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,
Kent Rugby Football Union cups established in England and the second in southern England after the Hampshire Rugby Football Union. They have a rich history in the men's senior County Championship since the early years of the competition, finishing as one of the regional winners in 1892, and became outright winners for the first time in 1897. They have gone on to win the top flight competition several more times, although the last time was way back in 1927. In 2010, the Kent RFU were brought into national attention following an incident in a Kent Cup match between Maidstone and Gravesend where a Gravesend