Ten Years in a Portsmouth Slum

First published in 1896, Ten Years in a Portsmouth Slum is a snapshot of late Victorian Portsmouth written from the perspective of a Ritualist Mission Priest. Author Father Robert Dolling was a social reformer and controversial, high-energy, hardworking priest. He consistently fought for the poor and unlovable during his ten years leading the mission in Landport, Portsmouth. This new edition is fully indexed, unabridged, contains all the images from the original publication and an introduction, written by Father Dolling scholar Matthew Fisher. The introduction is Fisher's undergraduate dissertation submitted in 2019. Ten Years is a personal account in which Father Dolling addresses topics as diverse as the problem of poverty and his disagreements with the Church of England hierarchy. Written shortly after Dolling left the Mission, it is an impressive resource for any social, family or religious historian focussing on the late nineteenth century. Father Dolling brings the sights, smells and taste of Portsmouth alive in this fast moving memoir. It was penned, in part, to thank those who helped him, to justify his methods of work and to raise the money to pay off the personal debt he amassed by the building of the 'New St. Agatha's'. St. Agatha's church still stands in Portsmouth, surrounded by a busy road and a shopping centre, as a testament to the dogged determination of Father Robert Dolling.