Fascinating, Cathy. Of course I know of the Goodwin Sands but did not realise that C19th Downs were one and the same! I'd often wondered whether the retirement of one of my ancestors (Benjamin Norden) to Ramsgate was connected with its reasonable proximity to the ports of Dover and Folkestone but the Goodwin Sands/Deal area was probably closer. Many thanks indeed. Hazel -----Original Message----- From: Cathy [mailto:cathykent@mweb.co.za] Sent: 25 April 2015 10:09 To: dakers hazel; south-africa-eastern-cape@rootsweb.com Subject: Re: [ZA-EC] SOUTH-AFRICA-EASTERN-CAPE Digest, Vol 10, Issue 88 Something that may be of interest with regard to "The Downs" in Kent, Hazel. The follow is an extract from this site link - http://www.kent-opc.org/Parishes/News/Deal%20Wrecks%20Lost.html The Goodwin Sands are a great sandbank, eight miles long and about four miles wide, rising out of deep water four miles off Deal. Between the Goodwins and Deal lies a stretch of deep water, in which there is great anchorage for shipping. This area is known as the Downs. The 'sheltered' anchorage of the Downs is a relative term, even in this shelter the vessels are sometimes blown away from their anchorage, both by easterly and westerly winds and thus founder upon the Goodwin Sands or The Ship Swallower, as it is known. This website contains extracts from the Deal & Walmer Telegram Newspaper c. 1850 onwards relating to Wrecks & Rescues of the Goodwin Sands. All events are factual, and are written as they appeared in print. The above info is new to me too as my husband's Great grandmother hails from Deal, Kent. Regards Cathy -----Original Message----- From: dakers hazel via Sent: Saturday, April 25, 2015 10:34 AM To: south-africa-eastern-cape@rootsweb.com Subject: Re: [ZA-EC] SOUTH-AFRICA-EASTERN-CAPE Digest, Vol 10, Issue 88 I've lived in London most of my life and have only ever heard of the Sussex Downs - never Kent! Sussex is the County adjacent on the West side of Kent and includes Brighton, Worthing, Chichester along the coast. Sussex is now divided into East and West but even 50 years ago was just one County. Hazel Dakers Researching: NORDEN/NORTON, HEIMANN www.hazeldakers.co.uk On 25 April 2015 at 08:00, <south-africa-eastern-cape-request@rootsweb.com> wrote: > > Today's Topics: > > 1. Re: The Downs (moira macdonald) > 2. Re: The Downs (rodg) > > > ---------- Forwarded message ---------- > From: moira macdonald <munyori@blueyonder.co.uk> > To: <rodg@tiscali.co.za>, <south-africa-eastern-cape@rootsweb.com> > Cc: > Date: Fri, 24 Apr 2015 13:08:37 +0100 > Subject: Re: [ZA-EC] The Downs > Hi Rod, > from an unseasonably warm England. > > You may need to supply more context to your request > > The Downs, Kent is actually a very important historic area of sea off > the Kent coast. > See this Wikipedia explanation > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Downs > > There is indeed a Thomas FRANCIS, born 1820, in the 1851 census as a > Royal Marine stationed at Woolwich, Greenwich, handy for accessing any > ship setting sail for The Downs. > > Not sure this is helpful to you really. Sorry. > Moira > > > From: rodg > Sent: Thursday, April 23, 2015 6:17 PM > To: south-africa-eastern-cape@rootsweb.com ; Paul TT > Subject: [ZA-EC] The Downs > > > Good evening all from a slowly cooling Cape Town, Thomas FRANCIS, > 1820, came from The Downs. Kent. > Years ago I camped on Mr BARAGWANITH,s farm called The Downs. > Could there be a link there somewhere? > > Regards > Rod g > Sent from my BlackBerry wireless device