... Over 70 years he searched through national and local archives and libraries, interviewing many of the town's elderly for the book.

Mr Baldwin, 84, a retired tax inspector from Stuart Road, Gillingham, said: "All my life I have had a passion for local history and always like to give a task my best.

"I researched this book over the years on top of holding down a job and raising a family.

"It is fantastic now to see it in print."

The book tells how the area's dockland connection first developed in 1550.

This was when Edward VI ordered his fleet to be anchored in a place called Jillingham Water, as London's Thames was becoming overcrowded.

Until the mid-19th century, Gillingham was no more than a typical country town but Mr Baldwin describes how, between 1860 and 1910, it had the fifth fastest population growth in England.

By the end of the century, agricultural depression meant farmland in Hempstead and Wigmore was sold to househunters seeking to escape London's overcrowding.

The capital's overspill continued as Gillingham's original settlements were joined up and Rainham became part of the borough in 1928.

Gillingham's role as a commuter town for London came with the electrification of the railway in 1939.

The book also lists the area's prominent people over the centuries and includes a chronology of major events in the town.