The Chaffe/Chaffey/Chafe/Chaffee Family Home Website
The "Chaffe" surname originally came from the present village of Chaffcombe, Somerset, England. The name Chaffcombe was listed in the Domesday Book commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. From that documented point the surname became tied to people from the village. The surname usage grew in size largely in the Somerset, Devon and Dorset areas. With the growth of the surname, both the written spelling and spoken word changed into a number of variations. Between 1637 and 1816 key families emigrated to the United States, Canada and later Australia, expanding the surname population. The five most common variations that share the same ancestry are Chaffe/Chaffey (England), Chafe/Chaffey (Canada), Chaffee/Chaffey/Chafee (US) and Chaffey (Australia). This is a family of important and influential people, with many tied to major worldwide events. They are actors, athletes, artists, benefactors, clergymen, community leaders, doctors, engineers, entrepreneurs, explorers, farmers, fishermen, inventors, millionaires, national heroes, politicians, professors, soldiers teachers and even an astronaut. Ships, roads, hospitals, museums, schools, cities, an island, a lake, a mountain and craters on the Moon and Mars have been dedicated to them. Please feel free to explore all the various links on this website and discover more about this very interesting surname.
Use Google.Earth maps you can take a tour of all the family members and see the land they lived in. Click on this link, the click RUN and Google Earth will launch. The surname links will be added to your Temporary Places folder. Click on any link and read the related text. Use the overlays to see the relationship between old archived maps and the current terrain.
Virtually all the locations of our Famous Family Members are linked to Google.Earth or MS Virtual Earth, which has higher resolution photographs in some US areas.
The following are key persons or web links that have contributed to our site:
References/Contacts:
Thanks to Edward Chafe and Bruce Chafe for much of the information about the Chafe's in Newfoundland.
Thanks to Terry William Chaffee ancestor to Thomas Chaffee, the first Chaffee in the New World - July 1637.
Thanks to Susan Chaffey's and her work A Chaffey Family, which provides wonderful coverage of the history of the Chaffey family in England, Canada, United States, Australia and New Zealand.
Thanks to Bruce Chaffee on his research on the ancient history of the surname.
Visit Richard Chaffey's Chaffey Surname Website.
Visit Angus & Chloe Watson on their research on the The Chaffeys of Stoke sub Hamdon 1500 - 1680.
Visit the Chaffey Family by Douglas Chaffey.
Visit the Chaffee Website by Bob Coolbaugh for an extensive list of Chaffee's.
Chaffee/Ollises Web Site
Chaffee Forums: Genealogy.com, Yahoo, Ancestry.com.
In addition the following historical material was used as reference:
Devonshire Wills, by Charles Worthy, 1896.
Chaffee Genealogy in America, by William H. Chaffee, 1909.
Excerpts from the Diaries of the Chafes, by Rev. W.K.W. Chafy, 1910.
The Victoria History of the Counties of England - Chaffcombe, C.R. Elrington, 1978.