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Author: tcbjammon
Surnames: CHAFFEE
Classification: queries
Message Board URL:
http://boards.rootsweb.com/surnames.chaffee/327.1.2.1.1.1/mb.ashx
Message Board Post:
kac1144, could glen be correct on the arrival ship of Thomas Chaffe? wish we knew which
ships left england for massachusetts colony in the spring or early summer of 1637. glen
seems to have named them all, but i really don't know... i see in april 1637 the
DILIGENT went to boston. i just wonder if that was the same ship Mathew was on... i
wonder if ships which went to boston also went to hingham and dropped off passengers? but
i feel thomas knew some of those people who left for hingham before him. have you ever
heard one had to be "invited" to hingam to settle? it could be true, correct?
anyway, thanks for the information and views.
sincerely,
terry w. chaffee
THOMAS CHAFFE'S ARRIVAL SHIP - 1637 [thanks to Glen Chafe]
"There were many ships that carried settlers to the Boston Harbour area in the late
1630's. The Hopewell from London carried Thomas Turner in August 1635. The John &
Dorothy from Ipswich (57 passengers) with master William Andrews and the Rose from Great
Yarmouth/Ipswich (57 passengers) carried William Ludkin and family of Norwich in April
1637. Ludkin and Turner would later become neighbours of Thomas in Hingham. Thomas'
other neighbours were Ralph Woodward who was in Hingham in 1636; John Prince who was made
a freeman in the Commonwealth in 1634; Ralph Smith departed Isle of Wight in 1633 and John
Tucker was in Hingham in 1635. Families such as the Bosworth's and the Peck's
would be his neighbours and fellow migrants to the Seekonk and Barrington in the
1660's/70's. Other ships in 1637: name - Unknown (112 passengers), leaving
Weymouth in April to New England, Master: John Driver; Hector , (5 passengers) from London
to Salem ; Hercules, (78 passengers) from London to the M!
assachusetts Bay, Master: John Witherley; Hopewell from Exeter, to Virginia, Master: John
Cobbold; Mary Anne (112 passengers) from Great Yarmouth/ Ipswich, to Boston, Master:
William Goose; Speedwell (62 passengers) from Weymouth 22, April 1637, to Boston, Master
Robert Corbin; and two ships captained by Master William Pierce and three more ships with
360 passengers from Ipswich. Stephen Paine from Norfolk, England, Thomas' later
neighbour in Seekonk may have come over on the Diligent in 1638. The Diligent was
captained by John Martin who's sister may have married one of Thomas' sons. A
Henry Smith from Norfolk, also on the Diligent also followed Thomas in Hingham to Rehoboth
following a strong disagreement and split within the Puritan church."
SHIPS LEAVING FOR NEW ENGLAND IN 1637 [thanks to Glen Chafe]
"From the Complete Book of Emigrants 1607-1660 by Peter Wilson Coldham (1988) the
following can be found (referenced source Public Record Office PRO; E190/876/11 on
Chancery Lane, London."
April 1637, Passengers on the [ -------- ], Mr. John Driver, bound from Weymouth to New
England: [Elizabeth Poole], two friends and 13 (servants); Henry (Cogan), his wife, 7 men
and two maids; Thomas Farwell and two servants; William Longe and his brother; John
Cornish, his wife, two brothers, one sister & one man; Anthony Buxtone; William
Harvey; Thomas Tayer, his wife and four children; John Derby, his wife, brother and two
servants; Walter Deane and six servants; John Reade and six servants; John Gilbert, two
men, one maid and two boys; Richard Smith, two children and one servant; Henry Webb, his
wife, mother, child, five men & one maid; Edward Rawson, his wife, two children, two
maids & four men; Henry Smith, his wife, four children, four menservants & four
women (servants); Richard Babson, his mother and brother.
22 April 1637, The Speedwell - Goods shipped by Thomas Tayer and William Longe in the
Speedwell, Mr Robert Corbin, bound from Weymouth to [New England]. Passengers on the same
ship: Edward Wiett and his wife, Elizabeth Winter and her two children, John Crocker, his
wife and his boy, Thomas Claff, his wife and two friends, William Scaddinge, Walter
Harris, his wife, six children & three servants, Thomas Farwell and two servants,
Thomas Cooke his wife and three children, Wiliam Longe and his brother, Elizabeth Poole,
two friends and 14 servants, Henry Cogan, his wife, seven menservants and two
maidservants.
The 60-ton Speedwell carried 62 passengers from Weymouth to Boston in 1637. The Speedwell
could have been the same ship that was planned to accompany the Puritans on the 180 ton
Mayflower ton in 1620 to America. The Speedwell was outfitted in Holland, and arrived in
Southampton to meet the Mayflower. The two ships began the voyage on 5 August, but the
Speedwell with 67 passengers was leaky and returned to Dartmouth to be refitted. On the
second attempt, Mayflower and Speedwell sailed about 300 miles beyond Land's End in
England, when Captain Reynolds of the Speedwell returned the ship again to Plymouth
because of leaks. Some of the Speedwell passengers crowded onto the Mayflower to compete
their famous voyage. The Speedwell eventually followed, arriving at Plymouth Colony
exactly one year later on 10 Nov. 1621.
"A" Speedwell travelled to Virginia in 1635 (59 passengers, captain Jo. Chappel)
and to Boston in 1656 (41 passengers, captain Robert Lock). It should be noted that the
ship name "Speedwell" was popular, and also ships did not last long, and owing
to it's condition in 1620, the 1637 Speedwell may not have been the same ship as the
one that was planned to leave with the Mayflower. Even the Mayflower was likely scrapped
in 1624. From the internet Speedwell passenger, Thomas Cooke was from Netherbury, Dorset.
Walter Harris with wife and 6 children were baptized at Honiton, Devon. This puts some of
the emigrant passengers of the Speedwell from the Devon area. A ship, name - Unknown left
Weymouth for New England in April as well. It carried Walter Deane and his brother John.
Walter Deanewas baptized in 1612 at St. Mary, Chard, Somerset. Edward Rawson also on this
ship was born at Gillingham, Dorset. There is some indication on the internet that the
"Unknown" ship accompanied (or !
was) the Speedwell. Henry Cogan and Elizabeth Poole, as well as their family and
servants, are mentioned in both ships lists by Coldham.
From Charles Edward Banks' "The Winthrop Fleet of 1630",
1930, The Riverside Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, a history of the fleet from its
origins to its landing: "What has come to be called the Winthrop Fleet of 1630 was
chartered under an agreement made in Cambridge, England 26 August 1629 under the auspices
of the Massachusetts Bay Company. The Company bought the ship "Eagle," made it
the flagship, renaming it the "Arabella" and then chartered 10 additional ships
to transport about 700 passengers to Massachusetts. Some ships brought passengers from
London, the main contingent of ships were loaded at Southampton on the south coast of
England during the month of March, 1630. According to records Matthew Craddock, a former
governor of the Massachusetts Bay Company, didn't arrive from London to send the ships
off until April 6th, on which day four ships, led by the Arbella, sailed down The Solent
only to anchor off Yarmouth at the western tip of the Isle of Wight and awai!
t!
the remaining seven which were still being loaded in Southampton. At six in the morning
on April 8th, the four ships set sail for the New World, passing the Needles, a series of
jutting formations off the western tip of the Isle of Wight that mark the beginning of the
open ocean, shortly before noon. The "Arabella" was the first to arrive at Salem
on 12 June 1630, followed by the "Jewel" on 18 June. Therefore Thomas had
neighbours from his southwest England homestead."
THESIS ON THOMAS CHAFFE'S ARRIVAL SHIP: [thanks to Glen Chafe]
"From the above document Thomas Claff is reported to have brought over his wife and
two friends. It was thought that Thomas Chaffee married in Hingham, however this might
explain why there have been no local marriage records of this event. On the LDS site the
frequency of the Claff surname before this date in England is nonexistent, with the most
ancient being c.1739 Germany. It is assumed that Claff is a transcription or spelling
error in Coldham's document. Adding to the mystery, from the Hingham records of 1637
there is also a Thomas Clapp noted as an inhabitant. The Clapp/Chappe/Chap surname is
found in Dorset (starting 1504), Sussex and Northumberland. However a Thomas Clapp from
Devon arrived in Boston in 1633. A Thomas Shave is also mentioned in the 1637 Hingham
records, and while possibly sounding the same, is not even close in surname spelling. At
this point it is uncertain that Thomas Chaffe was in fact Thomas Claff. However the
closeness of the surname spelling in!
the ship list, the match with the first name; Thomas, the fact that Claff is an uncommon
surname, the departure date, the arrival year in Hingham, that fellow passengers were from
Devon and Dorset and the proximity of the departure point of Weymouth to
Dorset/Somerset/Devon makes the 1637 voyage of the Speedwell the most likely ship. If this
link to the Speedwell is correct, it is also doubtful there was two Thomas Chaff's,
one arriving in 1635, and another who arrived in 1637 as W H Chaffee has indicated.
The 1901 England Census shows 34 Claffs in Lancaster and London and at the same time over
a thousand for Chaff/Chaffe/Chaffey (40% from Dorset, Somerset and Devon). Rootsweb has
197 listings for Claff but most appear to be redundant/duplicates and none are born in
England. On the same site there are hundreds of Chaff/Chaffe/Chaffey's born in
England. The present US Census Bureau shows a significant population of the
Chaff/Chaffe/Chaffey surname but Claff cannot be found. The Bureau does show a a large
population of Claffey's.
Switchboard.com lists 9 Claff's in their US directory and
many Claffee's, Claffery and Claffey's. On LDS, Claffey appears to be 99% from
Ireland and Germany. LDS show no Claff's in England, and four from Germany.
If Thomas departed from Southern England and was from a Chaff, Chafe, Chaffe family there
is a 92% chance he was from Devonshire. If he was from a Chaffey or Chafy family there is
a 31% chance he was from Somerset and 65%chance he was from Dorsetshire. Overall, looking
at England as a whole, the odds he was from outside either of these three shires around
15%.
On July 17th 1637 Thomas took ownership of land on Batchellor Street - 86 days from his
departure date. The Mayflower took 66 days to cross the Atlantic. The first of the
Winthrop Fleet took 61 days in 1630. The Mary & John took 71 days to sail from
Plymouth to Nantasket in 1630. With is in mind Thomas, on average, could have had a 66 day
voyage and arrived around June 27th, 1637. His first documented date of a land transaction
was July 17th, 1637. He likely had a least one neighbour from his homeland; Ralph Smith
who left from the Isle of Wight in 1633."
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