The best known example of "moving" to Gravesham was Princess Pocahontas - who died on board ship and was buried in Gravesend in 1617 - and the constant controversy about her body's location ever since. Certainly Gravesend was often passed through by an endless parade of the great and good since time immemorial.

It was economic reasons that drew many to move to Gravesham with Gravesend town's growth as a major tourist location in the 19th century. An example is a small Jewish community who established schools and a synagogue here - Henry Berkowitz, a leading Jew in the town, became mayor in 1887 - 1888. Other communities included Germans, Italians - some of these arriving through marriage to locals or attracted by a better economic climate than their own countries. Others came because of political upheaval in their own countries such as Hungarians in the 1950s, Albanians since the collapse of the Yugoslavian state and others such as Iraqis and Afganistanis, fleeing from appalling political and economic turmoil. The 1990s saw an increasing number of Chinese people in the town, demonstrated by Gravesend Library stocking Chinese books and newspapers since 1994. Since many Eastern European countries have joined the European Community, many Poles, Czechs and Slovaks have come - and time will tell if these people are moving here or merely passing through.

It was the industrialisation of Gravesend and Northfleet which attracted the single largest group of people moving here, namely the Punjabi speaking Sikhs. From the 1950s and especially in the 1960s and 1970s increasing numbers were attracted by factory jobs which offered good pay and with little need for English language skills. The first Gurdwara (Sikh place of worship) was in a house in Edwin Street in the 1950s, moving to the current building in 1968 and soon to move again into a vast and splendid building in the former Milton Barracks.

Gravesham has excellent community relations and appears to continue to attract people who are still "moving here".

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