Here comes the sun. Click on pic for panoramic view. #olhos #loveportugal

This postcard was sent from Southampton during the First World War on Sunday, 6 February 1916: ‘We came down here Fri + are leaving for France tonight, dunno when we are coming back again!’ Unfortunately I don’t know who the sender was or what happened to them after they reached France.

Round Tower, part of the eastern stretch of Southampton’s medieval walls, just north of God’s House Tower, was originally built as a freestanding dovecote in the thirteenth century. 1/2

This memorial remembers the crew members who lost their lives in the Titanic disaster in April 1912. It was paid for by the widows, mothers, and friends of the crew. Of the 908 crew members on board, 720 had signed on with a Southampton address. 542 out of 720 perished in the sinking. 1/3

RMS Queen Mary arrived in her home port of Southampton for the first time in 1936. The excitement was simply too much for nine-year-old Denis Pike from Bournemouth... 📸: Daily Mirror, 28 March 1936.

Thomas Hibberd James’ late nineteenth century photograph of one of the two lions that have stood guard outside the Bargate since 1743. They replaced an earlier pair of lions that dated back to around 1522. 1/2

Royals are notoriously hard to buy for. What do you get people who have everything? When in doubt, do what Admiral Boscawen did in April 1750 for Frederick, Prince of Wales and get the royal in your life a 476lb tortoise. 🐢 #18thCentury #Hanoverians #Georgians

This photograph was taken at Swaythling Remount Depot in March 1916. The remount depot at Swaythling was the largest in the country during the First World War. Hundreds of thousands of horses and mules were gathered here before being transported to France from Southampton Docks.

You may have heard of the bull in the china shop, well, here are five real-life tales of cows wandering into Southampton shops: 1/10

RMS Olympic at Southampton.

On this day in 1940, the Cunliffe-Owen aircraft factory at Swaythling was targeted and bombed by the Luftwaffe in a devastating daytime raid. It was an important part of the war effort since various types of aircraft were repaired here. Spitfire parts were produced too. (📸: Plane Hunters) 1/4

In November 1901, Minnie Dora Tubbs, a middle-aged married woman who lived on Victoria Road in Woolston was charged with being drunk and incapable after Police Constable Compton found her lying on the pavement on East Street at around midnight on a Saturday night. He tried to rouse her but… 1/3

Saints fans at the Dell for the South Coast Derby between Southampton and Portsmouth.

Carry on regardless. Love reading your posts

On this day in 1881, SS Teuton sank off the coast of South Africa with the loss of 236 lives. Many of the crew members were from Southampton. My great x3 grandfather, John Sanger, was one of those who perished. 1/14

RMS Queen Mary at Southampton.

The South Coast Derby is just two weeks away. I found this article in the 2 November 1901 edition of the Echo and it amused me: ‘Whenever the Saints and Portsmouth oppose each other the sparks fly… 1/5

Southampton High Street, photographed by Thomas Hibberd James in the late 1800s and by me in the early 2020s. 1/5

York Gate was cut into the northern stretch of Southampton’s medieval wall in 1769. There was a little garden on top of the wall for many years. The gate was demolished along with the garden in 1961 in order to widen the road.

In November 1871, this old lady went and had her photograph taken in Southampton. I suppose it’s very likely that she was born in the 1700s, long before the invention of photography. It’s amazing to consider the changes she would have witnessed during her life.

Hamble, then and now.

The Royal Pier today, well, what’s left of it, exactly 192 years since the original wooden pier was opened by the Duchess of Kent and Princess Victoria, who became Queen Victoria four years later. 1/2

On this day in 1982, the P&O liner Canberra arrived home carrying thousands of troops from the Falklands War and they received a hero’s welcome at Southampton. 📸: © IWM FKD 895

St Luke’s Church on the corner of Onslow Road and Cranbury Avenue. It originally opened for worship in 1852 and it was extended in 1860. The building was sold to the Sikh community in 1983 before being converted into a gurdwara.

The Lido.

A moment in time captured in a Southampton garden.

Thousands of people welcomed Amelia Earhart to Southampton on this day in 1928 after she became the first woman to cross the Atlantic in an aeroplane. Photographed here with Wilmer Stultz (pilot), Lou Gordon (mechanic), and Southampton’s first female mayor, Lucia Foster Welch.

‘Police Constable Jack’ photographed in 1901. This good boy was apparently, and unfortunately, for whatever reason, left behind on the quay at Southampton when his owner, a soldier, boarded a troopship bound for the Boer War in 1900. 1/5

On this day in 1939, 288 Jewish refugees fleeing persecution in Nazi Germany arrived at Southampton Docks. 📸: Birmingham Daily Gazette, 22 June 1939 1/11

The south face of the Bargate in the late nineteenth century.

Southampton in the weeks after D-Day. Eighty-one years ago, in June 1944, the Bagg family are photographed in their garden on Hill Lane, Southampton. Behind them in Rockleigh Road, an American field howitzer unit is ready and waiting to sail to Normandy. 📸: © IWM (NYT 27247)

Memorial for William Alfred Jeffery in Southampton Old Cemetery. He was employed by Luigi Gatti as controller of Gatti’s à la carte restaurant on board Titanic for the maiden voyage; he had previously worked for Gatti on board Titanic’s sister ship, Olympic. 1/3

Empress of Britain entering the King George V Graving Dock in Southampton (the largest dry dock in the world at the time) in July 1935. Titanic’s famous sister ship, Olympic, can be seen on the left, laid up at the end of her career, destined for the scrapyard.

The Cass family (and their dog) outside Farringdon Cottages on Laundry Road in Shirley Warren, circa 1905. The building still stands today.

On this day in 1917, poet Wilfred Owen arrived at Southampton from the Western Front and he was sent to the Royal Victoria Hospital at Netley. He then went to a hospital in Edinburgh but returned to France in July 1918. Tragically, he was killed on 4 November 1918, one week before the armistice.

GEORGE III !!! 🤯🤯🤯

Currently holding a letter written by Frederick, Prince of Wales…🤯

#fuschia question. Terry (named after my dad) is not looking so healthy at the moment. Can anyone give me any ideas what’s wrong with him please and how I can help him?

Thomas Brownrigg, the son of a Southampton post office official, was training to become a barrister at Gray’s Inn when he joined the Middlesex Regiment during First World War. He served in France for around a year. Later, whilst still in France, he joined the Royal Flying Corps. 1/3

Men of the Green Howards preparing their rifles at Southampton on 3 June 1944. This photo was taken on this day 81 years ago. Three days later they would help take Gold Beach on D-Day. Most of the infantry who took Gold and Juno beaches embarked at Southampton. 📸: © IWM (B 5238)

This was a wonderful panel to be part of and it was really fun to get to talk about Hanoverian family mayhem! It’s been an absolutely fantastic conference so far and can’t wait to hear more amazing papers! 😍 #KQ14

Last tram through the Bargate, on this day in 1938. People had complained for years about traffic congestion caused by trams having to pass under the twelfth century arch. The buildings on either side of the Bargate were therefore demolished during the 1930s to make a bypass for the trams.

#OnThisDay in 1738, John Perceval, 1st Earl of Egmont noted in his diary that 'The Princess of Wales was brought to bed of a boy, which the same night received private baptism, there being doubt if he would live'. This baby was the future George III, one of Britain's longest reigning monarchs.

Back with the newspapers today, looking at mentions of the Prince and Princess of Wales in 1738. Of course, there's more there than just Frederick and Augusta. The papers yield unexpected gems like this one, from 29 September. A reminder that humans have always, always been messy and ridiculous:

‘Southampton Pub, D-Day Plus One’ by Lt Tom Wood, 1944. Canadian Tom Wood painted a scene of celebration in a Southampton pub one day after D-Day. There are Canadians and Americans, and the chap with the pom-pom is a Free French sailor. CWM 19710261-4911 www.warmuseum.ca/collections/...

Postcard of Above Bar Street and the Bargate sent in November 1904.

Off to Normandy on this day in 1944, four days after D-Day. American vehicles being loaded at Southampton’s Town Quay. The Royal Pier can be seen in the background. Over two million Americans would pass through Southampton between D-Day and the end of the Second World War. 📸: © IWM (A 24011)

Wounded American troops arriving at Southampton from Normandy on this day in 1944, four days after D-Day. 📸: © IWM (A 24009) | © IWM (A 24008)

Reginald Joseph Mitchell led the team that designed the Spitfire at Supermarine in Woolston, Southampton. The prototype first flew in 1936. Sadly, he would not live to see his iconic aircraft’s finest hour during the Second World War. R. J. Mitchell died at home in Southampton on this day in 1937.

On this day in 1982, QE2 returned home to Southampton from the Falklands War. On board were over seven hundred survivors from HMS Ardent, HMS Antelope, and HMS Coventry, which had all been sunk during the conflict.