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Roger Chaffe - In a portrait painted by his son.
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He spent his early years in Marylebone in London and married Henrietta Newbery in St George’s Church, Hanover Square in Westminster when he was nineteen years old. They had nine children named Thomas, Robert, Matilda, Susanna, John, Frederick, Marie, Ann and Henrietta.
Roger later moved to Upchurch and resided in Upchurch Street, in the part which later became known as Chaffes Lane. According to the national census for 1841 and the Upchurch tithe map of 1839, Roger resided in a house at Chaffes Place on the top left of Chaffes Lane near the entrance to Gore Farm. The tithe map shows he did not own any land in the parish but he owned a large acreage in other parts of the county.
When he lived in Upchurch five of Roger’s children lived with him. He also had four brothers and two sisters. His wife’s older brother named Robert Newbery who served as a surgeon in the Royal Navy from 1780 to 1797 also lived in Upchurch but died a bachelor aged 46. Newbery Cottages in The Street are named after him.
References to Roger Chaffe in the village periodically arise in documents at the beginning of the nineteenth century. He first appears on the list of church wardens’ rates making a payment of five shillings in 1826. He also patronised the village school located in the church. According to the school accounts for 1828/29 he contributed an annual subscription of ten shillings.
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Newbery Cottages in The Street - Named after Roger Chaffe’s
brother-in-law, Robert Newbery. Picture taken in the early 1900s.
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In 1832 Roger Chaffe became one of only a handful of village residents to be given the electoral vote along with other wealthy residents which included farmers John Green, Stephen Hedgecock, William Murton, Richard Mitchell, John Walter and Thomas Hadlow, publican Jeremiah Chapman, Upchurch vicar John Tarleton and parish clerk Robert Andrews.
According to his death certificate, Roger Chaffe died of Ascites, a build-up of fluid in the abdomen in 1843. Instead of being buried in the village churchyard he was interned in South Audley Street burial ground just off Grosvenor Square in London where his wife Henrietta had been buried in 1834. On the headstone are the words ‘They lived respected and died lamented.’
After Roger’s death his remaining five children moved away from Upchurch and with the exception of his son Frederick, who worked as a musician and moved to Maidstone, the others went to London. Roger’s house was demolished and Chaffes Cottages were constructed on the site in 1858. These were owned by farmer John Walter and were initially used to house farm workers who were employed at Gore Farm. The cottages remained intact until the 1970s.
The road which later became known as Chaffes Lane was named after Roger Chaffe in the second part of the nineteenth century probably because of his status, his financial contributions to the village and because his house at Chaffes Place was the only building in the entire lane while he lived there.
About David
David Wood was born and raised in Upchurch and is able to write from personal experience about many people and aspects of the village and of changes that have taken place over the years making ‘Memories of Upchurch’ a very readable book and a detailed historical study of the village. David's book ‘Memories of Upchurch’ is available direct from David at: david3702001@yahoo.co.uk or from us here at Upchurch Matters. Price £12 + £3.50 postage and packing.
