The average working week in 1912 was 56 hours. A skilled man in regular work on £100 per year could probably bring up a family without too much strain. A crewman on the Titanic might hope to earn around £60 per year provided he was in good health and kept regular employment.  Many struggled to survive on less. Closely linked with the question of wages was that of unemployment.  The trade cycle of slump and recovery resulted in unemployment fluctuating between 3% and 10%....

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Southampton is one of the greatest natural harbours in the world, benefiting from four tides a day, and facing one of the world's busiest waterways.  Southampton's relationship with the sea has always rested on its people's ability to make the most of its natural advantages.  Romans, Saxons, and medieval merchants have all prospered in turn.  And today, Southampton is at the centre of the UK's cruise line industry, with a record breaking 720,000 passengers passing through the port in 2007.  It's the biggest vehicle terminal, and one of the county's most successful container ports. Read more by clicking the link below. See Southampton's Chronology...

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S.S. Stella Contains a wealth of information on the Stella shipping disaster of 1899. This is possibly the most comprehensive website on the Stella disaster in the world. The numerous pages are highly researched, and the site continues to grow.  Much of the work sheds new light on the subject, placing it in context, and giving a rare insight into late Victorian society. Guest writers, Sue Little, and Tessa Davis are descendants of Stella crewmen.    More Here
The Millionth American In the months following D-Day to the end of WW2, three and a half million troops embarked from Southampton docks. On the 25th. October 1944, Private Paul Shimer Jr, of the 15 Infantry, 3rd. Division, Seventh Army, stepped through the counting machine to become the millionth American soldier.  More Here
The Flying Nightingales Lydia Alford was the first of three women known as ‘the Flying Nightingales’ to land in a battle zone after D-Day.  She was a nursing orderly in the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force (W.A.A.F), and flew on the first RAF transport plane to evacuate the wounded from the Normandy battlefields.  More Here Southampton in WW2  was the seventh heaviest bombed city in Britain.  It was considered an obvious target; it was Britain's Number One Military Port, and home of Spitfire production...   More Here
Southampton Lido  I regularly visited the Lido two or three times a week during my school holidays back in the 50s and 60s. Unfortunately, there's no trace of it now, but the happy memories linger on...  More Here Speakers' Corner Hidden away in Hoglands Park is Southampton's Speakers' Corner. Why is it there, and who thought of the idea?  More Here
Park Road, Southampton Pete Simpkin and Caroline Kennedy take us on a walk down memory lane remembering Park Road as it was in the 40s and 50s, and 60s when it was lined with a wide variety of shops and businesses.  More Here   For more local history visit Articles and Research tab

I provide my own fully up-to-date equipment to stage these high quality Power Point presentations. The slides are projected through a LCD, 1200 lumens, digital projector producing bright images onto a large screen. More Here

The Media menu contains some new pages to provide Video Clips and Image Galleries.
Image Galleries  More Here

Join me, and cameraman, Mike Power, on a journey of discovery around this fascinating city.  You will be  absorbed by this film. Southampton's rich and varied history is everywhere to be seen.  From the sailing of the Mayflower; to the loss of the Titanic. The development of the docks; the impact of WW2; and post war reconstruction, through to the dynamic city of the present day. Enjoy Southampton Revealed ; you will not be disappointed.

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Jake Simpkin & Mike Power