Chatting with a friend one day the subject drifted onto local history. “One moment.” he said and then produced a cardboard box containing over 400 documents dating from the 16 & 1700s. They had belonged to The Office of the Ordnance at Portsmouth Dockyard and had been rescued from the dustbin by his grandfather.
I borrowed these documents, scanned every one and set to transcribing their content so that they were readable for all to see. This site contains all of the scans, the transcripts, a glossary of their content and a page that sets the scene before you dive into them. These documents are best viewed on a desktop or laptop, but they still work on a tablet or phone.
You can download any of the documents. Some of the scans are fun to print as well, especially if you print them on tea-stained paper; they can look very authentic.
Originally this site was devoted solely to the Ordnance documents, but as time has gone on, I have also added some pages with other documents that may be of interest: a look at the Arundel to Portsmouth Canal, at a nail that was removed from the Poop Deck of HMS Victory. I have also linked a set of documents describing Victorian forts in our area, a true story of piracy, and some stories written by a friend of mine. I have also recreated, as best I can, the late David Moore’s ‘Historic Gosport‘ web site.
If you find any typos, have difficulty with any of the links, or have additional information for me, please leave a comment in the discussions page, or mail me at Webmaster@gosportshistory.co.uk
I must finish by thanking two people: my good friend, the renowned local historian, and unrivalled authority on Victorian Forts, the late David Moore whose help in transcribing the Ordnance documents was invaluable. I would also like to thank Philip Eley, another local historian, and expert on transcribing script, for his valued help in proof reading some of these documents and for giving me added snippets of history, and a deeper understanding of why the language in the period differed from the present day.
If you now go to the Intro to Ordnance Documents page it will introduce you to the ordnance documents, the method of writing in the 1700s, and to the dockyard itself.
