The location of Folkestone is: Lat: 51 05 N, Long: 001 11 E (represented in degrees minutes direction); or Lat: 51.083, Long: 1.183 (represented in decimal degrees and fractions of degrees). The Folkestone population in 1881 was 18,882 and grew to over 58,000 by the late 1990s.

Shorncliffe Camp, originally established as one of the defence camps against the threat of invasion by Napoleon, is located about midway between Folkestone and Hythe on the Kent coast. In about 1796, before the introduction of the wire telegraph system, the defence camps were connected by a hill-top semaphore telegraph system for passing messages from the coast to the Admiralty in London. It is said that a short message was passed to London within two minutes!

Selected sources on Folkestone, Kent:

1. William Camden, Camden's Britannia: Kent, From the edition of 1789 by Richard Gough. Annotated and Edited by Gordon J. Copley. London: Hutchinson & Co (Publishers) Ltd, 1977. First published in Latin in 1586. Gough's translation followed the 1607 edition. See pp. 76-77: "From Dover the chalk cliffs run on in one continued ridge for five miles to Folkestone, a place of consequence anciently, as appears by the Roman coins daily found there, but under what name is uncertain. It was probably one of those towers which the Romans 'erected at intervals' according to Gildas 'on the south coast of Britain along the shore to guard the coast' against the Saxons under Theodosius the younger. It was eminent among the Saxons on a religious account, for the nunnery founded by Eanswida, daughter of Eadbald king of Kent. At present it is a small village, the greatest part being carried off by the sea. It was however the barony of the family of Abrincis, from it came to Hamo de Crevequer, and by his daughter to John de Sandwich, whose son John's daughter brought it in dower to John de Segrave."

NOTE to readers: It would be valuable to check the original of Gough as well as the reprint of Bishop Gibson's edition of 1695, with considerable additions to Camden's description of each county, which was followed in 1722 by a further enlargement, reprinted in 1753 and 1772, the latter with minor corrections. Numerous editorial comments in these editions were eliminated by Copley in his modern edition. Worth also consulting are W. Lambarde, A Perambulation of Kent, originally published in 1570, with the edition of 1826 reprinted in 1970; and F. W. Jessup, History of Kent, 1958.

2. Black's Guide to Kent, New Edition, with Map and Illustrations. Edinburgh: Adam and Charles Black, 1874, p. 191: "FOLKESTONE. [Population, 12,094 . . . 82 mi. from London; 17 mi. from Canterbury; 6 mi. from Dover.
"Etymologists have luxuriated in different interpretations of the name of this pretty and picturesque town--supposing it to mean "the people's rock" (folkestang), "the rock of the small folk" (or fairies), and "a flaw in the rock" (flos stane). It may have been known to the Romans, and Roman relics have been discovered here; was afterwards one of the manors attached to the Saxon crown; was granted by Conqueror William to his good knight William d'Avranches, who built a Norman stronghold on, or near the site of a Saxon fort; became known from its connection with the priory of St. Eanswith, and was united to the cinque port of Dover; in Queen Elizabeth's time contained but 120 houses; and was altogether a quiet little fishing-town until its harbour was formed (by Telford) in 1809, and a railway lent it life and motion in 1844. Its population in 1841, only 2300, had increased to 7509 in 1851; and its customs from �8218 in 1848, to upwards of �70,000 in 1850.
". . . . 'Rome,' says the author [Rev. R. Barham] of the Ingoldsby Legends, 'stood on seven hills; Folkestone seems to have been built on seventy. Streets, lanes, and alleys are here fanciful distinctions without a difference, agreeable enough to persons who do not mind running up and down stairs.' A portion of the town lies in a gap between the chalk and greensand hills; to the other portions, built on these hills, the traveller consequently has to clamber as best he may, but the landscapes which these elevated points command, will amply repay him for whatever trouble he has undergone to reach them."

3. S[amuel] J[oseph] Mackie, Esq., F.G.S., F.S.A., A Descriptive and Historical Account of Folkestone and its Neighbourhood . Folkestone: J. English/London: Simpkin & Marshall, 1856, pp. 57-62, 141-143: [57]
"A fair description of the town, as it existed in 1776, is given by Charles Seymour, teacher of the classics at Canterbury, in his survey of the county. 'John Bailey,' he says, 'goes to and from Canterbury with a machine on Saturday, during the summer; in winter he sets out on Friday and returns on Saturday. He goes weekly with the same machine to Dover and Deal; the post-days are Mondays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. One boy goes to London, and returns thence every three weeks. Here is a custom-house,* (*This custom-house was situated on the Bayle Cliff, near the pond) the principal officers of which consist of a supervisor, three riding officers, a surveyor, chief boatman, etc. The town, in its present state, is wealthy and populous; the streets are steep and narrow, and the irregularity of the buildings up and down the hills has something romantic, particularly the church, on a point of land close to the sea. There are some neat houses facing the churchyard, which have the advantage of fine prospect. Dr. Gill has laid out his garden in a pretty, whimsical taste; but the ground is too confined to give [58] a full scope to his fancy. . . . A fine spring runs through the town, which is noted for the multitude of fishing boats that belong to its harbour. They are employed in the season in catching mackerel for the London market, to which they are carried by the boats of London and Barking. About michaelmas the Folkestone barks, with others from Sussex, go to the Suffolk and Norfolk coasts to catch herrings for the merchants of Yarmouth and Leostoff. There is a ridge of chalky rocks all the way from hence to Dover, and it has been observed of some of them that they have visibly sunk within the memory of man.* (*Alluding to the inland hills by the Cherry Garden, which are thought to have sunk some feet even within the last twenty years.) In going from this town to Dover the traveller meets with six or seven very romantic miles. The road runs along the edge of vast precipices, the shore is very high and bold, and amazingly varied. From the hill above Folkestone you look down a fine sweep of inclosures, many of them grass of the most pleasing verdure; the edges of the lower grounds describe as beautiful outline as can be imagined; the union of sea and land, and the whole scenery, is truly beautiful. Mr. James Bateman, at the White Hart Inn, has good accommodations, with a neat postchaise and able horses.'
"What a contrast with Seymour's description the town now presents. What can be more opposite, than the moss-covered houses that then, like their green para- [59] sites, seem to have vegetated, the slow-going carrier, and the three posts a week, compared with the stuccoed mansions that have risen in all directions; the steam and speed of the boats and trains.
"Hasted, at the close of the last century [18th], tells us that Folkestone was then an opulent and well-peopled town, having in it four hundred and fifty houses, and about two thousand inhabitants. We get from him also an interesting account of the fisheries at that period. There were eight or ten luggers and cutters employed chiefly in the herring and mackerel fisheries, giving employment to between two and three hundred men and boys. The fish were still conveyed to the town by the 'smacks,' as the cutters are usually termed, or by an expeditious land carriage, and the lower part of the town was protected by two large jetties at its east and west ends, which served also to accumulate the beach on which the fishermen drew up their boats to repair and mend their nets and tackle. These jetties were supported by the voluntary contributions of the inhabitants and labours of the sailors.
"Daniel de Foe, in his amusing Journey through England, also notices the number of fishing boats in this little town. . . . [60] Although the chief trade of the place was ostensibly its fisheries, the inhabitants were extensively engaged in smuggling, both spirits and tobacco, as well as guineas, and derived the chief portion of their wealth from this source. First-rate luggers, and other vessels often of considerable size and of fast sailing or rowing properties, were built expressly for this traffic. So openly was the smuggling carried on, that the owners of the contraband freights are known to have boldly selected their own goods on the beach in broad daylight.
"The supply of gold for the French troops during the [Napoleonic] war, was the most lucrative of the illicit trades, and many were the cargoes of guineas that were placed on board the fine gallies, in reality, though not professedly built for this purpose, and rowed across by a hardy daring crew in the darkness of night to Boulogne, Calais, and even Dunkirk. No wonder that, with men used to adventurous lives, the Folkestone seamen were esteemed among the best in the British navy, and that such numbers of excellent pilots and active sailors were supplied by this little town.
"The present race of mariners still inherit the good qualities of their forefathers, though scarcely their equals in daring and hardihood. There are, however, many of them now serving as volunteers both in the [61] Baltic and Black Sea fleets, and it is not at all unusual at places far distant from the shores of Kent, to find Folkestone men holding responsible offices as captains of ships, harbour masters, or pilots, in which capacities they are highly esteemed for their integrity and ability.
"An illicit trade in spirits and in the exportation of wool was carried on here to a considerable extent as early as the reign of George I, and many clever tricks were even then played on the customs' officers of those days, whose duties were of a rough kind. The depositions of a case brought before the magistrates in 1723, recount in humorous terms the way in which a revenue officer and his men, searching in a field for brandy, were held at the gate while the contraband goods were carried off before their very eyes; and depict in an equally picturesque style the battle that, under such irritating circumstances, ensued, with the final rescue of the exciseman. Such formidable dimensions did this traffic assume at a later period in these parts, that dragoons were obliged to be employed for its suppression. To enumerate the many daring deeds and well-planned artifices that were executed by the bold and resolute smugglers would fill a volume, and, however interesting, would be foreign to our purpose. Many of the well-known incidents have been seized upon by Mr. G. P. R. James, who has made this district the scene of one of his popular novels.

"Smuggling has now entirely ceased on this coast. The establishment of the Coast Guard Preventive Service, combined with the reduction of the Customs duties, has rendered it too hazardous and profitless. . . ."
[141] "Scattered over a bleak and lonely country, the village of CAPEL but rarely receives a visit from any of the numerous ramblers and sight-seers, who, enchanted with the lovely view from Folkestone Hill, lounge in the enjoyment of the breeze and the extensive landscape below until dinner or night induces them to retrace their steps into the town. But Capel is worthy of a visit. The little church of St. Mary le Merge stands in the midst of a dark circle of pine trees, its diminutive chancel parted off by three pretty pointed arches, and from the low square tower a solitary bell summons the parishioners to prayers, or tolls in melancholy tones the knell of some departed soul. In the first instance Norman, it has been at an early period rebuilt, and the few architectural changes its interior has since undergone, give it an interest not a first anticipated from its unpretending appearance.
"Capel and Sotmere formed part of the possessions of St. Ragegund's Abbey, and through a portion of these lands, still called the 'Abbot's Cliff Lands', [142] one of the tunnels of the South Eastern Railway has been made.
"On the road between Capel and Folkestone is the manor of COLDHAM, anciently the patrimony of the Coldhams. At the time of Richard II it had passed into the possession of the Bakers, a family of good account in this part of the county. John Baker, of Coldham, was gentleman porter of Calais in the reigns of Henry V and VI. Under the direction of the Court [143] of Chancery it was conveyed, A.D. 1691, to William Young, who pulled down the ancient Manor House and built the present Court Lodge."

4. According to undated and unverified notes of Valyer/Vallier descendent Vern Hall (with several spelling errors corrected):
"We of England have never known whether to be friends or enemies with our nearest neighbor [France]. We've traded all sorts of things from rulers to rustlers. Sometimes the trade has been legal across the table and sometimes through the back door. Each exchange has added its mite to our wealth or to our poverty. Christianity has been forced to live with greed for what the neighbor has and fear lest he take what we have. Self seeking has forced us into ever bigger and more powerful nations, made possible by Christian standards.
"Some place back along in the ages of slow travel and loose government, England set up five southern coast ports as buffer cities against cross-channel hazards and to foster cross-channel advantage. They were known as the Cinque Ports. (Say that, 'Sink.' It means five). The number was later increased to seven. Folkestone was included in the latter. To these special ports went the responsibility of fending off invaders and the honor of being first in the defence of their country.
"Economically, Folkestone was a fishing town. Building and operating seaworthy boats accounted for the most of men's work and women's worries. . . . Set against the eternal struggle of the white cliffs with the restless sea, was this fight of the fishermen to maintain fishing wharfs. After one storm in 1724 the cost of repairing the wharf was 2500 pounds plus the labor of men, women and children.
"But Folkestone, the seaport was the land base of all sorts of adventurers. It was the home base to one seventh of England's navy. Commerce from foreign ports found anchorage here. Sea rovers and pirates put in here for rest and trade. Smugglers! Britain, in her efforts to build up home industry, had placed embargoes on lace and spirits from France and on raw wool to the more efficient weavers of the low countries across the channel. Smuggling accounted for much of the busy life of this roistering port. Fast boats and skillful skippers were employed in this profitable business."