Historic Southampton
I’m Russell and local history is my hobby.
- Southampton West railway station (now called Southampton Central) with its landmark clock tower in the early 1900s. This view looks west, with the West Bay shoreline visible on the left.
- Edgar Eels sent this postcard to his parents from Southampton during the First World War whilst serving with the Army Service Corps. ‘Southampton Monday Night Dear Mother + Father, Just a word to say that we are leaving here tomorrow (Tuesday) morning for overseas…
- Frank Parsons was born in Southampton in 1885. By 1911 he was living next door to the Duke of Wellington at 38 Bugle Street with his wife, Edith. They got married in 1910, the same year he joined the White Star Line. In April 1912, Parsons joined Titanic’s crew as an engineer. 1/4
- Shirley High Street in the early 1900s. The water fountain was erected in 1889 to commemorate Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee two years earlier. In 1911 the tram terminus was extended to a point beside the fountain, and it began to get in the way. 1/2
- Southampton lad Ray Wheeler was a Royal Air Force Coastal Command wireless operator. On 8 August 1940 he was based at RAF Calshot and joined the crew of a high speed launch (HSL116) on a mission to search for survivors of Luftwaffe attacks in the English Channel. 1/15
- Reposted by Historic Southampton[Not loaded yet]
- Class 6B at Central School in 1919. My great-grandfather, William Henry Masters, is kneeling in the second row from the front with his arms folded, above the VI.
- King George III died on this day in 1820. This statue of George (dressed as a Roman emperor) was given to the town by the Marquess of Lansdowne in 1809. It has stood above the Bargate’s main archway ever since.
- This memorial remembers the eight musicians who lost their lives in the Titanic disaster after famously playing on as the ship sank. It’s a replica of the 1913 original, which was located inside the public library. Sadly, the original memorial and the library were destroyed in the 1940 Blitz. 1/2
- This old photo of London Road comes from a postcard sent by Hilda to her cousin in 1905. Hilda writes: ‘It is a photo of the shop where I am at business. Only it does not look half large enough on here.’ Sadly, London Road was badly bombed during the Blitz thirty-five years later.
- Article from the Echo, 2 Nov 1901. How times have changed! ‘Whenever the Saints and Portsmouth oppose each other the sparks fly. With these two the only senior teams in Hampshire a spirit of keen rivalry must inevitably ensue, but in this case the rivalry is perfectly healthy and friendly. 1/4
- The original memorial stone for Richard Parker, now located inside Pear Tree Church, Southampton. Parker was a 17-year-old cabin boy on board the yacht Mingonette, which was wrecked in the Indian Ocean on a voyage from Southampton to Australia on 5 July 1884. Long post, story in screenshots: 1/7
- A birthday postcard from Albert Brier to his son, Rodney, from Hazeley Down Camp near Twyford, sent on 24 May 1916. Albert embarked for France on 18 July 1916; he would be wounded by a gas shell in September 1917 and shot in the heel in April 1918. 1/2
- The Bargate in the 1930s.
