29-685: Lieutenant General Watkin Tench (6 October 1758 – 7 May 1833) was a British military officer who is best known for publishing two books describing his experiences in the First Fleet , which established the first European settlement in Australia in 1788. His two accounts, Narrative of the Expedition to Botany Bay and Complete Account of the Settlement at Port Jackson provide an account of
58-494: A cholera epidemic arose on Union Street which connected Plymouth to Devonport, and were initially attributed to blockage of several house drains during construction of a new Millbay railway station . Devonport became a county borough under the Local Government Act 1888 . In 1914 the county borough of Devonport was abolished, when it and the neighbouring urban district of East Stonehouse were absorbed into
87-596: A second lieutenant on 25 January 1776, aged 17. He was promoted to first lieutenant on 25 January 1778 at the age of 19 years and 3 months. He fought against the American forces in their War of Independence . He was captured when HMS Mermaid was driven ashore on the Maryland coast at Assateague Island near the then extant Sinepuxent Inlet on the morning of 8 July 1778, by the French under Comte d'Estaing . Tench
116-631: A swimming pool, park and a sports ground, The Brickfields . Since 2003, it has been the home of Plymouth Albion , the city's Rugby union club located near Plymouth City College. Devonport is also home to the Devonport Playhouse, a theatre located in the former Methodist Central Hall in Fore Street. The space was purchased and converted into a performance venue by the Plymouth Theatre Company back in 1987. It
145-656: Is Luke Pollard , who is a member of the Labour and Co-operative Party . The population of the ward at the 2011 census was 14,788. In 1690 the Admiralty gave a contract to Robert Waters from Portsmouth to build a stone dock at Point Froward on the east bank of the Hamoaze at the mouth of the River Tamar . Plymouth Dock, as Devonport was originally called, began around 1700 as a small settlement to house workers employed on
174-673: Is a popular venue with the local Amateur Dramatic companies, choirs and dancing schools in Plymouth especially, since the closure of the Athenaeum in central Plymouth. UTC Plymouth is a university technical college (UTC) which opened in September 2013 near Devonport Park . The UTC is situated on the former site of Parkside Community College, which closed in August 2008 due to falling enrolment. The Torpoint Ferry service across
203-587: Is beginning to achieve the city's vision of ... "The recreation of Devonport as a distinct place in modern Plymouth; a vibrant self sustaining community; a place of real quality, variety and interest, the pride of residents, attractive to visitors and a model of 21st Century living, working and playing." The Admiralty's release of several land plots in Devonport has assisted the Regeneration project. One ex-MoD area, where new homes will be available from 2011,
232-545: Is the Admiralty House site at Mount Wise. Although there are pockets of regeneration work remaining to be completed, the waterfront district of Devonport is becoming one of the desired residential areas of the city of Plymouth. In 2011, the Devonport Heritage Trail was introduced, complete with over 70 waymarkers outlining the route. Devonport has its own shopping street, a railway station ,
261-578: The Admiralty called for volunteers for a three-year tour with the newly forming New South Wales Marine Corps for service at Botany Bay . in December 1786, Tench's offer to re-enter the corps was accepted. In May 1787, he sailed on the transport ship Charlotte . Before sailing with the fleet, Tench arranged with the London publishing firm of Debrett's to write a book, describing his experience of
290-572: The military Governor and naval Commander-in-Chief of Plymouth were accommodated in large houses on Mount Wise (in Government House and Admiralty House respectively). In 1805 a Royal Laboratory (an outpost of the Woolwich Arsenal ) was established just north-west of the redoubt; small-arms ammunition and explosives were manufactured here, until the compound was converted into barracks accommodation (Mount Wise Barracks) in
319-471: The 1770s, with eight guns and two mortars protecting the coastal approach to the dockyard. In earlier times, a gun wharf had been established on the quayside here to the south-east; the gun wharf was removed (and re-established at Morice Yard alongside the Dockyard) in 1724, but the area remained dominated by the armed forces up until the present century. From the late-eighteenth/early-nineteenth century both
SECTION 10
#1732772403897348-418: The 1830s. During the millennium decade, Devonport received government New Deal for Communities funding of £48.7 million; this enabled an extensive Regeneration programme to be carried out. Since 2009, the investments have begun to transform Devonport – physically, socially, demographically. Where once the area was run-down, depressed, and classified as 'deprived' in many categories, the 21st-century Devonport
377-698: The Aborigines of Sydney, the Gadigal and Cammeraygal , whom he referred to as "Indians". He was friendly with Bennelong , Barangaroo and several others. He stayed in Sydney until December 1791 when he sailed home on HMS Gorgon , arriving in Plymouth in July 1792. In 1791 he studied the progress of the colony as research for his second book, visiting, among others, the farm of the convict Thomas William Parr, whom he found to have made improvements as required by
406-541: The Channel fleet's blockade of Brest . In November 1794, Bligh surrendered HMS Alexander after the action of 6 November 1794 , a hard-fought battle with three French ships. The crew were initially imprisoned on ships in Brest harbour. Later Tench and Bligh were moved to Quimper and imprisoned on parole. Bligh kept Tench close by because Tench was fluent in French. During this time, Tench wrote, but probably did not send,
435-753: The English county of Devon , although it was, at one time, the more important settlement. It became a county borough in 1889. Devonport was originally one of the " Three Towns " (along with Plymouth and East Stonehouse ); these merged in 1914 to form what would become in 1928 the City of Plymouth. It is represented in the Parliament of the United Kingdom as part of the Plymouth Sutton and Devonport constituency . Its elected Member of Parliament (MP)
464-504: The Wikimedia System Administrators, please include the details below. Request from 172.68.168.151 via cp1112 cp1112, Varnish XID 914610722 Upstream caches: cp1112 int Error: 429, Too Many Requests at Thu, 28 Nov 2024 05:40:03 GMT Devonport, Devon Devonport ( / ˈ d ɛ v ən p ɔːr t / DEV -ən-port ), formerly named Plymouth Dock or just Dock , is a district of Plymouth in
493-687: The arrival and first four years of the colony. Tench was born on 6 October 1758 at Chester in the county of Cheshire , England, a son of Fisher Tench, a dancing master who ran a boarding school in the town and Margaritta Tarleton of the Liverpool Tarletons. Watkin was a cousin to the politician Banastre Tarleton . His father appears to have named Watkin after a wealthy local landowner, Watkin Williams Wynn, whose family probably assisted in starting Tench's military career. Tench joined His Majesty's Marine Forces , Plymouth division, as
522-451: The county borough of Plymouth. In the mid-eighteenth century a defensive earthwork was constructed around the town and dockyard. Within these dockyard ' lines ', six square barracks were built between in 1758–63 to accommodate the garrison of troops required to man the defences. A series of redoubts were also constructed, forward of the lines, in the 1770s, including that at Mount Pleasant (of which there are substantial remains). In
551-412: The early nineteenth century, the dockyard lines were strengthened with stone ramparts and armed with guns, and the adjacent ditches were deepened. These defences became largely redundant with the building of a series of Palmerston Forts around Plymouth in the second half of the nineteenth century. Much of the open land forming the glacis beyond the lines became Devonport Park in the late 1850s. Three of
580-631: The house constructed by Richard Oxnam's grandfather. He lived there from 1818 until 1828. In July 1827, Tench retired with the rank of lieutenant general . He died on 7 May 1833, in Devonport , near Plymouth , Devon , England, aged 74. Tench Reserve in Penrith, New South Wales , is named after him, as is Watkin Tench Parade in Pemulwuy, New South Wales . Lieutenant-general (United Kingdom) Too Many Requests If you report this error to
609-549: The journey and the first few months of the colony. In July 1788, his manuscript was taken back by John Shortland and published as the Narrative of the Expedition to Botany Bay by Debrett's in 1789. It ran to three editions and was quickly translated into French , German , Dutch and Swedish . In October 1788, Robert Ross made a list of marines who wanted to stay in Australia, either as soldiers or settlers. Tench headed
SECTION 20
#1732772403897638-718: The letters that formed the basis of his third book, Letters written in France to a Friend in London . He was exchanged in May 1795 after being held prisoner for six months. After returning to service, Tench served four years on HMS Polyphemus , escorting convoy ships in the Atlantic and the Channel. In 1801, he rejoined the Channel blockade fleet on HMS Princess Royal and remained there until his career at sea ended in 1802. After this, he appears to have taken shore posts at Chatham , Plymouth and Woolwich until he retired with
667-523: The list as "a soldier for one tour more of three years." Among his achievements in the fledgling colony of New South Wales Tench was being the first European to encounter the Nepean River . Tench's accounts were influenced by the liberalism of Jean-Jacques Rousseau and the idea of the noble savage . He ridicules Rousseau's notion of the noble savage and details the colonists' treatment of Aboriginal people. His writings include much information about
696-414: The new naval base that was being built around Waters' dock. By 1733 its population had grown to around 3,000, and by 1801 it was already larger than both the nearby towns of Plymouth and Stonehouse together. By 1811 the population of Plymouth Dock was just over 30,000 and the residents resented the fact that its name made it sound like an adjunct of Plymouth. In 1823 a petition to King George IV requested
725-474: The rank of major general at the end of 1815. In October 1819, Tench was reactivated as commandant in the Plymouth division at the age of 61. Although he and his wife had no children of their own, in 1821 they took responsibility for three nephews and a niece when the four children were orphaned. At the time, Watkin Tench was 63 and his wife was 56. Watkin Tench resided in Chapel Street, Penzance , in
754-524: The six small barracks were replaced in 1854–6 by the sizeable Raglan Infantry Barracks , designed by Captain Francis Fowke (who later designed the Albert Hall ); today only its gatehouse remains (and that in a derelict state), the rest having been demolished in the 1970s. The high ground south of the town is called Mount Wise. Enclosed within the town ramparts, it was given its own redoubt in
783-420: The terms of the grant, and was a hard worker, but not satisfied with farming work. In October 1792, Tench married Anna Maria Sargent, who was the daughter of Robert Sargent, a Devonport surgeon. In 1793, he published his Account of the Settlement at Port Jackson , which was as well-received as his first book. He joined HMS Alexander as a brevet major , serving under Admiral Richard Rodney Bligh in
812-505: The town should be renamed, and suggested "Devonport". The king agreed to the change of name, which took effect on 1 January 1824. To celebrate, the town built Devonport Column next to the recently completed guildhall ; both were designed by John Foulston . Devonport was first incorporated as a municipal borough in 1837 under the Municipal Corporations Act 1835 . In July 1849, the first outbreaks in what became
841-796: Was in command of the Marine unit on board HMS Mermaid . He and the other officers were transported to Philadelphia, imprisoned and exchanged in October 1778. Little more is known of him until he sailed as part of the First Fleet in 1787, although he records in Chapter 13 of the Account that he had spent time in the West Indies , and his service record shows that he was promoted to captain lieutenant in September 1782 and went on half-pay in May 1786. The retirement did not last long, as in October 1786
#896103