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,
Albert Murray, Baron Murray of Gravesend minister in Harold Wilson's government, as Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Transport, under Minister of Transport Richard Marsh. After leaving the House of Commons, Murray was given a life peerage on 28 June 1976 as Baron Murray of Gravesend, of Gravesend in the County of Kent. From 1976 to 1979 he was a Member of the European Parliament. He died in 1980, at the age of 50 whilst watching his beloved Millwall. He was also President of Gravesend and Northfleet and the North Kent Sunday Football League. Albert Murray, Baron Murray of Gravesend Albert James Murray, Baron Murray of