| This project by the Battle of Southsea Society will preserve, digitise, transcribe, interpret and secure the future of the Batchelor family archive, donated via the History in Portsmouth website.The project will culminate in a display as part of Portsmouth war commemorations in November 2026. It will also secure the HiP (History in Portsmouth) website’s future.
The archive contains over 350 items, including:
Over 200 coded letters to Elsie Batchelor, from a sailor on Royal Mail Line cruises (1920s–30s).
Over 70 letters from Frederick Batchelor, with medals, citations, and accounts of his WW1 service in East Africa.
Around 30 letters from Reginald Batchelor, including an unpublished poem from the Western Front.
Around 50 family history documents, including deeds for the family home, household papers, and evidence of the family bank collapse during the Great Depression.
Both Frederick and Reginald were killed in WW1.
The archive provides a rare, intimate perspective on war, sea, and family life in Portsmouth, linking local lives to global events.The project will work with the Portsmouth History Centre to engage public volunteers to help with the decoding of the letters and researching the history uncovered. The History Centre has also offered free work space and permanent safe storage for the collection.
This project will also secure the future of the History/Memorials in Portsmouth website. It will be used to host the archive online, detail the discoveries made and, in collaboration with Portsmouth History Centre, engage with volunteers to build and expand the community archive.
| The collection is fragile, unique, and currently vulnerable to deterioration. Its coded correspondence is particularly rare and has never been studied. Without preservation and digitisation, it risks being lost.
Frederick worked for the Portsmouth News prior to the war, and his collection include letters of his first impressions of Africa in 1913 til his death in action in 1917.
Fred’s collection of medals include the Military Cross and would have a significant value to private collectors.
The unpublished poem, written by Reginald during or just after the Battle of the Somme, has never been seen or studied, and is extremely poignant. The size and scope of the archive means there will inevitably be other important elements that are yet to be discovered. The project ensures safeguarding, public access, and meaningful community benefit.
The Battle of Southsea Historical Society is part of the Open Ya Mouth Community Interest Company. We are an inclusive organisation which promotes accessibility to the arts and heritage for underrepresented groups in Portsmouth.
The Battle of Southsea Historical Society successfully ran the 150th Anniversary of the Battle of Southsea in 2024/25, a £150,000 Heritage Lottery & Portsmouth City Council project, to celebrate the history of Southsea Common. This included museum displays, public events and the installation of permanent memorials. The society has also given a number of heritage based talks in the past and appeared on the Hampshire Archive Trust podcast. We have recently been involved in saving and updating the History / Memorials in Portsmouth website, and we will be part of the new Portsmouth History Ambassadors scheme.
OYM CiC has organised numerous community events, fairs and festivals and will be celebrating its 10th anniversary during the project. |
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