On Saturday, March 29th, 1851 the Portsmouth Times and Naval Gazette published a list of government buildings within the jurisdiction of the town of Portsmouth alongside their projected rateable values (£ s d). This was connected to the ongoing debate on the adoption of the Public Health Act (PHA) in Portsmouth, one of the principle issues of which was whether the cost of doing so would fall solely on the civilian inhabitants of the town. Prior to this time Governement Buildings had not been rated for Poor Relief which caused some rancour in the town but probably didn't make that much difference. Adoption of the PHA was a matter of a different order.
Almost all of the buildings owned by the government in Portsmouth were administered by the Board of Ordnance and used by the various branches of the Army, as opposed to Portsea where the equivalent buildings fell under the auspices of The Admiralty and were used for naval purposes. The Ordnance had agreed to allow their buildings to be rated and so to contribute to the revenue of the proposed Board of Health. It was a different matter in Portsea where the Admiralty vigourously opposed the rating of their non-residential buildings.
It is not clear why the newspaper published the Portsmouth list and omitted the Portsea property, but it certainly provides a fascinating insight into the extent to which Portsmouth town was occupied by the army.
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Royal Artillery Barracks, Point |
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The government buildings in Portsmouth that were administered by the Board of Ordnance carried a total rateable value of £4,670