Hi Everyone!
I am new to the list but have been very interested in the correspondence on the origins of
the name particularly the one from TW Chaffee and Jan Hill.
I believe that the name means 'bald' (see The Penguin Dictionary of Surnames) from
the old French 'chauve' or perhaps, 'shaven'.
Hugo, the ancestor of the Chaffes, was a Norman and it intriguing that on the Bayeux
Tapestry, the Anglo-Saxons are often distinguished by being shown wearing moustaches, and
the Normans by having the backs of their heads shaven.
Although I live in Dorset UK and only 20 miles east of Chaffcombe, my ancestors were from
London and some are mentioned in the appendix to The Chaffee Genealogy by William H
Chaffee. My 4xgg father was Roger Thomas Berry Chaffe, born 1773, christened at Holy
Trinity in the Minories, London, married 1793 at St George's Hanover Square, London
and buried there in 1843 although latterly he lived and died in Upchurch, Kent. His
parents were probably Christopher and Elizabeth Chaff.
For quite a number of my ancestors and others with a similar name, it says In the IGI that
Amos Pierre Fordham was a relative. Does anybody know anything about him and whether the
results of his researches are available, please?
Regards
John Chaffe