An American's Diary of the Reunion

Betsy Haskell Fisk

Although the actual International Haskell Family Society reunion began on Thursday, June 17, 2010, four of us Americans (Dick & Betsy Fisk & Dick & Edie Haskell) arrived in beautiful sunny weather on Wednesday, the 16^th. After check-in at the Royal Beach Hotel in Southsea, we saw our other American cousin, Mervin Stevens who had been out taking his daily long, long walk. He joined us as we walked a few blocks to the Florence Arm Pub for lunch. Then in the afternoon we walked on the boardwalk along the waterfront and enjoyed the sea and the beautiful gardens. Upon our return to our hotel, we went into the lounge for our favorite - tea & scones with clotted cream. Roger and Maureen Emmins joined us for conversation and an update on all of their doings.

Thursday, 17 June 2010: Another beautiful sunny day! Walked to Southsea Castle, built by Henry VIII in 1544 and also used for fortification during WWII. Henry VIII watched his beloved Mary Rose (his flagship) sink, not by the French when their invasion fleet landed on the Isle of Wight on 18 July 1545, but due to turning too quickly. The castle never fell to foreign powers, except in 1642 during the English Civil War when the Parliamentarian soldiers peacefully overpowered the Royalist commander, who had had too much to drink and was unable to command his troops. At the time of our visit they were doing reenactments for school groups and we were invited to join them. Did you know that there were different arrows used for different purposes? One type was used against humans, another against horses, and then the flame arrows used against wooden ships and sails. The castle had been an active military base for over 400 years, even surviving a fire in 1759 but was turned over to the Portsmouth City Council in 1960. For more information concerning the castle, go to www.southseacastle.co.uk.

Following lunch back at the Royal Beach Hotel, thirteen of us (we five Americans, Roger & Maureen Emmins, George & Jean Haskell, Veronica & Terry Taylor, Alan & Pat Haskell) boarded a bus to downtown Portsmouth for a walking tour with our excellent guide, David Parker. Highlights included: harbor and walled fortifications to protect the city; Spinnaker; Numerous Haskell pub sites; Churches; statues; and the "Going to America" statue erected by the Latter Day Saints, showing a family ready to embark on their way to the "New World." Janet Miller, Christine Haskell Simmons (IHFS librarian), and Ian Haskell from Australia joined us for a delicious dinner that night at the Royal Beach Hotel. After dinner, Karen Tobin gave a very interesting slide presentation on the Portsmouth Dockyard. Looking forward to going there on Saturday.

Friday, 18 June 2010: Our group from the previous evening met this morning to take the Hovercraft to the Isle of Wight. Upon arrival in Ryde we picked up a bus and traveled to Osborn House, the seaside retreat castle of Queen Victoria & Prince Albert.

The House was lovely and full of artifacts and pictures. It was built between 1845 and 1851 based on a design of Prince Albert. There are beautiful views, tranquil surroundings with a Victorian walled garden, Swiss cottage, and bath house. There is even a miniature fort with drawbridge over a moat where the children could play. Queen Victoria died here in her bedroom on 22 Jan 1901 after a reign of nearly 64 years. This room has been kept exactly as it was following her death.

After returning via a bus ride and Hovercraft to Portsmouth, we all walked to The Still and West Pub for supper. Most of us had cod and chips. Watched the UK play Algeria (0-0) in the world cup soccer match. USA finished 2-2 against Slovenia. Everyone, and I do mean everyone, in the lounge watches soccer.

Saturday, 19 June 2010: Today four more joined us (Susan Haskell Harvey and Melvyn Sutherland, and Mary Haskell Martin and George Hardy) for our tour of the Portsmouth Dockyards. We had an excellent guided tour by Matthew (call me Matt) who gave a history and interesting stories of all of the buildings in the yard as well as a description of the buildings.

Matt told us that the Porter's Lodge was built in 1708 and the Dockyard porter lived there. Part of his job was to police the workers to prevent "excessive theft." He also sold beer to the workers so they would work better and to keep up their morale. After the hour tour, we went in "The Victory" museum where we saw a video of the Battle of Trafalgar and Lord Nelson as well as other objects of interest. The Mary Rose Museum was closed for major renovations and will be reopened in 1912-perhaps necessitating another visit. Next we toured the HMS Victory, commissioned in 1778, thus making it the oldest commissioned warship in the world. It remained in active service until 1812. We saw the spot where Nelson received his mortal wound. We were surprised at how lavish the officer's quarters were. It was a very interesting ship. Dick Haskell took many, many pictures! (Some are on the reunion slide show on this page). The Trafalgar Sail (the fore topsail) also has a building to show it off and is thought to be the "largest single original artifact from the Battle of Trafalgar" according to our brochure. A harbor cruise was next on our agenda, giving us the sea view of Portsmouth with an interpretive talk of all the many activities in Portsmouth Harbor. After lunch we toured the 1860 HMS Warrior. According to the brochure, the ship was "built to counter French developments in naval shipbuilding...when she was launched, she was the largest, fastest and most powerful warship in the world."

Exhausted, we took the bus back to the hotel to get ready for our Banquet and annual meeting at the Old Customs House-another historic Portsmouth site. Here we met and renewed acquaintances with more Haskell cousins - Barbara Griffin and her daughter Helen Standley, Peter Haskell, Barry and Jonathan Miller. The annual meeting went smoothly.

Our UK hosts were most gracious and hospitable to us and we hope we can convince them to come to the USA for our reunion next June in Gettysburg. And so, Sunday morning, the 20^th we left Portsmouth for Scotland - the next week of our vacation in the UK.