Grays Thurrock
Parish facts:
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Grays Thurrock is named after the Norman Knight Henri De Grai who was granted the manor of Grays Thurrock by King Richard I in 1195. The name could originate from Graye-Sur-Mer in Calvados.
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Alfred Russell Wallace, botanist, moved to Grays where he built a house called 'The Dell' at the end of College Avenue in 1872. It was one of the first to be built from concrete. Here he created a garden with wooded areas a grotto and water features. He was a contemporary of Darwin, with whom he corresponded. Wallace arrived at his Theory of Evolution at the same time as Darwin
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Thurrock's first public railway was the London, Tilbury, Southend line, which arrived in 1854. Stations were built at Purfleet, Grays, Tilbury Ferry and Stanford-le-Hope. Later stations were added at South Ockendon, Tilbury Town and East Tilbury.
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The training ship Goliath was moored off Grays when, in the early hours of the morning of 22 December 1875, it caught fire, resulting in the death of 19 boys and assistant schoolmaster Richard Wheeler who is buried in Grays churchyard. The fire totally destroyed the ship in an hour. The boys are buried in the Grays new cemetery and a memorial tablet is displayed within Grays Parish Church. The ship was replaced by the Training Ship Exmouth in 1876, which was moored off Grays until it was scrapped in 1905 at Chatham. The second Exmouth was launched on 20 April 1905 to accommodate 750 boys. It was moored at the same location off Grays as her predecessor. In 1939 all training ships on the river were evacuated on Government instructions.
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In 1896, Syd Chaplin was sent to be educated on the Training Ship Exmouth, moored off Grays Beach. Syd was half-brother to the famous silent film comedian Charlie Chaplin. Syd became a well-known actor and film director in his own right in America. He returned to Grays in 1927 to visit his old ship, which he presented with a mobile cinema so they could watch some of his films. He invited all the boys to watch his 1926 film, 'The Better 'Ole''.
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Grays Beach was opened on 30 July 1906. The land was purchased in 1903.
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The first road traffic lights in Grays were situated on the junction between Clarence Road and the High Street, around 1931. They were turned off during the Second World War to prevent fuel being wasted in stationary vehicles.