Dover Castle staircase.
Picture Anne Boleyn and the royal court here while
they awaited better weather to cross the channel to France for the wedding of Mary Tudor and King Louis XII.
Early History of Dover
DOVOR, or DOVER, a borough and market-town, one of
the cinque ports, having separate jurisdiction, locally in the lathe of St.
Augustine, eastern division of the county of KENT, 16 miles (S.E.by S.) from
Canterbury, and 72 (E.S.E.) from London.
The ancient British name of the town was Dwyr,
derived from Dwfyrrha, a steep place. By
the Romans it was called Dubris, and by the Saxons Dofra, and Dofris, which in
Domesday-book are softened into Dovere.
In the time of the Romans Dover was a sea-port, and
at one period was surrounded by walls having ten gates. This is supposed to be
the place at which Julius Caesar first endeavored to effect a landing; but
finding the coast dangerous, and the cliffs covered with warriors, he landed
about eight miles to the eastward.
The Romans attached considerable importance to
this position, and the celebrated Roman road Watling-street, which passed over
Barbara-downs, and Canterbury, in its course towards the western parts of the
kingdom, commenced here.
At a very early period The Saxon invaders made themselves masters of the
castle, and constructed works which are yet in existence.
Edward the Confessor granted to Dover a charter of
privileges, and in his reign the institution of the cinque ports is supposed to
have taken place, and Dovor to have been made one of them.
Earl Godwin was governor of the castle, and
considerably strengthened its fortifications. After the battle of Hastings,
many of the natives fled to Dovor castle, as an impregnable fortress, which was
however taken by the Conqueror, who put the governor to death, and destroyed
the town by fire.
According to Domesday-book, Dovor equipped twenty
vessels annually for the king's service, in consideration of being exempt from
all tolls and taxes, arid of various other privileges. Some authors have
supposed that the house of the Knights Templars, in this place, was the scene
of King John's humiliating surrender of his crown to Pandulph, the pope's
legate, when he bound himself as a feudatory vassal of the see of Rome; but it
is more probable that this ceremony took place at St. John's, in the adjoining
parish of Swingfield, where there was a preceptory of Knights Templars, founded
previously to 1190.
In 1216, Lewis the Dauphin having landed at Stonar,
near Sandwich, and captured several strong places, besieged Dovor castle, but
was unable to take it; and in the reign of Edward I. a great part of the town, with
some religious houses, was burnt by the French, who were nevertheless soon
driven back to their ships.
According to the town records, Dovor, in the reign
of Edward II., was divided into twenty-one wards, each of which was compelled
to provide, at its own charge,_a ship for the king's service, and in return the
town had the exclusive privilege of a license for a packet boat, to convey passengers
to and from France. In 1382, Anne, daughter of the Emperor Charles IV., and
afterwards consort of Richard II., arrived here.
When the Emperor Sigismund disembarked at Dovor, in
1416, on a visit to his cousin, Henry V., he was formally met at the water's
edge by the Duke of Gloucester and several of the nobility, with drawn swords,
in order to oppose his landing, should the object of his visit prove to be of a
hostile nature.
In 1520, the Emperor Charles V. was met here by
Henry VIII., whence both monarchs proceeded to Canterbury, and there kept the
festival of Whitsuntide. Henry, aware of the importance of Dovor, then called
"the key to the kingdom," contributed
£80,000 towards the erection of a pier, which was completed in the reign of
Elizabeth, at which period the harbour likewise was constantly undergoing improvements.
Its more effectual preservation is to be ascribed
to the charter of James I., under which were appointed eleven commissioners
(the lord warden of the cinque-ports, the lieutenant of the castle, and the
mayor of Dovor, being always the principal), as special conservators of the
port, incorporated under the title of "Warden and Assistants of the Port
and Harbour of the Port of Dovor;" and their powers have been repeatedly
enlarged by acts passed in subsequent reigns.
In 1814, on the restoration of Louis XVIII. to the
French throne, his Majesty George IV. (then Prince Regent,) accompanied that
sovereign to Dovor; and, in the same year, Alexander, Emperor of Russia, and
Frederic William, King of Prussia, with the veteran Blucher, and other
distinguished foreigners in their train, embarked at Boulogne onboard his majesty's
ship the impregnable, bearing the flag of his Royal Highness the Duke of
Clarence, as admiral of the fleet, and landed here on a visit to the Prince
Regent.
Kent Life
Up until 1851 very few children in Kent went to school. Throughout this period wealthy children were educated at home by private tutors. Some children, who could read and write, went to the grammar schools to learn Latin and Greek so that they could enter the professions or go to University.
In the late
18th century life the industrial revolution began to transform life in
Britain. Until then most people lived in the countryside and made their
living from farming.
Dover’s Court and Town Hall from 1606 to 1834 situated in the Market Square. New windows were inserted in 1789. Dover Museum |
From 1712 a man
named Thomas Newcomen made primitive steam engines for
pumping water from mines. In 1769 James Watt patented a more
efficient steam engine. In 1785 his engine was adapted to driving
machinery in a cotton factory. The use of steam engines to drive
machines slowly transformed industry.
Meanwhile
during the 1700s Britain built up a great overseas empire. The North
American colonies were lost after the War of Independence 1776-1783. On
the other hand after the Seven Years War 1756-1763 Britain captured
Canada and India. Britain also took Dominica, Grenada, St Vincent and
Tobago in the West Indies. In 1707 the Act of Union was passed. Scotland
was united with England and Wales. England became part of Great
Britain.
Owning land was
the main form of wealth in the 18th century. Political power and
influence was in the hands of rich landowners. At the top were the
nobility. Below them were a class of nearly rich landowners called the
gentry. In the early 18th century there was another class of landowners
called yeomen between the rich and the poor. However during the century
this class became less and less numerous. However other middle class
people such as merchants and professional men became richer and more
numerous, especially in the towns.
Below them were
the great mass of the population, craftsmen and laborers. In the 18th
century probably half the population lived as subsistence or bare
survival level.
In the early
18th century England suffered from gin drinking. It was cheap and it was
sold everywhere as you did not need a license to sell it. Many people
ruined their health by drinking gin. Yet for many poor people drinking
gin was their only comfort. The situation improved after 1751 when a tax was imposed on gin.
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