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Celebrating Hampshire Historians
Slight, Henry and Julian
Henry: christening, 17 January 1796; 25 November 1860.
Julian: christening, 6 January 1798; burial 2 January, 1886
Dr Henry Slight (from: https://historyinportsmouth.co.uk/people/early-historians.htm)
These two brothers were both medical practitioners, Fellows of the Royal College of Surgeons of London, and were active in cultural life in Portsmouth. In 1818 they were amongst those who founded the Portsea Literary and Philosophical Society, which was regarded as too middle-class for artisans. So, in 1825 they went on to start a Mechanics’ Institute. It was initially in the Town Hall, but after the building was pulled down it 1836, it moved to Bishop Street and was renamed The Athenaeum.
In 1820, Henry published A Metrical History of Portsmouth (now available online), but the main contribution of him and his brother to local history is their 248-page Chronicles of Portsmouth, published in April 1828 ‘in a manner more detailed than any work of the kind ever before published’. It is a collection of extracts from various sources, transcripts of documents and the like, together with personal knowledge. Especially interesting are their descriptions of rope-walks, boring machinery and other industrial production facilities in Portsmouth Dockyard that had started a generation before with Marc Brunel’s block mills.
The book was financed by subscribers, including ‘Royal Personages’: the complete list filled seven pages with many familiar names: the Portsmouth Public Library took 100 copies. The help of Portsmouth-born ‘Frederick [sic] Madden FSA, FRSL, Sub-Keeper of Manuscripts in the British Museum’ was acknowledged, though he apparently had a low opinion of the finished work. The celebrated librarian and antiquarian ‘W. Upcott Esq. [1779-1845], of the London Institution’ was also consulted. In 1881 he published in three volumes A Bibliographical Account of the Principal Works Relating to English Topography, which for Hampshire was largely concerned with Winchester. The only entry for Portsmouth was The Ancient and Modern History of Portesmouth [sic], Portsea, Gosport and their Environs printed in 1799 by Joseph Watts, probably in Alverstoke, Gosport. It has been attributed to the Rev. R.H. Cumyns, who is listed as a subscriber to Chronicles from All Souls Oxford and as a ‘Minister of All Saints Church, Mile-end’.
Later, they both wrote a number of books, largely on the naval history of the town.
Sources
Contribution to county’s history
They made significant contributions to the history of the Royal Navy and dockyard in Portsmouth.
Relevant published works
- Henry and Julian Slight, Chronicles of Portsmouth, 1828, London [called ‘a History of Portsmouth’, and by Henry only, in White’s Directory, 1859, p, 277].
- Henry Slight, True Stories of H.M. Ship Royal George from 1746-1841, Ryde, 1841
- Henry Slight, The History of the Royal Dock Yard of Portsmouth (in a guidebook), ?1843, Portsmouth
- Julian Slight, A Narrative of the Loss of the Royal George, Portsea, 1841, (In 1844, a 7th edition ‘bound in the wood of the wreck’ was published). There are copies in the Portsmouth Museum
Critical Comments
At a time when much was happening elsewhere in the emergence of local history, he fulfilled hopes that local curators would record the locality’s history in a form that others could follow.
Other Comments
Contributor
Barry Shurlock, 14 October 2025
Key Words
Portsmouth, Portsmouth Dockyards, naval history
Any queries or further suggestions for this part of the list should be addressed to celebrating@hantsfieldclub.org.uk.
 
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