A Brief History of Portsmouth

The history of Portsmouth pre-dates the emergenceside and blockaded the port.
of the city as a harbour of strategic importance to theDuring the 18th century the city continued to prosper,
defense of the country. Whilst much is written of thelargely due to the fortunes of the port. On 26th
city from the time of the Plantagenets, the nameNovember 1703 a great storm broke during which 13
Portsmouth first appears in 286AD when a Roman'men-of-war' and over 800 houses were wrecked.
sea captain 'Carausius' was sent by Rome to whatDuring this century the area now known as Portsea
was already the naval harbour of Portsmouth todeveloped, this resulted in the original harbour area of
suppress piracy. In 897 King Alfred was usingPortsmouth becoming known as Old Portsmouth. In
Portsmouth as a naval base, launching attacks on1729 the royal naval academy was established in the
marauding Danes along the south coast and Solent incity, where it remained until 1872, when it was moved
particular. It was in 1194 that King Richard I gaveto Greenwich. In 1811 piped water arrived in Portsmouth,
Portsmouth a Royal Carter granting it city status, whilstfor those who could afford it and street gas lighting
waiting to set sail from Portsmouth for France with 100started to be installed in 1820. By 1871 the population
ships.had swollen to over 100,000 and it wasn't long before
Despite being known now as the home of the navy,Portsmouth Cholera and Smallpox epidemics were
Portsmouth was for several hundred years known toraging through the city.
have served as a great military gathering point forIn 1914 the city again became a major point of
expeditions onto the continent of Europe. The Roundembarkation for troops going to France and Belgium to
Tower was built in the early 15th century, as the firstfight in the First World War; this was repeated again
line of defence for the harbour. Originally the Roundduring the Second World War, not least as an
Tower was built of wood then some sixty years later,embarkation point for the D-Day landings. By 1936 the
it was re-built with stone. The square Tower was builtpopulation of Portsmouth had risen to 260,000. Air
during the reign of King Henry VIII. In 1449 all of theraids during the Second World War not only hit and
city's inhabitants were excommunicated by the Popeaffected the naval docks, but also the housing stock
when the Bishop of Chichester was murdered byof the city. So, after the war a major slum clearance
seamen from Portsmouth who had not been paid theirand house building programme was instigated by the
dues by him. It wasn't until 1508 that thecity council, which continued right up to the 1970s.
excommunication was lifted, during which time anyWhilst the slums desperately needed clearing the result
misfortune was attributed to it. A year of greatis that a lot of the densely packed new housing now
significance to the future prosperity of Portsmouthlooks bland and full of 'tower blocks'. Between the
was 1495, as in this year King Henry VII gave the firstwars 23,000 men were employed in the naval
order to build a dry dock. Not only was this the first indockyards. By 1950 this had dwindled to 9,000 and is
Portsmouth, it was the first in the country.now around 2,000. In 1951 46% of the jobs in the city
In 1545 the Mary Rose sank in the harbour whilst tryingwere in manufacturing, but by 1966 this had fallen to
to sail out to the Solent to engage in battle with an14% and is now below 10%. However, the city built
invading French fleet. It just so happened on that dayseveral business and industrial parks and has been
that King Henry VIII was watching from the city'ssuccessful in attracting alternative employers to the
fortifications, which lead to Portsmouth beingcity. IBM and Zurich Financial Services being two such
accredited with the birth of The English nationalcompanies. Like many cities, Portsmouth is again
anthem. Apparently, "God save King Henry" wasre-building itself and developing a more open feel as
shouted out, to which the populous replied "Long tobest it can. The raising of the Mary Rose in 1982 gave
reign over us"! Contrary to popular belief the firsta tremendous boost to its tourist trade and the city is
National Lottery in England was not held in 1988, it wasnow looking forward with its £200 million
actually 1561. Queen Elizabeth I decided thedevelopment of the docks area. In 2005 Portsmouth
fortifications of Portsmouth needed strengthening andwas the centre of the celebrations marking the 200th
to pay for it organised a scheme whereby 400,000anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar, which included a
tickets were sold at 10 shillings (about £0.50p)Fleet Review by HM Queen Elizabeth II.
each. With a first prize of £5000 it's theFamous people with connections to Portsmouth
equivalent of a modern day lottery win ofinlcude:
£5,000,000. However, to buy a ticket in the firstIsambard Kingdom Brunel - Engineer - Born 1806.
place you had to be pretty rich as 10 shillings wasCharles Dickens - Author - Born 1812.
about a fortnight's wages for an average worker inRudyard Kipling - Author - Resident 1870s.
Tudor times. The raffle netted £200,000 and theArthur Conan Doyle - Author & founding member
total value of all the prizes was around £7,500.of Portsmouth FC - Resident 1880s.
During the English Civil war Portsmouth was essentiallyHubert George (HG) Wells - Author - Resident 1880s
a Royalist stronghold, but did eventually fall to theJames Callaghan - British Prime Minister - Born 1912.
Parliamentarians when the navy went over to their