Leicestershire, : Historical writing

Descriptive gazetteer entries

These other entries in our collection of descriptive gazetteers are also about Rochester. You may be able to find further references to Rochester in the descriptive gazetteers by doing a full-text search here.

Place Type of entry Source
DUROBRIVIS, or Duroprov&aelig Imperial
Rochester city, parliamentary and municipal borough Bartholomew
ROCHESTER a city, a parish, and a sub-district Imperial
Rochester and Strood railway station Bartholomew
Rochester Bridge railway station Bartholomew

Travel writing

This website includes the complete texts of books describing journeys around Britain, written between the twelfth and nineteenth centuries. Selecting one of the links below will take you to the first reference to Rochester within the selected text. This will not always be a description of a visit: travellers often mention places other than where they are, for example as a basis for comparison.

Traveller Section No. of Refs.
William Camden Kent 17
Daniel Defoe Letter 2, Part 1: Kent Coast and Maidstone 9
Celia Fiennes 1697: Through Kent to Canterbury and Dover 8
John Byng A Tour into Kent, 1790 5
William Cobbett Dec. 4th to 5th, 1821: Kentish Journal 4
Daniel Defoe Letter 1, Part 1: Through Essex to Colchester 2
Daniel Defoe Appendix to letter 1 2
William Camden The Division of Britaine 1
William Cobbett Sept. 3rd to 6th, 1823: From Dover to the Wen 1
Daniel Defoe Letter 2, Part 3: Hampshire and Surrey 1
Daniel Defoe Letter 4, Part 1: North Cornwall and Devon 1
Daniel Defoe Letter 5 (London), Part 1: Overview and Suburbs 1
Daniel Defoe Letter 7, Part 2: East Midlands 1
Daniel Defoe Appendix to the second volume 1
George Head Selby and Goole 1
George Head The west coast of the Isle of Man 1

This website includes two large libraries, of historical travel writing and of entries from nineteenth century gazetteers describing places. We have text from these sources available for these places near your location:

Place Mentioned in Travel Writing Mentioned in Historical Gazetteer
Borstal 0 1
Strood 3 2
Frindsbury 0 2
Brompton 0 2
Cuxton 0 2
Wouldham 0 2
New Brompton 0 1
Upnor 1 1
Chatham 24 4
Luton 0 2
Gads Hill 1 2
Halling 1 2
Shamwell 0 2
Burham 0 2
Higham 0 2
Shorne 3 2
Cobham 1 2
Grange 0 2
Merston 0 2
Snodland 0 2

Names from historical writing

The following appear as names for Rochester. Follow the links for what the author actually said:

Name Author Source
DURI BRUS William Camden Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland (London: George Bishop and John Norton, 1610).
DURO BREVIS William Camden Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland (London: George Bishop and John Norton, 1610).
DUROBREVIS William Camden Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland (London: George Bishop and John Norton, 1610).
DURO BRIVAE William Camden Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland (London: George Bishop and John Norton, 1610).
DUROBRIVIS John Marius Wilson Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (Edinburgh: A Fullarton & Co., 1870-72).
DUROBRIVIS OR DUROPROV&AELIG John Marius Wilson Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (Edinburgh: A Fullarton & Co., 1870-72).
DURO BROVAE William Camden Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland (London: George Bishop and John Norton, 1610).
DUROBROVIS William Camden Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland (London: George Bishop and John Norton, 1610).
DURO PROVAE William Camden Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland (London: George Bishop and John Norton, 1610).
DUROPROV&AELIG John Marius Wilson Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (Edinburgh: A Fullarton & Co., 1870-72).
HROFECEASTRE John Marius Wilson Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (Edinburgh: A Fullarton & Co., 1870-72).
HROUECEASTER William Camden Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland (London: George Bishop and John Norton, 1610).
ROCHESTER John Bartholomew Gazetteer of the British Isles (Edinburgh: Bartholomew, 1887).
John Marius Wilson Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (Edinburgh: A Fullarton & Co., 1870-72).
ROCHESTER AND STROOD John Bartholomew Gazetteer of the British Isles (Edinburgh: Bartholomew, 1887).
ROCHESTER BRIDGE John Bartholomew Gazetteer of the British Isles (Edinburgh: Bartholomew, 1887).
ROFFA William Camden Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland (London: George Bishop and John Norton, 1610).
ROIBIS William Camden Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland (London: George Bishop and John Norton, 1610).

NB: These variant names come from our collections of historical travel writing and descriptive gazetteers:

  • The above links take you to the first reference to this particular version of the name within a book of travel writing, or to the relevant gazetteer entry.
  • Some names may derive from research by antiquarian writers such as William Camden and Thomas Pennant into the Roman, Saxon and medieval names of places. Their claims are not always supported by modern place-name researchers.
  • References by travel writers to the place using its "normal" name are not included. Descriptive gazetteer entries are included only if the name does not appear anywhere else.