Portsmouth : Harlots , Dung and Glory Part 2 – by Carole Middleton
On Sunday 12 February more than ninety people filled the Upper Deck to hear the second of a trilogy of excellent talks on the history of Portsmouth .
Helen Jupp introduced the speaker , Andrew Negus , a native of Portsmouth , retired history teacher and Blue Badge Guide who then entertained us with a wealth of information and stories of how Portsmouth grew and played a part in Britain becoming the largest empire in history .
His talk started when Britain had just won the seven year war with France1756-1763 and traced the development of the two towns of Portsea and Portsmouth to four towns in Victorian times , with the addition of Landport and Southsea . Fear of invasion by the French provided the impetus to build the many defences around Portsmouth and strengthen the dockyard into the largest factory complex in the world in 1800 employing 4,000 workers .
Ellis Owen who built properties and piers in Southsea to encourage holiday makers .
Portsmouth was the first town to have horse drawn buses , saw the First Fleet leave for Van Diemen ’ s Land and emigrants leave the country with their passage paid for by the Navy to escape poverty and squalor .
Some famous sons of Portsmouth featuring in the talk were Henry Ayers , who gave his name to Ayers Rock ; John Pounds , a cobbler who taught urchins and inspired the creation of Ragged Schools and possibly Dr Barnardo ’ s ; Isambard Kingdom Brunel from Portsea and Charles Dickens from Landport who were both baptised in St Mary ’ s Fratton ; and Thomas
Hopefully Andrew will return to present the third talk in the series in next year ’ s winter programme and we can look forward to another entertaining Sunday morning .
Andrew was thanked for his entertaining and informative talk by Yacht Commodore David Roberts .
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