Troy Town Stories

I n addition to the development of Troy Town, Jacob Cazeneuve Troy had a range of business interests. His great-grandfather, John Cazeneuve, described himself as a distiller, and this was the occupation Jacob Cazeneuve Troy took up. In the eighteenth century, distilling would normally be taken to mean the production of gin. Gin originated in the Netherlands. The name was short for 'geneva', from the juniper berries from which it was made.  Gin  was so widely consumed in England in the eighteenth century that it was a social problem. In the 1740s it was estimated that over six gallons of gin per person was consumed every year. 'Drunk for a penny, dead drunk for twopence' was the saying.  Gin Lane William Hogarth, 1751 [Tate Gallery] Between 1729 and 1751 a series of pieces of legislation known as the 'Gin Acts' attempted to reduce the consumption of gin by imposing duties (to increase the price) and other restrictions on the manufacture and sale of gin. The Gin A...

The man responsible for the development of Troy Town was Jacob Cazeneuve Troy. He was the third (known) child of Thomas Troy and Mary, formerly Cazeneuve. He was baptised on 12 March 1748 at St Margaret's, Rochester, according to the baptism register.  St Margaret's Church, Rochester In the 1740s, when Jacob Cazeneuve Troy was baptised, the new year began on Lady Day, 25 March, so that January, February and most of March came at the end of the year, rather than the beginning. It is clear from the baptism register that, by present day dating, Jacob Cazeneuve Troy's baptism, and therefore probably his birth, was actually in 1749. In 175 0, Parliament legislated to say that from 1752, the new year would begin on 1 January. Henceforward this became known as New Style and the new year beginning on 25 March became known as Old Style. Even before this, some parish registers and other documents began the new year on 1 January, so it is important to be certain which style is being u...

The usual method of property development at this time was for the freeholder or ground landlord to lease plots of land to men, usually carpenters or bricklayers, who would then build a house or houses. Maidstone Road/Pleasant Row This is how part of New Road in Chatham was developed; in 1793 the owner, Thomas Whitaker, leased his land to Thomas Milton, a bricklayer and William Mannering, a house carpenter, on the condition that they built houses on the land within three years. There were no planning restrictions at this time; anyone could build anything anywhere as long as he complied with local bye-laws or Building Acts , which were usually aimed at preventing the spread of fire. A ground landlord or freeholder might wish to ensure that the houses built on his land were of a good standard, to attract a good quality of tenant. He could do this by imposing covenants on the land. For example in Camberwell , then in Surrey, between 1785 and 1793, eight long leases were granted on land be...

The population of England grew in the eighteenth century, from an estimated 6.15 million in 1760, the date when the Industrial Revolution is traditionally said to have begun, to 8.3 million in 1801, an increase of 35%.  The populations of the north Kent towns grew due, among other things, to the development of the Thanet resorts, increased trade on the river, both local and long distance, and the expansion of shipbuilding, for both the Royal and merchant navies. The Royal Navy grew due to the frequent wars of the eighteenth century. The Royal Dockyard at Chatham expanded, and so too therefore did the town, with the increase in army and Navy personnel, civilian dockyard workers, and people employed in trades and professions providing goods and services to the Navy and its officers and men. Chatham Dockyard, 1789 Robert Dodd Neither Chatham nor Rochester were well-regarded by some contemporaries, but Rochester was regarded somewhat more favourably.  John Gale Jones, a political ...

[Rochester lost its city status in the course of local government reorganisation in 1998. But it was a city during the period covered by this blog, and therefore I shall refer to it as a city.] Rochester  has a long history; it was the Roman town of Durobrivae.  The reason for Rochester's existence was the bridge which carried the Watling Street, the Roman road running from Rutupiae (Richborough) and Dubris (Dover) to London, across the River Medway. The medieval bridge at Rochester; print from the early nineteenth century Watling Street, or the Dover Road, is famous in history and in fiction.  All kinds of people, from royalty to rebels, crossed the bridge.  Chaucer's pilgrims passed that way on their journey to Canterbury. Later, the 'Dover Mail' carried the Continental mails, and passengers, to catch the Calais packet, and stagecoaches too plied up and down the road, bringing business to Rochester innkeepers.   A Norman Castle guards the Medway crossing,...

Troy Town is an area of St Margaret's parish in Rochester lying to the south/south-east of the historic High Street. It was initially built up between the late eighteenth and early twentieth century.  For the purposes of this study, the area extends from t he south side of East Row to the north and as far as (but not including) Rochester Avenue to the south. From west to east it extends from the east side of the Maidstone road to the west side of Delce Road. The area is about a quarter of a mile square. The map below shows the area marked on a modern street plan. The centre of Troy Town lies in a shallow valley. The land rises to the Maidstone Road in one direction and Delce Road in the other. It also rises to a lesser extent to the south.  topographic-map.com Below: looking along King Street from the junction with Delce Road to the Maidstone Road, showing the fall and rise of the land and the extent of the area east-west.  This may seem like a small area on which to base...