27th December 2009
Added article by Philip Wray on the Dockyard 'New Buildings' to the Places section.
10th December 2009 - 1860 Project Bulletin #5
A revised version of the Battery Row page has been placed online. It has been completely re-written with extra photographs and the documentary evidence. This revision took so long to complete it showed that re-writing every page would take months which is not what was intended. This aspect of the update will therefore be put on hold for the time being to make way for adjustments to the model around the south end of High Street before returning to the modelling of the buildings from No. 84 northwards.
4th December 2009 - 1860 Project Bulletin #4
The navigation system used for the project has now been totally revamped. Three methods of navigation are now available, one using a clickable map, one using drop-down links to each page and a simplified tour of the work to date. All is explained on the new Navigation Page
30th November 2009 - 1860 Project Bulletin #3
This past week has been devoted to setting up a consistent layout for the research on each page. They will now begin with an introduction and survey of the visual evidence available from photographs, drawings and maps. This will be followed by the documentary evidence which will consist of extracts from the 1861 Census returns, the relevant contemporary directories and the 1861 Rent Rolls. The final section will summarise the evidence and explain the decisions which guided the construction of the models. The pages from the west side of High Street have already been converted to this format. The rest will follow in due course.
18th November 2009 - 1860 Project Bulletin #2
The OS Maps that have been used in the project so far were surveyed in 1861 and printed in 1865 and 1867. They are at a scale of 1:500 which makes them ideal for the purpose of building the model. Copies have been available at both the Central Library and the Records Office but in both instances they are in a rather poor condition. What is of more importance is that neither set of maps has been scanned which has meant that the project has been based on photographs of them and this is far from ideal. This week however scans have been obtained from the Frewen Library at Portsmouth University and for this thanks must go to David Sherren the Map Librarian. The copies there were obtained when the Ordnance Survey recently sold off its paper archive and the University had the good fortune to obtain the whole collection of Hampshire maps (weighing several tons). However, there is a downside. These maps have been censored and all references to military installations have been removed. This has left a lot of white space, even the Garrison Church is absent. Luckily the copies in the Library and Record Office do contain the military works. The relevant sections will have to be patched into the scans.
14th November 2009 - 1860 Project Bulletin #1
The project has now reached Oyster Street and this seems like a suitable time to have a break to re-assess the work to date. The project has proceeded thus far on a somewhat piecemeal basis and as a result has become rather unwieldy. Various correspondents have mentioned the poor navigation around the project, the different presentations of research and the lack of a map. Added to this, most of the buildings on the east side of High street were not placed accurately, neither in respect to each other nor to the OS Map of the 1860s. Lastly the research has not taken account of the 1861 Census or made full use of the available Trade Directories. All of these issues will be addressed in the coming weeks; the modelling will hopefully be resumed in mid December.
8th November 2009
Added an article on The Death of Mary Palmer to the People section.
5th November 2009
Added Nos. 82-83 High Street to the 1860 model.
29th October 2009
Added an article on The Siege of Portsmouth in the Civil War to the Events section.
22nd October 2009
Added Nos. 78-81 High Street to the 1860 model.
13th October 2009
Added our second article originating from the WEA Local History Group. "The Point Boy" was written in the 1980s and tells the story of one boy's life working for Portsmouth Tramways from the 1920s.
11th October 2009
Added Nos. 75-77 High Street to the 1860 model.
6th October 2009
Added articles on the life of Sarah Robinson, founder of the Soldier's Institute and on Eastney Fort East.
3rd October 2009
Added Nos. 73-74 High Street to the 1860 model.
21st September 2009
Added Nos. 70-72 High Street to the 1860 model.
17th September 2009
Launched new Chronology of Events in Portsmouth from AD500. It is spread over 7 pages, all of which can be accessed from the index of articles in the Events Section. Also added lists of Commanders-in-Chief, Portsmouth and Dockyard Superintendents to the People Section.
28th August 2009
Added two articles to the People section, Some Men of Portsmouth 11th-18th Centuries by William Gates and Alfred T Everitt and George Stebbings, Instrument Maker
25th August 2009
Added Nos. 67-69 High Street to the 1860 model
22nd July 2009
Added Nos. 65 and 66 High Street, plus the King James Gate Guard House to the 1860 model
14th July 2009
Modified the file structure on the 1860 (Old Portsmouth) Project, so if any bookmarks you may have for this section don't work you will have to re-assign them. Sorry. All of the links have been checked to ensure they have been updated but if you find one that was missed please let me know.
25th June 2009
Added the South-West Section of the Fortifications to the 1860 model, and, a description of the fortifications written by Henry and Julian Slight in 1828.
16th June 2009
Added The Stations of the Royal Navy in 1860 to the Events section. This is a list of all the major ships in the Royal Navy in that year.
3rd June 2009
Added the Southern Section of the Fortifications to the 1860 model. Part of it is still in the process of construction.
20th May 2009
Added articles on The Poor of Portsmouth and the 'Billys and Charleys' of Wymering to the Events section.
18th May 2009
Added article on The Jews at Portsmouth to 1900 to the People section and a story of A Terrible Accident on the Ramparts to the Events section.
12th May 2009
Added article entitled The Time Team at Governor's Green to the Events Section and a brief biography of William Dawes, Royal Marine and Astronomer to the People Section.
27th April 2009
Added Battery Row to the 1860 model.
21st April 2009
Added two new articles to the Events section - Portsmouth's Defences and the Threat of Invasion in 1852 and The Portsmouth Mental Health Service, 1926-1952
7th April 2009
Phew!! After nearly two years work on the 1860 Project the model of the south-east side of High Street is complete. See the final publication from this side, Nos. 61-64 High Street.
31st March 2009
Added an article on The Representation of Portsmouth in Parliament by William Gates to the Events section
26th March 2009
Added the south side of Grand Parade to the 1860 model
20th March 2009
Added a section on the Members of the Town Council of Portsmouth (1531-1835), including full lists of the Aldermen and Burgesses.
8th March 2009
Added a list of the Vicars of Portsmouth (1260-2009) and the Vicars of Portsea (1509-2009) to the People section.
5th March 2009
Added the north side of Grand Parade to the 1860 model
3rd March 2009
Began a transcription of the History of Portsmouth as it appeared in the Hampshire Telegraph between 1899 and 1901. The opening page is an introduction written by Sir Walter Besant.
Also added a page on the writer Percy Westerman.
2nd February 2009
Added Nos. 59 and 60 High Street to the 1860 model. There will now be a short interlude in the progress down High Street. This is because we have reached Grand Parade and it would be impractical to leave such a wide gap in the model that it has been decided to model the whole of Grand Parade before resuming the journey down High Street. This should not take very long as most of the buildings on the north side still exist and there is reasonably good evidence for the buildings on the south. To secure the eastern end of Grand Parade it will be necessary to include a small part of the fortifications.
15th January 2009
Added Nos. 57 and 58 High Street (The Sally Port Hotel) to the 1860 model
7th January 2009
Added a page on the WEA Local History Group which includes a downloadable booklet order form.
6th January 2009
Extended the list of Portsmouth MPs to 1918
5th January 2009
Added a second piece from the WEA Local History Group entitled "Memories of Church Street School"
28th December 2008
Added a history of the Carter Family and the Dissenters in Portsmouth Politics, plus an obituary of Sir John Carter to the People Section
24th December 2008
Added Nos. 55 and 56 to the 1860 model.
6th December 2008
Added the 1837 report to Parliament by the Boundary Commissioners
1st December 2008
Added Nos. 53 & 54 to the 1860 Model
13th November 2008
Opened a sub-section on The Maps of Portsmouth within the "Places" section.
Added an article on the Flooding of Broad Street to the Events section.
12th November 2008
An agreement was reached with the WEA Local History Group whereby History InPortsmouth would be granted permission to place extracts from their booklets on this site. The first item is an extended reminiscence of her work during WW2 by Dr. Una Mulvany which appears on the page dedicated to her.
29th October 2008
Added Nos. 50-52 High Street to the 1860 Model
25th October 2008
Added No. 49 High Street to the 1860 Model
19th October 2008
Extended the list of Portsmouth City Council Members to 1995.
10th October 2008
Article on the Ebenezer Chapel, Castle Roaad, Southsea added to the Places section
9th October 2008
The article on the 'Widening of Golden Lion Lane' in the Events section was completely revised.
8th October 2008
Added Nos. 46-48 High Street to the 1860 Model
1st October 2008
Added Nos. 44 and 45 High Street to the 1860 Model. Extended list of Council Members to 1978.
16th September 2008
Added the model of the Market House and Guildhall and updated the page on the Town Halls of Portsmouth following developments revealed during the research into the architecture of the building.
12th September 2008
Imported an article on the Brief History of Lloyds of Portsmouth for the Events section
9th September 2008
Added article on the Excavations at Oyster Street, 1968-71 to the Events Section
1st September 2008
Added Parts 2, 3 and 4 to "The Last House in Portsmouth"
31st August 2008
Added article on Dr Una Mary Mulvany to the People section.
7th August 2008
A busy month has generated the following additions:-
16th July 2008
Added Nos. 39 and 40 High Street to the 1860 model
5th July 2008
Added Nos. 37 and 38 High Street to the 1860 Model
23rd June 2008
Published articles on The Floating Bridge, The Portsdown Volunteers, The Last House in Portsmouth and Andrew and John Lindegren
19th June 2008
Numbers 34-36 (The Crown Inn) added to the 1860 model.
Also added a page on the holders of the Victoria Cross, and,
an amended list of Aldermen and Councillors for the Borough Council (1835-1925) with separate pages for each year.
13th June 2008
Articles published today on:-
Sir Charles James Napier,
Sir George Turner MD, and
The Capture of a Spanish Treasure ship and how the Prize Money was shared out.
8th June 2008
Numbers 32 and 33 (The Vicarage) have been added to the 1860 model.
16th May 2008
Completed the model of the George Hotel (Nos. 30/31 High Street) and added it to the site. The commentary explains why the images are less satisfactory than some others.
14th May 2008
Continuing to add lists of politicians. The latest, for 1930 and 1935/6, contain a full list of constituent members of the council which includes appointed officers as well as elected officials.
9th May 2008
The list of Borough Councillors now extends to 1930. The full list is on the main People page. Also added the map from 1928 showing the new distribution of the electoral wards.
13th April 2008
Added an article on the history of the Southsea Railway
8th April 2008
Replaced the earliest images of Cambridge Barracks from the 1860 model with improved atmospheric lighting
4th April 2008
Nos. 25-29 High Street have now been added to the 1860 Model as have a list of Borough Councillors from 1835 to 1849 and a short biography of Andrew Nance and Son.
13th March 2008
No. 24 High Street has now been added to the 1860 Model as has the list of Freemen.
3rd March 2008
The next phase of the Old Portsmouth Model (No. 23 High Street) has been added. Work continues on the 'People' pages, where it is hoped to unveil a list of the Freemen of Portsmouth from 1573 to 1928 very soon.
Tim Backhouse
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