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 (UK Parliament constituency) Gravesend (UK Parliament constituency) Gravesend was a county constituency centred on the town of Gravesend, Kent which returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1868 until it was abolished for the 1983 general election. It is most notable for being a bellwether, with the winner of Gravesend (and its successor Gravesham) winning every election from 1918 through to the present day except for 1929, 1951, and 2005. 1918-1950: The Borough of Gravesend, the Urban District of Northfleet, and the Rural Districts of Hoo and Strood. 1950-1955: The Borough of