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England Kent  Dover (city)

Guide to Dover (city) history, family history, and genealogy: parish registers, census records, birth records, marriage records, and death records.



History
Recent studies have shown that Phoenician sailors from the Eastern Mediterranean sailed to the British isles for tin as early as 1,000 B.C. Certainly there was ongoing trade and communications between the Celtic tribes of Britain, France, Belgium, and the Netherlands, as early as 400 B.C.

Dover’s history, because of its proximity to France, has always been of great strategic importance to Britain. Archaeological finds have shown that there were Stone Age people in the area; and that by the Bronze Age the maritime influence was already strong.

The name Dover was first recorded in its Latinized form as Portus Dubris. With the coming of the Romans Dover became more important, and was made part of their communications network with the continent.

Dover figured largely in the Domesday Book as an important borough. It also served as a bastion against various attackers from the times of the Vikings, then William the Conqueror, and always the French during the 100 year war. In the Middle Ages, Dover was a port of last defense against the incursions of the Spanish from the vast Armada fleet.

The last time there was a major threat of invasion was from the Nazis of Adolf Hitler during WWII. There was a huge build up of arms and personnel by the German army at the start of the war, and England always expected it to come across the narrowest point in the Channel.

While Plymouth became the main Naval port for the developing British navy in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, Dover was also a large replenishment port, and because of its location, the major defense port at the eastern end of the English Channel.

In the nineteenth century, the railway reached Dover from two directions: the South Eastern Railway's main line connected with Folkestone in 1844, and the London, Chatham and Dover Railway opened its line from Canterbury in 1861.

During the period of WWII, tunnels were built into the Dover cliffs for military purposes. Additionally, a large number of heavy duty naval batteries were built along the coast adjacent to the city. Dover also played a significant roll as the main port for the armada of small ships during the evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force stranded at Dunkirk by the German armies.

Today, Dover has become the primary port for transshipment of goods and people to France, Belgium and the Netherlands. Ferries are now operated frequently between Dover and Dunkirk, for the northern routes, and Dover to Calais for the southern routes.



Dover is situated about 75 miles south east from London. Transport to the Continent has always traveled from the major British Cities, to London and thence to Dover.

It is about 21 miles across the English Channel from the area of Calais in France, making it the closest UK city to France. While even on a clear day it is difficult to see the French coast, it is normally quite possible to see the Dover White Cliffs from France.

The site of its original settlement lies in the valley of the River Dour, making it an ideal place for a port, sheltered from the prevailing south-westerly winds. This led to the silting up of the river mouth by the action of long-shore drift from the English Channel; the town was then forced into making artificial breakwaters to keep the port in being. These breakwaters have been extended and adapted so that the port lies almost entirely on reclaimed land.

The higher land on either side of the valley – the Western Heights and the eastern high point on which Dover Castle stands – has been adapted to perform the function of protection against invaders.

Dover has an oceanic climate similar to the rest of the United Kingdom with mild temperatures year-round and a light amount of rainfall each month.

RELIGION
In Medieval times, and due to its proximity to the European Continent, Dover became one of the four most influential towns in Kent for religious activity, with Canterbury being the principal city.

This period saw much activity in the founding of churches, hospitals and other religious buildings.

St Edmund's Chapel was consecrated in 1253 as a chapel of rest. A new Priory was founded on another site, also dedicated to St. Martin; and a college for secular priests was established. hospitals were built for the relief of pilgrims: there were five in Dover, including Maison Dieu. Dover became the "de facto" port of embarkation from the UK for all major activities during the period of the pilgrimages, as well as the Crusades to reclaim Jerusalem from the infidels.

Today, Dover has no longer any real significance in the religious tapestry of England.

ECONOMY
Dover's economy has always been tied to its value as a port city. The English Channel, at this point, is the busiest shipping lane in the world. Most of the world's goods traveling between the Far East and Europe pass through this narrow stretch of water. The Dover Strait Traffic Separation Scheme allots ships separate lanes when passing through the Strait. The Scheme is controlled by the Channel Navigation Information Service based at Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Center Dover.

The port of Dover is also used for some cruise ship lines.

The number of UK to the continent ferries have been reduced in recent years, due to the construction of the "CHUNNEL" connecting England and France by railway. However there are still more than 50 ferry sailings per day between Dover and the continent.

Due to the natural beauty of the landscape in both directions (east and west) from Dover, the town has a thriving vacation business. Dover has two long distance footpaths: the Saxon Shore Way and the North Downs Way. Two National Cycle Network routes begin their journey at the town.

CIVIL REGISTRATION
Birth, marriages and deaths records have been kept by government since July 1837 to the present day. Prior to that, local parishes of the Church of England, and local branches of other faiths were the only repositories of this information. There are several locations for BMD records for Dover. These follow:


 * UK records


 * Kent county parish records


 * Kent BMD records

CENSUS RECORDS
Census records for Dover can be found using the following links:


 * UK census records


 * My Heritage census records

PROBATE RECORDS
Records of wills, administrations, inventories, indexes, etc. were filed by several locations for Gloucester. Please follow the links below:


 * Kent county wills


 * Ancestry.com wills


 * UK Govt wills

CEMETERIES AND GRAVES
The links to information on cemeteries for Dover follow:


 * Ancestry.com Dover cemeteries


 * Dover area cemeteries


 * CWGC Dover cemeteries


 * Findagrave, Kent and Dover


 * Kent county cemeteries

GENEALOGY SOCIETIES AND GENEALOGY

 * Kent Family History Society


 * Genuki for Kent


 * Kent county FHE information


 * Genealogy of the UK, Kent