Railway Terminus Station
Railway Terminus Station Stagecoach travel was very popular in the early 19th century. However, it slowly declined with the coming of railways. The London and South Western Railway arrived with the line reaching the newly opened Terminus Station in 1840. It was designed by Sir William Tite and was busy with the Atlantic passenger trade. In 1847 engine sheds and a turntable were built. The large South Western Hotel (then Imperial Hotel) was added and the line was extended into the docks to allow boat trains to terminate on the quayside. Notably many passengers about to depart on the ill fated Titanic in 1912 would have arrived here and spent their last night in the adjacent South Western Hotel. However, by the 1960’s, largely due to modern aircraft travel, this trade had declined and the Railway Terminus Station closed in 1966. The former Terminus station building is now a casino. The platforms have been removed and all that remains is the huge glass canopy. Southampton Central is now the main railway station in Southampton.
The Red Lion
The Red Lion The Red Lion pub started life as a medieval merchant’s house and still retains its 14th century vaults. The central area is a 15th century open hall called Henry V’s Court Room. In his play, Shakespeare sets the 1415 trial of the conspirators against Henry V here but it is more likely to have taken place in Southampton Castle.
Romans
Romans In A.D. 43 the Emperor Claudius set out to conquer Britain. A legion commanded by Vespasian moved west from Kent and soon the port of Clausentum was established. Some scant remains can still be found in the Bitterne Manor area. Traces of Roman roads to Winchester and Chichester have been discovered as has an altar stone to Ancastra, a local God. After the Romans left in A.D. 410 the Saxons arrived and set up the settlement of Hamwih on the other side of the River Itchen.
Rosas
Rosas General Rosas was born in Buenos Aires in 1793. In 1810 independence was declared from Spanish rule and the name Argentina was first used in 1826. Rosas was Governor of Buenos Aires from 1829-31 and again in 1835.Whoever controlled the capital in effect controlled the nation. He offered to renounce all claims to the Falkland Isles if Britain released Argentina from its debts but we refused. Rosas was a ruthless dictator but in 1852 he was defeated by forces opposed to his rule. He was smuggled out on a British ship and arrived in Southampton where he remained until his death in 1877. For many years he lay in Southampton Old Cemetery on the Common. His body was eventually repatriated.
RMS Carpathia
RMS Carpathia Back to A-Z index The RMS Carpathia was a steamship built in Newcastle upon Tyne by Swan Hunter and Wigham Richardson. She made her maiden voyage from Liverpool in 1903 and ran the Cunard service from New York to a number of the Mediterranean ports. The Carpathia was sailing from New York on the night of 14 April 1912 under Captain Arthur Rostron when he was woken by his telegraph operator Harold Cottam. Cottam had earlier been on the bridge but on returning to the wireless room had received a message from Newfoundland to say that there were private messages for the Titanic. He helpfully contacted the Titanic at 12.11 am and received in reply a distress signal. Captain Rostron closed down all services that used steam from the boilers and under maximum speed and at some considerable risk set out to assist the Titanic at her last known location some 58 miles away. The Carpathia reached the Titanic four hours later. Rostron ensured that the journey time was not wasted by putting in readiness every possible arrangement to assist the Titanic’s passengers and crew the moment they came aboard. After working her way through hazardous ice fields the Carpathia reached the location of the Titanic’s sinking at 4 am and took aboard from lifeboats 706 people of whom one was to die shortly afterwards. The last person to come aboard the Carpathia was the Titanic’s 2nd Officer Charles Lightholler. For their valiant effort the crew of the Carpathia were awarded silver medals by the thankful survivors who presented Rostron with a cup and gold medal. King George V gave him a knighthood and USA President Taft presented him with the Congressional Gold Medal. Rostron retired from sea life in 1931 and recalled his life story in “Home From The Sea” which was published by Macmillan the same year and is a rare and highly collectable book. Rostron’s home was at Chalk Hill, West End, Southampton, a house built on land owned by Herbert Collins and built in the Collin’s familiar style. It is said that the rear of the house was designed to remind Rostron of a ship’s bridge. Whilst visiting his daughter in November 1940 Rostron developed pneumonia and died. His funeral took place at West End Parish Church where his body is interred in the churchyard.
Richard Lyster
Richard Lyster Sir Richard Lyster was Judge and the Lord Chief Justice of England during the reign of Henry VIII and Chief Baron of the King’s Exchequer from 1546-1552. He married Isabel, the widow of Sir John Dawtrey (collector of customs under Henry VII) and lived with her in the building which is now known as the Tudor House Museum. He attended Queen Anne Boleyn’s coronation, riding in the procession beforehand. He also took part in the trial of Sir Thomas More and was Henry VIII’s divorce lawyer. During the Reformation he was accused of allowing Roman Catholic masses but this was not illegal in 1547. Following his first wife’s death, he married again. Richard Lyster died in 1553 and in 1567 and his widow erected a tomb to him in St. Michael’s church.