Portland

including Fortuneswell & Chesil

An old postcard of Fortuneswell, courtesy of Mark Houseby	Portland is a peninsula of 4½ mile length, off the south Dorset coast. It is almost cut off from the land, only being connected by the shingle bank known as Chesil Beach. The island is one mass of stone which is world renowned, the quarries have been in continuous use since the start of the 17th Century and famous buildings such as St Paul's Cathedral and the Houses of Parliament were built using Portland Stone. Portland Castle was erected in 1520. In 1847 a breakwater over two miles long was constructed to provide a very sheltered harbour to the north of the Isle.
The long history of the Isle is inextricably linked with quarrying, shipping, the navy and fishing. The convict prison at one time housed 900 hundred inmates, many of whom worked in the quarries. St Andrew's Church which was erected in 1487 fell into ruins in Victorian times and a chapel of ease replaced it in 1879. St George's was built in 1706. The lower church of St John was erected in 1839. There were several Methodist chapels and there is a Catholic church. In 1861 the population was 8466 and in 1891 was 9443.	St George's Church, photograph courtesy of Mark Houseby ©
Portland is a very populous parish and several people are transcribing the records. Bob Stone is the OPC for Portland
Census	To date complete census are online for 1841 Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 1851 Dist1a, Dist1b, Dist1c, Dist1d, Dist1e, Chesil Prison 1861 Dist 1, Dist 2, Dist 3, Dist 4, Dist 5, Dist 6a, Dist 6b 1871 Fortunes Well - Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, 1871 Chisel & Castleton, Reforne, Weston, Southwell, Wakeham, Easton P1, Easton P2, Easton P3, Portland Prison 1881 Dist 1, Dist 2, Dist 3, Dist 4&5, Dist 6, Dist 7a, Dist 7b, Verne, Prison Pt1, Prison Pt2, Vessels 1891 Fortunes Well - Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4
Parish Registers [PR] & Bishops Transcripts [BT]	St George's Church Baptisms [BT] 1731-1760, 1761-1779, 1780-1799, 1800-1812, 1813-1824, 1825-1834, 1835-1844, 1845-1854, 1855-1864, 1865-1880 St George's Church Marriages [BT] 1813-1824, 1825-1844, 1845-1852 St George's Church Burials [BT] 1731-1779, 1780-1812, 1813-1824, 1825-1844, 1845-1864, 1865-1880 St George's Church Burials [PR] 1849-1850, 1853-1854, 1861, 1869-1870 [Keith Searson] Independent Chapel, Chiswell Baptisms 1829-1837 St John the Baptist Church Baptisms 1847-1880 & Burials 1847-1880 St Peter's Church Baptisms 1872-1880 Portland Strays - Baptisms from Weymouth & Melcombe Regis
Portland History	The Encyclopaedia of Portland History [External]
Portland in 1837	A Week in the Isle of Portland in 1837 - An article from the Penny Magazine, with woodcut illustrations
Portland in 1848	An Excursion to Portland circa 1848
Portland in 1858	An Article on Portland in 1858 from a publication by Charles Dickens
Postal & Commercial Directories	Pigots 1844, Hunts 1851, Harrod's Directory's 1865 and Kelly's Directory 1895 Portland Town Criers
Portland Year Book 1905	A link to Paul Benyon's Transcription of this book.
Place Names	A list of Place Names
Photographs	Portland from Old Postcards 1 Portland from Old Postcards 2 The Images of Dorset web site provides good photos of Portland 1 & Portland 2
Wills	Wills, Administrations & Inventories
Monumental Inscriptions	St George's St John's Strangers Brackenbury
Maps	The 1891 Ordnance Survey maps of the parish can be seen at the old-maps site, just enter 'Portland' under place search.
	View Larger Map
Records held at the Dorset History Centre [Ref PE-PTD] (SA) St Andrew) (SJ) St John (SP) St Peter	Registers Christenings 1630-1650, 1660-1670, 169-1979. Marriages 1591-1612, 1694-1991. Burials 1564-1570, 1630-1632, 1638-1954 Marriages 1972-1995 Christenings 1840-1953, Mariages 1841-1994, Burials 1841-1991 Christenings 1870-1932, Marriages 1873-1966
Registration District (for the purpose of civil registration births, marriages, deaths & civil partnerships)	1 Jul 1837-31 Mar 1997:Weymouth 1 Apr 1997-30 Sep 2001:South Dorset 1 Oct 2001-17 Oct 2005: South & West Dorset
The excellent photographs below are courtesy of the FreeFoto.Com* web site, there are more Portland photos on their site.*


Chesil Beach

OPC PAGE

Visitors to Dorset OPC