Fishermen went to war when torpedoes began causing problems in the River Medway more than 140 years ago. And they won.

A 4ft sturgeon was caught by a fisherman named Hill in the River Medway near Rochester Bridge.

In today’s world, it’s difficult to imagine anyone wanting to wear something as cumbersome as a crinoline as part of their everyday wardrobe.

A gun emplacement for the defence of the Thames and Medway at Garrison Point, Sheerness, was nearing completion.

A gale was raging as the 14 men, known as bluejackets because of their uniforms, clambered aboard the pinnacle which was to take them ashore.

With Christmas just a few days away, a wooden merchant ship, left London with 22 passengers and a crew of 34

The gruesome discovery of a pit “filled to within inches of the top” with human remains was made in a church.

Our fascination for the weather was as strong then as it is now and the papers regularly told stories of storms, floods, blizzards, heatwaves and drou

A woman lodger woke up in the middle of the night and could smell gas coming from the parlour of her home in Maidstone.

Victorians who dreaded having a tooth out could pop along to dentist Albert Anderson who had a scientific breakthrough to help.

Sunday opening for pubs was against the law – but nevertheless seemed popular.

Watch television. Read a magazine, comic or newspaper. Catch a bus or train. Go on the internet. Walk along a street. Big or small, garish or gorgeous

The testing of traction engines and road rollers that were being built in Medway was a great spectacle for the public.

Foreman Henry Benge had done this kind of repair job many times before in his 10 years with the railway.

When Queen Victoria died on January 22 1901 at the age of 81 the nation, and much of the Empire, was plunged into gloom.

More than 150-years ago someone dreamt up a Boris Island-style idea to make safe one of the great perils of England – the Goodwin Sands.

Until 1871 the hard-working citizens of England were entitled to a mere two days off each year – Christmas Day and Good Friday.

Although it was March, the sound of “Auld Lang Syne” played on a violin could be heard from a few streets away.

Did the townspeople of Maidstone have the chance to see William Shakespeare on stage in 1588?

With his trademark beard and his all-round talent, cricketer William Gilbert Grace was one of the best known Victorians.