by Bob King | Jun 9, 2021 | Victorian Britain
The upgrading of the coastal defences continued with the building of the Centre Battery of three gun emplacements to take a 6 inch Breech Loading Gun each alongside the Eastern 12 Pounder Quick Fire Battery again of 3 gun emplacements. These works were completed in...
by Bob King | May 28, 2021 | Victorian Britain
These next set of plans cover the period from 1898 to World War 1. The defences up to this point had all been Rifle Muzzle Loaded Guns which were slow to fire and designed to combat the first Ironclad warships launched by the French in 1859. However the current...
by Bob King | May 20, 2021 | Victorian Britain
The next set of surveys done by the Royal Engineers was in 1895 overseen by Lt Col Francis Mascall who was the Commander Royal Engineers (CRE) Plymouth Sub District. It was measured and drawn by Company Sergeant Major Fred Beale who was a draughtsman by trade. Whilst...
by Bob King | May 13, 2021 | Uncategorized, Victorian Britain
A few more fascinating documents to explore that have recently come to light. It’s the 1881 Barrack Plan for the Island surveyed and drawn up by the Royal Engineers. It was a decade after the completion of the Palmerston or Napoleonic Casemates which contained the 9...
by Bob King | Feb 19, 2021 | Uncategorized, Victorian Britain
6 months ago I wasn’t aware of any births on the Island. I knew a few troops were accompanied by their families on the Island from newspaper cuttings and parts of the buildings had been labelled as quarters. The first Island baby I found out about through Sue Cook...
by Bob King | Jul 9, 2020 | Victorian Britain
The last decade of the 19th Century began with Gunner Dawson of the Island Garrison saving the life of Gunner Kelly. Both had been on the Royal Artillery Cutter returning from Millbay to the Island when Gunner Kelly fell overboard prompting Gunner Dawson to...
