Gravesend was granted, allowing the men of the town to operate boats between London and the town; these became known as the "Long Ferry". It became the preferred form of passage, because of the perils of road travel (see below). On Gravesend's river front are the remains of a Tudor fort built by command of King Henry VIII in 1543. On 21 March 1617, John Rolfe and Rebecca (aka Princess Pocahontas) with their two-year-old son, Thomas, boarded a ship in London bound for the Commonwealth of Virginia; the ship had only sailed as far as Gravesend before Rebecca fell fatally ill,
Gravesend Grammar School in theory at least, from "four hundred fellows" to "one thousand students". Many boys, erroneously, still sing the original School Song, which refers to ""Fellows"" as opposed to ""Students"". Gravesend Grammar School Gravesend Grammar School is a selective grammar school with academy status located in Gravesend, Kent, England. The school accepts boys at age 11 by examination accepting a cohort of the top 15-20% and boys and girls at 16, based on their GCSE results. The school continues to strive achieving around 100%(5 A*-C including English and Maths) at GCSE level with many students obtaining >10 GCSEs at the end