Welcome to
Portsmouth - as it was
How people lived, worked, played and died
The Author
Charlie Phesse
I was born in Gosport but soon moved to Penny Street and then Barrack Street in a house that was once the Cooper's Arms pub - no bathroom, an outside toilet, a copper boiler in the outhouse and an Ascot in the kitchen.
Very happy days were spent playing in and on the water, being chased from Governor's Green and walking on the frozen Camber in 1963.
I survived St John's College and left the town in 1968 to pursue a career in Sussex. I love to return to the town as often as I can.
If you have any personal memories of a particular address that you would like to share I would be delighted to hear from you at ...
Uncovering Portsmouth
as it was
Trades, characters, events, sailors, soldiers, beer,
unfortunates, fashion, buildings, Police Courts &c..
The Records
I have compiled my own history of Portsmouth on this website from the Internet, Census Records, Ancestry.co.uk, The British Newspaper Archives, the local record office and History Centre plus the Portsmouth Papers. This is not intended to be an authoritative history of the town but simply my attempt to show how the locals dealt with each phase of our history.
The records cover the area covered by the original Portsmouth i.e. the High Street to Broad Street to Point and the line of the town wall and water's edge from Gunwharf Road to the Ramparts to the Grammar School plus all the Courts, Lanes and Alleys in between.
My history is listed alphabetically with each address containing, wherever possible, the occupiers with their registered full names plus their ages and occupations. The names below the first surname are members of the same family. My search of the British Newspaper Archive has revealed some interesting reports about the people, the buildings and the events of the time.
