Written in 1942 by author Thomas Armstrong, ‘Dover Harbour’ is a thrilling romance and a splendid piece of historical reconstruction – giving a fascinating glimpse into life in Dover under threat of invasion by Napoleon. A little heavy at first, but as the story unfolds, it becomes difficult to put the book down.
The book tells ‘the story of England from 1789 to 1809, from the outbreak of the French Revolution through the years when bereft of one ally after another, she faced the despot Napoleon alone; until the beginning of 1809 there comes the first gleam of that success which is to carry in triumph the British flag from Tagus to the Garonne, and which is the prelude to the release of the subjugated peoples of Europe. The action of the novel centres around the personal conflict between two men, a shipowner and a banker, as to whether Dover should decay into a commercial backwater or grow into a great port, the Key to the Kingdom.
The shipowner is John Fagg, of an old Kentish family. The banker is Henry Rochefort, descendant of a Hugenot refugee from Louis XIV’s persecution a century before. They are boyhood friends; they have lost children together in a shipwreck off Dover before the story begins; John’s sister Susan is in love with Henry’s brother George, a young radical enthusiast and member of one of the corresponding societies soon to be branded treasonable by public opinion and the Government.”
John Fagg is described as being a man around thirty, about middle height, square of shoulders and of jaw, and looking quite capable of putting his thoughts into strong language! Clad in a coloured coat, a long green one which came down to his grey worsted stockings, and he was singular, too, in that he wore his own hair plain, not so much for better cleanliness but rather because he felt that some gesture was needed against Mr Pitt’s tax on hair powder.
Henry Rochefort is a tall man whose height and presence were indeed amplified by his sparse figure and austere face. He was swarthy complexioned, dark-eyed and commanding, but rather pinched of nostril. Always he held himself as tough mindful of his proud Hugenot ancestry.
As well as these gentlemen’s wives, siblings and children, there is another character who brings colour to the story – an old seadog called ‘Captain’ Valentine Pepper who works for John Fagg. (John is involved in the smuggling trade.)
However, the main character is the town of Dover. Every description of the town, whether a broad sweeping vista, or a piece of minutiae, evokes a wonderfully details portrait of the historic town.
I’ve included a handful of extracts to give a flavour of this great story:
Extract 1. Opening scene – April 1789
Extract 2: Introducing Valentine Pepper
Extract 3: John Fagg discusses the bleak future of the Harbour
Extract 4: Susan Fagg and George Rochefort take a romantic clifftop walk
Extract 5: In the dead of night the smugglers work…
‘Dover Harbour’ is no longer in print, but you can find copies for sale online at a number of sites, including:
These are UK sites – to find equivalent sites outside the UK simply search for ‘dover+harbour+armstrong’ in a search engine.
