Devonport (Dock) 1730 to 1830
(I was sent a newspaper cutting of an article
published 1911 in the Western Morning News. It was written by Karl Cherry, in two
parts, and headed ‘Devonport a Century ago’. The following is my transcription of that
article. For words too faint to read two question marks have been inserted in their
place. A small section of the article appears to be missing - but sufficient remained
that it was worth transcribing.)
Devonport a Century Ago
By Karl Cherry. 1911
I.
The writer recently contributed to these columns an article on “Plymouth: A Century
Ago,” based upon a scarce work, called “The Picture of Plymouth, &c” which was published
anonymously in the year 1812. The little book was written in a style of fearless
and ?? criticism, that is at once instructive and entertaining, and the account
of Devonport is also well worth preserving. In the following article the observations
of the old author have been supplemented by additional notes from other out-of-the-way
sources, and so our picture of Devonport will be something of a composite mosaic,
to which several forgotten writers will contribute their quota.
Writing of Plymouth Dock in the year 1818, Warner remarks: “The town of Dock is
an infant of yesterday compared with Plymouth. A century back, it was a desolated
common, without hoses or inhabitants.” From 1768 (or 3?) to the time when Warner
was writing the population of the town was quadrupled, the value of property increased
one thousand per cent., and in 1812 “Dock” had reached the interesting stage in
its development described in the following passages from “The Picture of Plymouth,
&c.”
“The town has been erected on an extensive plain, in a very desirable situation,
both as respects the free circulation of air, and the delightful prospects that
may be seen from it is every direction, of which, however, no advantage has been
made in the laying out the streets. It was naturally deficient in that necessary
article of life, water, and for some time the inhabitants suffered much inconvenience
from an inadequate supply of it, being obliged to purchase it of persons who carried
it about in barrels on horses and asses: but in the year 1792 an application was
made to Parliament to establish a company, who are called “The Plymouth Dock Company,”
with power to bring a stream from the borders of Dartmoor to the town, a distance,
from the circuitous route, of nearly thirty miles;. This was an object of such vast
importance to the inhabitants that it is surprising they could manage to do without
it, and one would have thought that all persons should have combined in endeavouring
to obtain it; but unhappily a foolish jealousy, which had long existed between Plymouth
and Dock, operated so powerfully upon the minds of the Corporation of the former
as to induce them to oppose the progress of the bill in Parliament; fortunately,
however, without effect. This spirit of rivalry seems now to be gradually wearing
off. The enlightened part of the inhabitants of both towns begin to perceive that
their interest are the same, and that whatever promotes the prosperity of Plymouth
Dock will essentially affect Plymouth and the neighbourhood. What, indeed, is the
foundation of the prosperity of the whole neighbourhood but the establishment of
the naval arsenal, which has given rise to all the numerous departments of Government
that at present abound here.
(there are four or five unreadable lines at this point, and continues with ...)
... general well built, though some excellent houses, with handsome brick fronts, have
been of late years added; they intersect each other nearly at right angles: their
general width is from 30 to 50 feet, and they are well paved. It is true of this
town, as well as of Plymouth, that the footpaths are paved with marble, and they
receive such a polish from the friction occasioned by the feet of passengers and
the action of the water as to give them a very beautiful appearance when washed
by a shower. The streets are kept much cleaner, and are in general more level, as
well as wider, more convenient and pleasant than those of Plymouth. It is, however,
most extraordinary that they are neither lighted nor watched; a few lamps are scattered
here and there, which have the effect of reminding passengers that there are such
things as public-houses, and inviting them in to take a glass. It is said that these
lamps were put up by order of the magistrates, but we are well assured it is a misstatement,
for they well know they have no power to offer anything of the sort to be done,
nor can we imagine they would have recommended it, since they must have been aware
that such a small number of lights would only make darkness more viable, and hold
out a lure to the thoughtless and irresolute.
Near the head of the North New Dock ?? place for old copper that has been removed
from ships bottoms at the time of repairing them; it is then covered with verdigrass,
weeds, muscles [sic], all of which must be cleaned away before the metal can be
applied to any other purpose. To effect this it is laid on iron bars raised about
a foot from the ground, and covered with chips and shavings, which are afterwards
set fire to; the smoke is excessively nauseous and deleterious in the extreme, and
when the wind blows from the west, which is mostly the case here, the town is filled
with it. After a certain time the copper is taken out of the fire and beaten with
mallets to remove the dirt, &c. This refuse was formerly thrown away as useless,
but it having been discovered lately that it contains a large quantity of metallic
particles it is now sold at £90 per ton.
“Every person belonging to the Dockyard is under the command of the Commissioner,
from whom all orders are received, and who has it in his power to discharge any
workman for neglect of duty, and even the officer of the military guard receives
the watch-word from him. His salary is £1,000 per annum. The artificers frequently
work ‘two for one,’ that is, they execute the work of two days in the number of
hours allowed for one: to do this they have tasks measured out by their different
officers. In war-time they generally work ‘three for one.’ The chips which arise
from converting timber to the requisite shapes were formerly carried out of the
yard, as a perquisite by the workmen, in bundles; to form which, not only a large
quantity of good timber was frequently destroyed, but articles of more value were
accreted in them. This occasioned an order that no more should be taken from the
yard, and Government allows each man sixpence a day in lieu of them. The chips are
now sold by auction once every fortnight.
St. John’s Chapel and School was built by subscription, and was finished in the
year 1799. The internal part, consisting of three aisles and an elliptical gallery,
is remarkably neat, and contains a good organ: but the appearance of the exterior
is in everything the reverse of elegance, especially a miserable square tower, with
a vile cupola on the top. The presentation is vested in the rector of the parish,
but the subscribers had the first appointment. The stipulated salary of the curate
is only £60 per annum, but this is increased by the voluntary subscriptions of the
proprietors to £?00, if the person appointed by the rector meets with their approval.
Close adjoining to this chapel is a school-house built at the expense of a set of
subscribers, for the purpose of educating the youth of their congregation; it contains
on the ground floor a schoolroom for boys who are arranged and instructed after
Mr. Lancaster’s system. Unfortunately it has been built on a scale too small, as
it will contain but 100 boys, whereas if the gentlemen who have instituted this
school could carry their benevolent designs into execution, that of instructing
all the children in the town who are not provided with education by their parents,
it ought to be capable of receiving at least 500, however, limited as it is, we
hail it as an auspicious omen of the disposition of the inhabitants. In the upper
story is a schoolroom for girls, where about 30 are educated, and apartments for
the ladies who superintend this charity and the mistress who directs it. These children
are instructed in reading and plain work so as to fit them for good servants. We
cannot avoid earnestly to recommend the subscribers to watch the progress of this
institution, and if they are satisfied with the improvement of the children in religious
instruction, in moral habits, and in such useful knowledge as their future situations
in life may require, to exert every nerve to extend these benefits to those numerous
children in the town who will remain totally destitute of all religious education,
and will be suffered to grow up to manhood in scenes of vice and debauchery without
having any friend to caution them to avoid such haunts.
In the year 1812, those concluding words, as applied to Devonport, were no mere rhetorical
embellishment, for the town was simply honeycombed with the haunts of vice and debauchery,
and had earned for itself an unenviable reputation throughout the whole kingdom
for the most daring and flagrant lawlessness. The files of the local newspapers
throw considerable light upon the state of anarchy that was rife in the town. In
Chapel Street gardens, palings were torn down, scrapers wrenched up, and several
doors were actually smashed in by midnight marauders. “W. May, No 4, Chapel Street
(we read in a newspaper advertisement), promises a reward of 100 pounds if these
pests of society are prosecuted to conviction. W. May, with all due respect, would
ask the gentlemen of Dock whether it would not be desirable to appoint a night watch,
as we have so many strangers and foreigners about.” A number of Spaniards were escorting
a number of women to their ships, a little attention that was resented by a group
of English bluejackets. The latter attacked the foreigners, of whom several were
severely wounded, and the fracas ended in the Englishmen carrying off the ladies
in triumph. Sacrilegious plundering of poor-boxes was committed with impunity the
lanes were infested by footpads and wandering wastrels; gentry of higher position
also haunted these spots, and, among them, officers who were known to bribe open
the magistrates themselves. One night several young army officer were detected,
red-handed, in an abominable midnight outrage in Fore-street. The magistrates professed
themselves satisfied with their alibis, and, as a sop to the indignant civilian
inhabitants, offered a reward for the discovery of the actual offenders. Outlying
farmhouses were broken into at night, and produce, cattle, sheep, horses, and women
were carried bodily away. One Sunday night on a St. Budeaux farm, a body of armed
servants had mounted guard in an outhouse, when they were attacked by a notorious
gang from Dock, but succeeded in shooting dead one of their assailants. No wonder
then, that the author of the “Picture of Plymouth, &c,” waxed warm on the subject.
“At dock the establishment of a Police Board appears to be essentially necessary
to the preservation of order and the administration of justice.
Our ancestors seem
to have considered it necessary in the smallest communities; every tything had its
presiding officer; but it remained for the present age to show that one magistrate
could effectually preside over 30,000 people. When the late application was made
to Plymouth, we understand the borough of Plymouth opposed it, because the bill
interfered with their privileges. But surely an Act might be framed which would
answer the purpose fully without injuring the Corporation of Plymouth. Indeed, it
has been said that the miscarriage of the bill was owing to its unfortunately having
originated in that Corporation; and we are the more ready to believe that, because
we know how rarely measures flow from corporate bodies with clean hands, and the
bickerings that arose as to who should be the members of the Board was the great
cause of its failure.”
Closely connected with the matter of the police were the Workhouse and the gaol,
which latter was part and parcel of the Workhouse building. A writer in the “Gentleman’s
Magazine” at this period informs us that the gaoler, Hugh Trogman, received no salary,
lived at a considerable distance, and kept a public-house. The prisoners were allowed
a pound of bread, with milk porridge or broth. The prison itself was under a room
where the Petty Sessions were held, and adjoined the poorhouse. It had four cells
on the ground floor; two were equipped with bedsteads and straw, and the others
had, for sleeping purposes, only straw laid on the floor. There were no windows,
the only means of light and ventilation being afforded by a tiny wicket, nine inches
by seven, inserted in each door. There was no yard for exercise, and consequently
prisoners never received exercise. There was no sewer, and no water was accessible.
“Great complaints are made of the inefficacy of this police, though we cannot state
any glaring instances of omission or neglect in the magistrates acting in this district
unless we were to travel back to the days of riot and confusion of 1800, which we
would rather bury in oblivion, when there was an apparent want of energy and co-operation
in the magistracy.” This refers to a serious disturbance that was greatly aggravated
by the high price of provisions at the time mentioned. The yardsmen, having forcibly
gained possession of the market and the provision shops, fixed the rate at which
the various goods should be sold. This action on the part of the yardsmen was accompanied
by considerable violence, and guns were drawn up at the head of Fore-street and
trained on the rioters, while a regiment of infantry were also formed up in readiness
to fire upon them. Slaughter was averted by the magistrate releasing a number of
men and women who had been taken into custody, and whose arrest was mainly responsible
for the threatening state of affairs. The only magistrate resident in the town was
the Rev. Jonathan Williams.
It is more agreeable to turn from these scenes of violence to those of public entertainment
in bygone Devonport. In the “Picture of Plymouth &c,” we read:-
“The Theatre is situated at the entrance into the town from Stonehouse; there is
nothing to recommend it in its outward appearance; it is neatly fitted up in the
interior, and sufficiently spacious for the inhabitants, who are not very constant
in their attendance; it derives is support chiefly from the navy and army. It is
generally open during the winter, and has a tolerable set of comedians from the
Exeter and Weymouth stages. The prices are: Boxes, 3s.: pit, 2s.: gallery, 1s. An
attempt was recently made, and apparently with good reason, to ?? them, but a ??
II.
From another guide-book, published in the same year, and entitled “A View of Plymouth
Dock,” we have the following additional information regarding the postal arrangements
of a century ago:-
“The Post-office is in Ker-street, at the end of George-street and Duke-street.
The mail coach sets out every day; but no mail is made up for London on Fridays,
or received thence on Tuesdays, according to the Act for the observance of the Sabbath
in London. Letters must be put in before half-past four o’clock in the afternoon,
or an additional twopence for every letter will be required at the office. A postman
goes through the town between three and four in the afternoon to collect letters,
and gives notice of his errand by ringing a bell.”
The Government itself was far better served by the system of semaphore signals,
by which communication was made between Plymouth Dock and the Admiralty in London;
on a clear day a message could be despatched in 25 minutes. In Devon the semaphores,
the original “telegraph,” were erected at the following stations:- Plymouth Dock,
Saltram, Lee, Marley, Knighton, Haldon, Rockbere, St. Cyres. At Dock the instrument
stood on the Parade.
Dock was apparently lacking in literary or artistic associations. A hundred years
ago, according to our anonymous author, it did “not appear to have given birth to
any character of literary celebrity; but, indeed, this is not to be wondered at;
what excites our surprise the most is that it has not given birth to any gallant
seaman, whose name has been transmitted to us, except, indeed, in one instance –
the gallant defender of Anholt, Captain Richard Morice, who is a native of this
town, and of whom the inhabitants may indeed be proud. It is equally surprising
that it has not produced, at least so far as we know, any individual eminently distinguished
for his skill in mechanics and in the construction of ships of war. It might reasonably
have been expected that such an establishment as the Dockyard would have excited
and fostered some men of the first-rate talents in this branch of science but we
cannot learn that there are or have been any such.”
There was however, living in Dock in that very year a little boy who was destined
to remove in some measure that reproach from the town.
John Towson was born at Plymouth Dock in the year 1804, and as he grew up he followed
his father’s trade of watchmaker. Then came the early days of photography. Towson
discovered the process of photographing on to glass, and proved that the luminous
and chemical rays came to their focus at different distances from the object. He
turned his attention to navigation, and his suggestions, which were adopted by the
Admiralty, revolutionized transatlantic travelling. He turned his attention to the
deviation of the compass, and the Board of Trade commissioned him to prepare a manual
on the subject, and appointed him official inspector of compasses for the port of
Liverpool. He earned the enthusiastic gratitude even of Liverpool ship owners, and
they presented him with a dock-bond for £1,000 and a gratuity of more than £100.
He was born at Devonport, and there is no memorial to this benefactor of “all who
go down to the sea in ships.”
“Literature and the arts,” wrote our author, “meet with no encouragement.” There
is, however, a Book Club established amongst some of the principal inhabitants,
which will probably give rise to others. Here are, as usual, circulating libraries,
but, as in most other towns, they are filled with trash.
“A newspaper has for some time been established here, called ‘The Plymouth and Dock
Telegraph’; it is tolerably well conducted for a provincial paper, and is published
every Saturday by Mr. L. Congdon, printer, Fore-street; and enabled occasionally
by the arrival of ships here or at Falmouth, to give early intelligence of events
in the south of Europe; but as accounts gained from this source are too frequently
not to be depended on, the editors of the two local papers are often deceived themselves,
and by this means their papers obtain a bad reputation.”
In conclusion, a few words may be devoted to a general account of the old guide-books
to Devonport and the vicinity, for they contain information which will be sought
in vain elsewhere, and one and all have now become exceedingly scarce.
The ?? of those publications appeared in this port as the town appeared, not a century,
but one hundred and twenty years ago. Its value, however, lies in the fact that it contains
a detailed account, which I have failed to find in any other book, of the state
of Devonport in the year 1731, and the stages, with their dates, through which the
street-extension of the town passed during the subsequent 60 years, by which times
the public were ready for this old Guide of 1791. It is a duodecimo volume of some 80 pages, bound by boards, and heralded by a portentously
lengthy title, fragment of which will perhaps suffice for identification by collectors:
“The Plymouth Dock Guide, or an Authentic Account of the Rise and Progress of that
Town, with the Dockyard and Whatever is Worthy of Notice in the Town and Villages
surrounding it, &c, &c.” It was printed at Plymouth Dock, “by and for K. Hoxland,
bookseller and stationer, next door to the Fountain Inn, Fore-street, 1791.” The
publisher drew attention in the book to the various “side-lines” in which he dealt,
including patent medicines, perfumery, “stationary,” musical instruments, umbrellas
(a very early reference to these articles), parasols, tooth brushes, and “scented
and plain hair powder,” after which we come to that important and unique account
of the growth of the town, to which reference has just been made:–
“About 80 years ago (i.e. exactly two centuries from the present date of 1911),
the buildings had assumed the form of a respectable town, and was deemed to be of
sufficient moment to take plan of its condition at that time. The editor remembers
to have seen such a plan about 22 years ago; he has since procured one and is happy
to inform his readers that he has also been favoured with a sight of a M.S. plan,
the draft of which was taken in the year 1731. From thence he has been able to collect
the following information as to the state of Dock at that time:-
“It appears that Fore-street was then built nearly in its present (1791) form, but
that Cherry Garden-street, and every part of the town to the southward, had not
an existence, as there was only a narrow back lane where that street is now formed.
Northcorner and its contiguous streets were then built, and Princes-street, with
King-street and Queen-street, were also nearly in the state which they at present
exhibit; but not more than half of Gandy[1]-street, from King-street and Queen-street
was built, and no part of Marlborough-street, nor of the lanes and alleys contiguous
to it, and connected at this time (1791) with the east part of Gandy-street, can
be found in it. Only two or three houses appeared on the spot which now forms the
east side of the town square; but of the north side, including the whole buildings
on that side to the Gunwharf gate, no trace can be discovered.”
So much, then, for old MS. Plan; but the writer had mentioned an engraved map, and
this seems to have served as a connecting link between the Devonport of 1731 and
the town as it appeared in 1791.
“Though no date is given (he wrote) to the engraved plan, it could not be earlier
than the year 1750 when the new ?? was added to the parish church, nor later than
1754 when the north side of the Square was in course of building. No part of James-street
was then built; the back lane south of Fore-street, now called Cherry Garden-street,
is therein called Back-street, the buildings of which were then nearly completed
on the south side as far east as the present entrance into St. Aubyn-street. Catharine-street,
with Stafford-hill, and Dock Wall, with the cross lanes, were built as at present;
so was Duke-street from the corner of the Ponds (therein described), where the market
is now held.
A superannuated person, of some property, who has also an annuity
from the Dockyard, informs me that he came hither in the year 1739, that but a few
houses on the square were beginning to be built; that the place where Marlborough-street
and those to the eastward now stand was a pasture or meadow.” This statement was
in strict accordance with the engraved plan, “wherein the north side of the present
street (i.e. Marlborough-street), from the new Gunwharf, was but just sketched out,
and did not contain above two or three houses. This part was not completed until
some time after the year 1750. On the other hand, but a small part of St, Aubyn-street
was built until towards the year 1770. The like may be observed of Chapel-street,
and the other streets in that quarter down to the present market. The part called
Liberty-street (now Pembroke-street), with the other streets in that part, are of
still later origin, for, about the year 1775, Liberty Field (as that part was then
called) was used as a rope-walk.
“Not long after, George-street was begun to be built, and the rage for extending
the buildings, or the speculations of mechanics, being at that time very prevalent,
Liberty-street, Clowance-street, with Mount-street and the cross streets which connected
them, and Windmill-street, trod so fast upon the heels of each other that they quickly
occupied the full limits of the town. The ...
(the remainder of the article cannot be read - unless you have a cleaner copy you could send in?)
[1] This mistake was in the original article - it should read Granby-street.
(Page added 7th May 2011)