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collapse, creating chaos in Britain. Mary was followed to the throne by Elizabeth I who
ruled for nearly 50 years and brought peace and prosperity back to the country. During this
time, the British fought the battle of the Armada with Spain to become the strongest naval
power in the world which set the stage for the settlement of North America and elsewhere.
After Elizabeth the Stewart kings came to power. Religious clashes between the Catholics
and Protestants in Britain again escalated. Conflicts also occurred between the British and
the continental European countries as each was vying for supremacy.
By the time this family tree compilation begins with Richard Chaffey(1707-1795),
we’ve seen a series of events that included several wars with the French in which North
America comes under the control of the British, the thirteen American colonies were settled,
(many of the settlers being religious dissenters), the competition with the French was
continuing, the American Revolution and the French Revolution took place and Napoleon
was rising to power. The British monarchy had lost power in conflicts with Parliament and
different feuding families. A parliamentary government was taking form. Through all of this
there were Chaffey families on record both in Dorset and Somerset in the southwest
section of the British Isles.
The family that this tree follows comes from Richard(1707-1795) and his offspring
who were living in Stoke-sub-Hamdon, Somerset, at this time. [We arbitrarily make the
assumption that they are directly related to the Richard who died in 1523 (See Appendix
C).] They were prosperous landholders and operating cottage cloth industries successfully.
It was in the following generation that the dispersion began due to the changes that were
taking place. The Industrial Revolution was in full steam with the change from the cottage
industries to the factory system, and the introduction of cotton which was rapidly replacing
wool as the primary source of cloth. Additionally, the British had won the Napoleonic Wars
and fought with the Americans unsuccessfully in the War of 1812. This strongly expanded
the British Empire but left the country deeply in debt forcing many families to struggle
economically and, as a result, to leave England. The true magnitude of the debt is shown in
a newspaper article in 1819 at the death of King George III, taken from the Hebditch Diary
located in the Somerset Archive and Record Service, Somerset, England. It said,
“King George the Third came to the Throne of England in 1760 and found the
Debt 120 millions. He reigned 59 years and left the National Debt 820
millions, 700 millions more than at his accession to the Throne, increasing on
the whole period about 36,000 pounds per day nearly 23 pounds per minute.
At the beginning of his Reign the taxes amounted annually to 6 millions, at the
ending sixty millions.”
The debt problem came right down to the Chaffeys as Benjamin(1779-1832) made sail
cloth for the British navy. After the war the government may well have been unable to pay
him what he was owed, and he was facing bankruptcy.
In an attempt to solve his financial problems, Benjamin and his family emigrate to
Canada along with his younger brother, Samuel. Two of another brother, John Chaffey’s,
sons emigrate to Australia and four members of nephew, Ebenezer Chaffey’s family leave
to go to New Zealand. Later, his great-nephew, William Tamlin Chaffey, emigrates to the
United States. Other branches of the Chaffey family also emigrate during this time. This
compilation follows those who left Britain from this one family. It makes no attempt to deal
with the many Chaffeys from Somerset who remained in Britain or any of the Chaffeys from
Dorset.
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