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Portsmouth

city in Hampshire, England, United Kingdom

25 dated entries naming Portsmouth, drawn from 24 separate years between 510 CE and 1968 CE. Nothing here is written by us: each line is the sentence a Wikipedia year article used, and the link beside it opens the exact revision.

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6th century

  • 510Battle of Llongborth (possibly Langport or Portsmouth): King Budic II of Brittany seeks refuge at the court of Aergol Lawhir, in Dyfed (Wales) after the battle.source

12th century

  • 1101July 20 – Robert Curthose lands at Portsmouth with an army in an effort to take the English throne from his younger brother, Henry I.source
  • 1180The town of Portsmouth is founded by the Norman merchant Jean de Gisors, who establishes it as a strategic port to facilitate trade between England and France (approximate date).source
  • 1194May 2 – Richard I grants Portsmouth market-town status with a royal charter. He orders the construction of docks on The Solent – having seen that the harbour is a perfect base for trade and the English fleet.source

13th century

  • 1229October 13 – King Henry III calls for an army to be assembled at Portsmouth to be transported to Normandy to regain lost territories from the French. A large army of knights turns up ready to go but not enough ships have been provided. Henry blames Hubert de Burgh, Earl of Kent for the fiasco and in his rage will have killed him if Ranulf of Chester has not intervened. This marks the beginning of the rift between Henry and Hubert de Burgh. Meanwhile, the expedition is postponed until mid-1230.source
  • 1230April 30 – English invasion of France: King Henry III embarks from Portsmouth with a large expeditionary force. On May 2, he arrives on the island of Guernsey, and the next day the English army lands at Saint-Malo, where Peter I (de Dreux), duke of Brittany, meets Henry to pay him homage. The English forces march through the County of Anjou, taking the castle of Mirebeau in late July.source
  • 1254Summer – The Lord Edward travels from Portsmouth with his mother, Queen Eleanor of Provence, and Boniface of Savoy, archbishop of Canterbury, to marry the 13-year-old Eleanor of Castile, the half-sister of King Alfonso X of Castile. Henry III has demanded the marriage in exchange for ending the war with Alfonso. In August, the party arrives in Burgos, capital of Castile, where the marriage is due to take place.source
  • 1275September 11 – 1275 British earthquake: An earthquake strikes the south of Great Britain. The epicentre is unknown, although it may have been in the Portsmouth-Chichester area on the south coast of England or in Glamorgan, Wales.source

14th century

  • 1338Philip VI of France besieges Guienne in Southwest France, and his navy attacks Portsmouth, England.source
  • 1346July 3 – The English fleet attempts to sail from Portsmouth to Normandy, but is forced back by contrary winds.source
  • 1346May–June – An English invasion fleet assembles at Portsmouth.source
  • 1369September – Hundred Years' War: The French burn Portsmouth, England; the English raid Picardy and Normandy.source

16th century

  • 1511July 29 – Henry VIII of England's flagship, the Mary Rose, is launched from Portsmouth.source
  • 1589July 1 – The English Armada, commanded by Sir Francis Drake, returns to Portsmouth after almost three months of pillaging the Spanish kingdoms.source

17th century

  • 1654August 18 – Oliver Cromwell launches the Western Design with the appointment of Admiral William Penn to prepare for a fleet to leave on Christmas Day for an English expedition to the Caribbean to counter Spanish commercial interests, effectively beginning the Anglo-Spanish War (which will last until after the English Restoration in 1660). The fleet leaves Portsmouth in late December.source

18th century

  • 1759February 17 – "The greatest fleet that had ever put out for America" departs from Portsmouth with 250 shipssource
  • 1779December 31 – Affair of Fielding and Bylandt: Following a brief naval engagement between the British and Dutch off the Isle of Wight, the Dutch merchantmen and naval vessels are captured and taken to Portsmouth, England.source
  • 1787May 13 – Captain Arthur Phillip leaves Portsmouth, England, with the 11 ships of the First Fleet, carrying around 700 convicts and at least 300 crew and guards to establish a penal colony in Australia.source
  • 1792September – Macartney Embassy: George Macartney, 1st Earl Macartney, sails from Portsmouth in HMS Lion as the first official envoy from Great Britain to China.source

19th century

  • 1802February – The Rosetta Stone is brought to England by Colonel Tomkyns Hilgrove Turner, who arrives at Portsmouth on the captured French frigate L'Egyptiane.source
  • 1867October 12 – End of penal transportation from Britain as the last convict ship, the Hougoumont, departs from Portsmouth on an 89-day passage to Western Australia. 62 Fenians are among the transportees.source
  • 1872December 21 – Challenger expedition: sails from Portsmouth, England, on the 4-year scientific expedition that lays the foundation for the science of oceanography.source
  • 1897October 13 – , a pre-dreadnought battleship of the Royal Navy, is launched at Portsmouth, England; she will be deployed widely in World War I.source

20th century

  • 1956April 19 – British diver Lionel (Buster) Crabb (working for MI6) dives into Portsmouth Harbour, to investigate a visiting Soviet cruiser, and vanishes.source
  • 1968July 4 – English yachtsman Alec Rose, 59, receives a hero's welcome as he sails into Portsmouth, after his 354-day solo round-the-world trip.source

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