The history of the town of Gravesend in the county of Kent, and of the port of London

1843·30 MB·English

by  Cruden, Robert Peirce

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942.2302
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1355778
GENEALOGY COLLECTION
fLLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRAR
3 1833 00730 8239
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THE history'^
OF THE TOWN OF
GRAVESEND
IN THE
COUNTY OF KENT
AND OF THE
PORT OF LONDON
I
BY
t
EOBEET PEIRCE CRUDEN.
LONDON
WILLIAM PICKERING PICCADILLY
177
JAMES JOHNSTON 46 HARMER STREET GRAVESEND
MDCCCXXIII.
LONDON
:
JOHNSTON AND BARRETT,
MARK LANE.
1355778
PREFACE.
V3
I
Almost half a century has passed away, since the latest History
i
of Gravesend was published and the town has now attained an
;
^ eminence, in respect of extent and population, which claims a
o
more elaborate and circumstantial account of its origin and pro-
gress, than any that has hitherto been given. A genealogist is
fain to establish for his client, the honour of an ancient descent,
by showing that the founder of his family " came over with the
Conqueror;" and topographical writers being no less apt to claim
—
CT for the subject of their researches, an origin as ancient Dooms-
s
day Book is usually appealed to, for both purposes.
Gravesend, under the name of " Gravesham," is noticed in the
great Norman survey ; but this relates to the manor, and does
not afford evidence that there was a town upon the spot at that
time. There is, however, some ground for the presumption that
even at that period, there was a resort to the place, for the benefit
of a convenient communication by water, with London, and it is
to this intercourse, that Gravesend owes its origin and advance-
ment.
IV I'RErACE.
Beiui,^ thus connected by position, the history of Gravesend
cannot be satisfactorily traced, without embracing an account of
the ancient and present state of that part of the Thames, that
constitutes the Port of London, within the limit of which, the
Town is situated.
The period, when the great change in the primeval course of
the river was made, by the construction of Embankments, having
been left unsettled, and scarcely noticed, by preceding writers ;
some evidence, upon this subject, will be found in the present
work.
The account given of the shipping and commerce of the Port,
includes, from original sources, some particulars of the formation
of the Eoyal Naval Establishments at Deptford and Woolwich.
Various opinions have been expressed by Charnock and others,
relative to the place where the royal ship, the Harry-grace-a-
Dieu, was built the question deriving an interest from the cir-
;
cumstance, that it is supposed to have been the first ship of the
Navy Royal constructed in England. The fact, that it was built
at Woolwich, appears in an official account of the cost and charges
for building it ; extracts from which are given in this work, for the
first time.
The discovery of the power of the magnet, and the application
of it to the construction of the mariner's compass, being scarcely
more important to navigation, than the invention of the rudder
affixed to the stern of a vessel ; an attempt has been made to
show when this inestimable instrument was first used and until
;
farther discoveries shall disturb the conclusion arrived at, it may
be supposed to have been introduced in the reign of Edward III.,
and certainly before the middle of the fourteenth century.
The town and neighbourhood of Gravesend, have been the