History of Torquay
The History of Torquay, a town in Torbay, on the south coast of the county of Devon, England, starts some 450,000 years ago with early human artefacts found in Kents Cavern.
There is little evidence of any permanent occupation at Torquay until the eleventh century records in the Domesday Book, though it is known that visits were made by Roman soldiers and there was a small Saxon settlement called 'Torre'.
It is possible these soldiers could have been part of the Legio II Augusta, commanded by the future Emperor Vespasian during the invasion of Britain in 43 considering his extensive actions in the South West, during which according to the Roman historian Suetonius: "He reduced to subjection two powerful nations, more than twenty towns, and the island of Vectis".
It was called, in Latin, Dumnonia and, in the native Brythonic language, Dyfneint: pronounced "Dove-naynt" and eventually corrupted to Devon, the region in which the modern town of Torquay is situated would have been a part of this Sub-Roman kingdom.
The Cary family were prominent Torquinians and also owned most of the village of Cockington from as far back as the 14th century which included the modern day areas of Shiphay, Chelston and Livermead within its boundaries.
[13] Almost exactly 100 years after the failed armada of the King of Spain, William III landed at Brixham in Torbay on 5 November 1688 before passing through Torquay during his march to London, on his way to gain control of the country in the 'Glorious Revolution'.
These designs were brought into fruition by "the Maker of Torquay", William Kitson, who became chairman of the newly formed local council, acting on behalf of the absentee landlord Palk.
As a result of these plans, an exclusive residential area was created in the Warberries and Lincombes which retains its character today with several of these original properties still standing among the tree-clad hills, notably Hesketh Crescent.
[20] In the same year, when future British Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone was staying in the town, he was summoned to fight the election in Newark for the Conservative Party and the journey north to Nottinghamshire took him three days by coach.
These foetid dwellings in alleyways with open sewers were the homes of the unemployed and the domestic servants, labourers, artisans and others who, although they made the town tick, had to live in conditions where hunger and sanitary problems were a constant threat.
The basic diet of working-class families in those days consisted mainly of bread and whatever else could be had, usually cheese and a few vegetables, so when the staple food supply was scarce or too expensive to buy then just surviving was made even harder.
Rumours of disturbances had spread around the town but no heed had been taken, so when at 7.30 p.m. on 17 May a crowd assembled in Lower Union Street the authorities were caught off guard as attacks were made on bakers' shops and women carried off the spoils in their aprons.
On 31 July 1850 Prince and Princess Peter of Oldenburg, their five children and retinue arrived in Torquay by express train, having first been received at Osborne House, Isle of Wight, by their cousin, Queen Victoria.
[6] The upper class nature of the resort and the huge wealth of its residents during this period was further established when Worth's Tourist Guide To Devonshire (1886) declared of Torquay "in proportion to its population [it is] the wealthiest town in England".
During this period, Torquay attracted a number of literary talents whose works reflected their stay in the town, Charles Kingsley, author of The Water Babies and Westward Ho!
[26] Furthermore, two classic pieces of English literature Oscar Wilde's A Woman of No Importance and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Hound of the Baskervilles are reported to have been created while staying in Torquay.
The structure was shipped by barge from Torquay without the loss of a single pane of glass and is still in use today (including a brief period during the 1990s as a night club, under the management of comedian Jim Davidson).
In 1899 the town acquired its first professional sports team with the founding of Torquay United Football Club by a group of school leavers under the guidance of Sergeant-Major Edward Tomney.
In the early days of the war while patriotism was still high and many believed it would be over by Christmas, many volunteers signed on for military service and columns of young men were seen marching through the town following recruiting campaigns on their way to Northern France and Belgium.
In September King George V and Queen Mary visited the Town Hall and Stoodley Knowle hospitals where they saw wounded soldiers from the campaigns in France, Flanders and Gallipoli.
The continuing presence of the New Zealanders resulted in the opening of a YMCA in Torquay at Maycliff in St. Luke's Road in April and, a month later, the Kia Toa Club (now the Victorian Arcade) for those awaiting repatriation.
September 1918 saw a serious outbreak of the Spanish flu which was ravaging the world at the time, over 100 American servicemen died at the Oldway Hospital in a fortnight from the disease; they were buried in Paignton cemetery, but were later exhumed and taken back to the United States.
Armistice was declared on 11 November and some weeks later there was excitement at the harbour when the German submarine U-161 arrived while British 'water-planes flew in the air [and] descended on to the water' (possibly an early example of the 'victory roll').
In 1924 Torquay hosted the International Summer School of the Anthroposophy Society, which event was widely covered in the local press and was the final visit by the Austrian philosopher Rudolf Steiner to Britain.
In 1926, the former Liberal MP for Chertsey Francis John Marnham served a one-year term as Mayor of Torquay;[30] it was one of the rare occasions when the Town Council selected a chief magistrate from outside its own members.
In 1940 Wrighton of Walthamstow took over Sansom's garage opposite the Chilcote Memorial; up to 300 people worked there manufacturing aircraft parts (including for the Short Sunderland flying-boat) for the war effort.
One of the German aircraft involved in the bombing raid accidentally touched the spire of the nearby Catholic Church and crashed into houses in Teignmouth Road causing the large death toll.
Morrison indoor shelters 'would be issued free to those employed in an occupation compulsorily insured under the NHI Acts and whose earnings did not exceed £350 per annum, Others could purchase them for £7' (a year later, with D-Day over, the various Councils collected them for use in London which was suffering attacks by 'V' weapons).
Early in 1944 a coast ban, from The Wash to Cornwall, had come into force and visitors were only allowed in if possessing appropriate permits: this was to ensure absolute security surrounded the preparation of Operation Overlord and the D-Day landings.
The visiting restrictions were lifted in early July soon after the beach-head in Normandy had been established following the D-Day landings, and the American and Commonwealth troops billeted in the town had departed for Northern France and Nazi-occupied Europe.
