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Boston, where some of the original settlers from Dorchester made their homes

TYPE Dorchester' into the search engine of your computer and you may be in for something of a surprise.

The first entry will be for the prestigious Dorchester Hotel on London's Park Lane, the second will be for Dorchester Printing, America's oldest independent publishers.

Our own Dorchester comes in third and then after that comes a slew of other towns and counties going by the same name.

There is a Dorchester in Massachusetts, Illinois, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Texas and Wisconsin.

There are also Dorchester counties in Maryland and South Carolina and two Canadian Dorchesters situated in New Brunswick and Ontario.

And don't forget England's other Dorchester too - Dorchester-on-Thames in Oxfordshire.

The proliferation of Dorchesters started in the 17th century when John White, the firebrand rector of the churches of Holy Trinity and St Peter's, encouraged many of his followers to emigrate to America.

They followed his instructions and sailed west, making landfall in Massachusetts in America, many of them on a vessel named after him and his wife, the Mary and John - despite the fact that he never went there himself.

Famous name the Dorchester Hotel in Miami

Rev White is buried in the porch of St Peter's Church in High West Street, where there is a plaque to his memory, as there is on John White's rectory in Colliton Street, formerly Pyse Lane.

It is poignant to think of the first settlers reaching the new land of America and, homesick for familiarity and the people left behind, naming their new home after the place they love best.

The Dorchester district of Boston is now the city's largest neighbourhood. Founded in 1630, it has a multi-cultural vibe and a thriving centre complete with gorgeous open spaces and an 18-hole golf course.

Neighborhood pride is strong and former residents have been known to wear T-shirts proclaiming OFD - Originally From Dorchester.

But not all of America's Dorchester's are so imposing.

The Illinois town of the same name had just 142 residents at the last census, and in Nebraska, there were just 612. New Hampshire's Dorchester, founded in 1761, had 353 inhabitants while the one in Texas had 109 and Wisconsin's had a more respectable 827.

Canada's largest Dorchester can be found in Ontario and sounds not dissimilar to our own market town. With a population of 13,000, it has four schools, several sports teams, many packs of Brownies, Cubs, Scouts and Guides and regular fairs, markets and celebrations.

A second Dorchester lies in the county of New Brunswick.

It has more than 900 residents and used to be a major shipbuilding centre, with fine civic buildings.

The area around Dorchester, originally settled by Micmac indians, is also a haven for wildlife and hosts an annual charity Sandpiper Festival in honour of its most famous resident - the world's largest semi-palmated sandpiper, a wading bird.

If you have further details about Dorchesters elsewhere in the world, please send them to ruth.meech@dorsetecho.co.uk

2:31pm Monday 3rd March 2008

Blake House, built in 1650 in Dorchester, Boston, MA famous for its roof structure

Rev John White was at St Peter's Church, Dorchester in 1605

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