossus's then the war could have lasted longer or been lost.
9) D-Day landing and deception of Landing Ground
Operation Overlord was the code name for the operation that launched the invasion of German-occupied western Europe during World War II by Allied forces. The operation commenced on 6 June 1944 with the Normandy landings (commonly known as D-Day). A 12,000-plane airborne assault preceded an amphibious assault involving almost 7,000 vessels. Nearly 160,000 troops crossed the English Channel on 6 June; more than 3 million troops were in France by the end of August.
Allied land forces that saw combat in Normandy on D-Day itself came from Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States of America. The Free French forces and Polish forces also participated in the battle after the assault phase, and there were also minor contingents from Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Greece, the Netherlands and Norway. Other Allied nations participated in the naval and air forces. Once the beachheads were secured, a three-week military buildup occurred on the beaches before Operation Cobra, the operation to break out from the Normandy beachhead, began. The battle for Normandy continued for more than two months, with campaigns to expand the foothold on France, and concluded with the closing of the Falaise pocket on 24th August, the liberation of Paris on 25th August, and the German retreat across the Seine which was completed on 30th August 1944. If the D-Day landings had failed then we could possibly had lost the war and I as an Englishman would be speaking german.
10) V1 and V2 Rockets introduced to late to affect outcome of war and Allies destroying bases
The V1 and V2 Rockets were devised to cause major devastion. In 1943 intelligence of a new threat to Britain's cities began to emerge - missiles and rockets. The V1 missile, once launched, flew without a pilot until it ran out of fuel and came crashing down, blowing up. The V2 rocket was a long distance weapon that could travel at the speed of sound. If they had neen introduced at the start of the war then GB would have lost the war.
Thomas Telford Victorian Engineer 1757 to 1834
One of the most famous victorian engineers was Sir thomas Telford who built the world's first Iron Bridge. I thought it would be of interest to write about his life and accomplishments seeing as he worked and lived in Pportsmouth. Sir Thomas Telford was born in Westerkirk, Scotland on August 9th 1757. He was a stonemason, architect and civil engineer - a noted road-, bridge- and canal- builder. Was the son of a shepherd and was born in Westerkirk, Scotland in 1757.
At the age of 14 he was apprenticed to a stonemason, and some of his earliest work can still be seen on the bridge across the river Esk in Langholm in the Scottish borders. He worked for a time in Edinburgh and in 1782 he moved to London where (after meeting architects Robert Adam and Sir William Chambers) he was involved in building additions to Somerset House. 1784 Two years later he found work at Portsmouth dockyard and - although still largely self-taught - was extending his talents to the specification, design and management of building projects.
In 1787, through his wealthy patron William Pulteney, he became Surveyor of Public Works for Shropshire, England. At this time, 'civil engineering' was a discipline still in its infancy, so Telford was set on establishing himself as an architect. His projects included renovation of Shrewsbury's Castle, the town's prison (during planning of which he met leading prison reformer John Howard), a church (St Mary Magdalene) in Bridgnorth and another at Madeley.
As county surveyor, Telford was also responsible for bridges. In 1790 he designed a bridge carrying the London-Holyhead road over the Severn river at Montford, the first of some 40 bridges he built in Shropshire, including major crossings of the Severn at Buildwas, Bridgnorth and Bewdley. The Buildwas bridge was Telford's first iron bridge (he was heavily influenced by the famous bridge at Ironbridge), but was 30 ft (10 m) wider in span and half the weight. As his engineering prowess grew, Telford was to return to this material again and again.
Telford's reputation in Shropshire led to his appointment in 1793 to manage the detailed design and construction of the Ellesmere Canal, linking the ironworks and collieries of Wrexham via the north-west Shropshire town of Ellesmere, with Chester (utilising the existing Chester Canal), and then the River Mersey.
Among other structures, this canal involved building an aqueduct over the River Dee in the Vale of Llangollen; for the spectacular Pontcysyllte Aqueduct, Telford used a new method of construction consisting of troughs made from cast iron plates and fixed in masonry.
Eminent canal engineer William Jessop oversaw the project, but the detailed execution of the project was very much left in Telford's hands.
The Ellesmere Canal was finally completed in 1805 but alongside his canal responsibilities, Telford's reputation as a civil engineer meant he was constantly consulted on numerous other projects. These included water supply works for Liverpool, improvements to London's docklands and the rebuilding of London Bridge (c.1800).
Most notably (and, again, William Pulteney was influential in his 1801 appointment), Telford devised a masterplan to improve communications in the Highlands of Scotland, a massive project that was to last some 20 years. It included the building of the Caledonian Canal along the Great Glen (and redesign of sections of the Crinan Canal), some 920 miles of new roads, over a thousand new bridges, numerous harbour improvements (including works at Aberdeen, Dundee, Peterhead and Banff, to name but four), and 32 new churches.
Telford also undertook highway works in the Scottish Lowlands, including 184 miles of new roads and numerous bridges, ranging from a 112 ft (34 m) span stone bridge across the Dee at Tongueland in Kirkcudbright (1805-1806) to the 129 ft (39 m) tall Cartland Crags bridge near Lanark (1822).
Telford was consulted in 1806 by the King of Sweden about the construction of a canal between Gothenburg and Stockholm. His plans were adopted and construction of the Göta canal began in 1810. Telford travelled to Sweden at that time to oversee some of the more important initial excavations.
During his later years, Telford was responsible for rebuilding sections of the London to Holyhead road (a task completed by his assistant of ten years, John MacNeill; today, the route is the A5 trunk road). Between London and Shrewsbury, most of the work amounted to improvements (including the Archway cutting in north London and improvements at Barnet and South Mimms). Beyond Shrewsbury, and especially beyond Llangollen, the work often involved building a highway from scratch. Notable features of this section of the route include the iron bridge across the River Conwy at Betws-y-Coed, the ascent from there to Capel Curig and then the descent from the pass of Nant Ffrancon towards Bangor.
On the island of Anglesey a new embankment across the Stanley Sands to Holyhead was constructed, but the crossing of the Menai Straits was the most formidable challenge, finally overcome by the Menai Suspension Bridge (1819-1826).
Telford also worked on the north Wales coast road between Chester and Bangor, including another major
suspension bridge at Conwy, opened later the same year as its counterpart at Menai.
(The punning nickname Colossus of Roads was given to Telford by his friend and Poet Laureate Robert Southey.)
Other works by Telford include the St Katharine Docks (1824-1828) close to Tower Bridge in central London, the Gloucester and Berkeley Ship Canal (today known as the Gloucester and Sharpness Canal), the second Harecastle Tunnel on the Trent and Mersey Canal (1827), and the Birmingham and Liverpool Junction Canal (today part of the Shropshire Union Canal) - started in May 1826 but finished, after Telford's death, in January 1835. At the time of its construction in 1829, Galton Bridge was the longest single span in the world.
In 1820, Telford was appointed the first President of the recently formed Institution of Civil Engineers, a post he held until his death on September 2nd 1834. He was buried in Westminster Abbey.
When a new town was being built in the Wrekin area of Shropshire in 1968, it was named Telford in his honour.
Thomas Telford's works can be seen all over Europe: they include a canal in the English midlands, canal tunnels in the north country, the Gota Canal in Sweden; St. Katherine Docks in London and roads that opened up the Scottish Highlands. If any Britain made a difference to countless generations, it surely was Thomas Telford. His work in improving highways and bridges, canals and road made much of the Industrial Revolution possible, for they provided means of transporting, men, machinery, raw materials and finished goods.
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The Chinese call Britain 'The Island of Hero's' which I think sums up what we British are all about.
We British are inquisitive and competitive and are always looking over the horizon to the next adventure and discovery.
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