Guest writers Derek Morris and Ken Cozens tell us about how their in-depth studies of East London have led to over ten years of research and four ground-breaking books. Dr Richard Blakemore in 2014 observed that “The riverside parishes of eastern London and the lower Thames were home to the largest maritime community in Britain from […]
Portsmouth women played a major role in the care of sick and injured Royal Navy sailors during the seventeenth century. Women’s importance to naval health care became, paradoxically, a reason to justify an important shift: from care in private homes to care in private naval hospitals. From about 1650, naval health care in England operated […]
In June 1940, 17,000 people were evacuated from Guernsey, to Weymouth, just days before their island was occupied by Germany – see http://porttowns.port.ac.uk/1940-evacuation-st-peter-port-guernsey-england/ The evacuation ships reached Weymouth where the evacuees sat for hours, waiting for permission to disembark. As Winifred Le Page stepped onto dry land, she was approached by French interpreters, “They didn’t […]
When I undertook a PhD project on sailors back in 1993, work on impressment per se was scarce. One of the more memorable works had been published in 1913. [1] The secondary literature that is available now amounts to an Aladdin’s Cave of riches compared to what I had to work with two decades ago. […]
Previous posts on this website have made references to the stereotypical image of sailors as engaging in immoral activities such as drinking, gambling or visiting prostitutes when they were in harbours. This same image was invoked in late 19th century and early 20th century Finland by advocators of sailor’s homes, reading rooms and Seamen’s Mission’s stations. […]
The Sailor’s Hornpipe, also known as “The Jig of the Ship,” “Jack the Lad,” or “Deck Dancing,”[1] was a common sight in ports, danced and performed in sailortown areas across the globe. The Sailor’s Hornpipe became a staple dance of the Royal Navy, so much so “the sailor’s hornpipe was one of the glories of […]
