Walter Taylor
Walter Taylor Southampton’s Walter Taylor (1734–1803) famously supplied wooden rigging blocks to the Royal Navy, greatly improving their quality via a series of technological innovations. His work has been noted as a significant step forward in the Industrial Revolution, and as a major aid in Nelson’s sea victories during the Napoleonic Wars. Taylor had served as an apprentice to a block maker in Southampton from the age of 19. His father (also named Walter) had previously served at sea and had observed the problems caused by traditional hand-carved blocks, which would often jam during the heat of battle. On acquiring the blockmaking business based close to the Westgate in Southampton (and where a plaque now remembers the site), Taylor and his father developed machinery to mass-produce rigging blocks to an exact standard – he also offered a ‘guarantee’ to replace any that failed. One of Taylor’s inventions important in the block-making process was the circular saw – so much noise was made that locals thought Taylor might be in league with the devil, torturing poor souls. Taylor eventually outgrew the Westgate site, and in 1781 moved to Woodmill, Swaythling, Southampton where there was a better supply of water and room to power some of the equipment by steam engines. Taylor was sole supplier of blocks to the Royal Navy from 1759, supplying some 100,000 blocks a year until his death in 1803, whereupon he was interred at South Stoneham Church. His business was succeeded by the more advanced machinery being developed by competitor Marc Isambard Brunel.
Tides
Tides Southampton has a famous “double tide” with each tide rising for up to 7 hours, followed by an ebb tide of less than 4 hours. This provides Southampton with up to 17 hours of rising water every day, which is ideal for the shipping industry. A “young flood stand” of some two hours occurs when the tide rises at mean tide level, with high water being maintained for a considerable period. Fortuitously for Southampton, it has two tidal waves which reach the shore after being channelled east through the Needles and west through Spithead. In addition, the central location of Southampton on the south coast gives it a lower mean tidal range than other ports such as Bristol or Lowestoft. The “double tide” has been put to good use throughout Southampton’s history. Southampton Castle built its “garderobes” or latrines in the 14th century on the west shore, so waste could be swept away by the tide (with a second tide giving the garderobes a nice flush!). During the Second World War Southampton was Britain’s Number One Military Port, and the long hours of high water meant that more troops could board vessels over a shorter period of time than at other ports, which was of particular importance during the D-Day landings (more than 53,000 men and 7000 vehicles were to leave Southampton on D-Day).
Tudor House
Tudor House This is one of Southampton’s major museums. Built on the site of medieval vaults, the main structure dates from 1510-18. It was developed by Sir John Dawtry who was M.P. for Southampton in 1495 and Sheriff of Hampshire in 1516. Richard Lyster, Lord Chief Justice of England 1546-1552 lived here. The Gardens contain a canon given to the town in 1543. There is also an arch from St. Denys Priory and a plaque to the Italian nationalist Garibaldi who visited Southampton in 1864.
Matt Le Tissier
Matt Le Tissier Matt Le Tissier was born in Guernsey in 1968 and played his entire professional career for Southampton FC. He was and still is a fans’ favourite. He scored 164 goals in 443 games and made 8 England appearances. He scored 47 out of 48 penalty kicks. He scored the last goal in the final competitive match played at The Dell on 19 May 2001, against Arsenal. This turned out to be his last goal for Southampton.
Titanic
RMS Titanic RMS Titanic and her ill-fated maiden voyage have captured the imagination of people all around the world. Titanic was operated by the White Star Line and was built by the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast. She measured 269 m (about 882 feet) in length, with a beam of 28 m (92 feet) and a height of 53.3 m (175 feet) from her keel to the top of her funnels. One of her four funnels served a purely aesthetic purpose, since four funnels were considered more pleasing to the eye than three. She had 16 solid and 4 foldable lifeboats on board, which could have saved 1178 lives. That was only enough for about 1/3 of the people on board. However, this was still within the legal requirements of the time. In 1912 Titanic was the largest and most luxurious passenger ship in the World and was said to be unsinkable. Times were hard in 1912 in Southampton. The National Coal Strike meant that thousands of men were without work that April. Many families were dependent on charity handouts and had been forced to go to the pawn shop to get food. Many ships were unable to sail because of a shortage of coal. Only the White Star line was recruiting crew for a return voyage to New York on board their new luxury liner. They had been able to gather sufficient coal from other vessels and suppliers. So Southampton people happily signed on to the “unsinkable” Titanic. A small number of the crew were permanent employees of the White Star Line, but the majority were contracted (signed on) for one voyage at a time. Some had never even worked on a ship before. There were plumbers, firemen, engineers, waiters, maids etc. Stokers, firemen, trimmers and greasers, who did the heavy manual and dirty jobs came from the poorer areas of the town such as Chapel and Northam while the waiters, stewards and the clerks came from slightly more affluent areas further out from the town centre. Titanic’s arrival also meant a boom for local firms, as for example Oatley and Watling supplied fresh fruit and vegetables and FG Bealing’s nursery at Highfield provided 400 plants for the ship and buttonhole flowers for every first-class passenger. Titanic pulled away from the White Star dock in Southampton at the start of her maiden voyage on the10th April 1912. She struck an iceberg five days into the crossing at 11.40pm and sank at 2.20am on the 15th April, resulting in the deaths of 1,517 people in one of the deadliest peacetime maritime disasters in history. The tragedy made headlines across the world and had a devastating effect on the people of Southampton. Out of the total of 897 crew members, 715 men and women had their home address in Southampton and only 175 returned home alive. More than 500 families not only lost a loved one but often also their only source of income. The widows of non-salaried crew received no formal compensation from the hugely profitable White Star Line. In Southampton Titanic relief funds were organized for the families of lost crew members, raising nearly £450,000 (around £20,000,000 in today’s money). However, even though the financial consequences could be dealt with, the emotional scars ran deeper. A whole generation of men had been lost. Widows had to cope without their husbands, children had to grow up without their fathers and many survivors struggled to come to terms with the fact they had lived while many others had perished.
George Thomas
George Thomas – The man who built The Dell On the afternoon of Saturday 19 October 1907, from the comfort of a bath-chair placed near the touchline of the football ground he built and owned George Thomas, former director of Southampton and Chelsea football clubs, watched Saints defeat Brentford 3-0 in a Southern League game at The Dell. Two days later, aged 54, he was dead. Thomas was among the creators of Southampton Football & Athletic Company Limited in 1897. He is named as a ‘provisional director’ in the first entry in the new company’s minute book, which records a ‘promoters meeting’ at The Bedford Hotel on the evening of July 8. The club began as St Mary’s Church of England Young Men’s Association FC in 1885 and, as St Mary’s FC, quickly became the major force in Hampshire football. They had begun recruiting professionals by 1892 and joined the newly created Southern League in 1894. Now called Southampton St Mary’s, they were forced to relocate from the Antelope Cricket Ground to the County Cricket Ground in 1896. It was during their first season as guests of Hampshire County Cricket Club that Saints won their first Southern League title. They repeated the feat and reached the semi-finals of the FA Cup in 1897-98, by which time moves were afoot to acquire a more fitting venue for professional football; and that would require money. The company aspired to raise £5,000 in £1 shares. At a shareholders meeting in November Dr Ernest Stancomb, chairman of the new company, told those assembled, ‘that all being well by next season the company would be in possession of its own ground which was at the present time in the hands of George Thomas Esq.’ Thomas, by all accounts, directed every aspect of the project; including the purchase of the land and materials, and hiring and paying the contractors. In an era when the average Football League ground was four banks of packed cinder with a grandstand plonked on the halfway line facing east, he produced a venue that, although modest in size (the capacity was reputedly 24,500), was impressive in terms of facilities. Covered stands on both sides of the pitch seated over 4,000 (only Villa Park in Birmingham) could squeeze more bums on seats) and there was terracing with ample crush barriers behind both goals and alongside the stands. The dressing rooms had heated showers; plunge baths and ordinary baths; and the pitch was drained by 13,000 feet of agricultural piping.The new arena nestled in a natural dell created by Rollsbrook, a stream that rises on the Common and flowed into West Bay at the bottom of Four Post Hill (a conduit now carries in under the Marine Directorate Building in Commercial Road, beneath Central Station and into the general drainage system of the Western Docks). The dell had originally been excavated to accommodate goods sidings for the aborted stretch of the Didcott, Newbury & Southampton railway line intended to link Winchester with Southampton via Chilworth and Shirley. ‘The Dell’, as it became known, was an expensive undertaking. Thomas was a successful businessman. Negotiations were protracted. Thomas wanted £9,000 and ended up taking a rent of £250 per annum. Neither party was happy. Football Echo correspondent ‘Recorder’ recalled: ‘Stern business demanded a price that could not be afforded, but rather than cast the club out [Thomas] agreed to accept an amount considerably lower than what he asked.’ According to his Southern Echo obituary Thomas was born in London ‘of Welsh descent’ and had come to Southampton as a gunnery instructor on a ‘drill ship’. Assuming this to be a school for boy sailors we might reasonably deduce that he had served in the Royal Navy. By 1880 Thomas was the proprietor of a fishmongers shop in Market Lane; a narrow thoroughfare which connected the High Street and French Street. By 1895 he had acquired a partner, Robert Mowat, and their combined interests, scattered between Stornoway and Guernsey, were valued at £50,000. The secret of his success? According to his obituary, ‘energy, perseverance and business acumen’, combined with ‘thrift and tireless effort’. Add to that intuition. When the Western Counties & South Wales Telephone Company opened Southampton’s first telephone exchange in 1886 Thomas had two lines installed – there were three other subscribers. Thomas’s frustrations with the Saints’ board lead to his resignation in May 1899; which did not end the disagreements. However, he continued to support the best interests of the club even after investing in Chelsea. The only indication as to his standing at Stamford Bridge is that the Chelsea directors sent a ‘floral tribute’ to the funeral. The Saints’ board, along with many other local dignitaries, were in attendance, as was Frederick Wall, secretary of the Football Association. The last words go to Recorder: ‘As a friend I found Mr Thomas warm-hearted and steadfast, and a man whose rugged exterior contained the many traits of a kindly, sympathetic and generous character. And now he is but a memory. The Great Referee in the game of life has summoned him from earthly fields, to those who have reached their goal of earthly existence.’ This article is an extended version of one that appeared in the Southampton FC matchday magazine for the visit of Chelsea, 30 March 2013 Many thanks to Dave Juson from Deftly Hallowed for this extensive text on George Thomas and the history of ‘The Dell’.