| The Alms Houses of Dorchester ©Compiled by Michael Russell OPC for Dorchester October 2015 [Note :- The following information from Hutchins has been incorporated into a more general history of the 'The Alms Houses of Dorchester' available on this site] Move to Hutchins 18 when file complete to provide link
There are three Almshouses in Dorchester, each was established in the early 17th Century and bears the name of its founder. A greater need for Almshouses arose after the great fire of 1613 which destroyed 170 houses in Dorchester (about half the town) along with many of the public buildings with their stores of food and equipment. It was largely due to the drive and zeal of the Rev John White to establish a 'godly community' in Dorchester that the poor were not entirely forgotten at such a distressing time. A number of other important and influencial people also made charitable bequests over the years which materially contributed to the survival of these institutions for many generations. The buildings themselves still exist in the centre of Dorchester today and are marked on the map shown below which I have taken from that commissioned by the Worshipful Robert Lumley KINGSTON Esq Mayor of Dorchester and Aldermen of the Corporation in the year 1771. Link to Full Map with index for other locations in 18th Century Dorchester. 
 Picture ©Sarah Smith and licenced for reuse under the Creative Commons Licence CHUBB's ALMSHOUSE was founded and endowed by Matthew CHUBB (c1548-1617) Goldsmith and M. P. for Dorchester, the most influential member of the borough oligarchy in the early years of James I's reign and the richest man in Dorchester.(1,2a) They have been a grade II listed building since 1975 and are situated in North Square. John CHUBB already a member of the Corporation, was elected Town Steward in 1555.(2a) and town Bailiff 1561-1562(1a). He was one of the burgesses that witnessed the confirmation of the grant of Arms of Dorchester on the Visitation of William Hervy, on 20th September 1565(1b). John Corbyn died in October 1566 but 4 months earlier he formally signed over property to his son-in-law. John Chubb and Agnes later in 1577 released the property to their son Matthew. According to John Hutchins 'History and Antiquities of the County of Dorset'(1c) it was John Chubb that founded the almshouse in Crewkerne in 1604(7) and another in Shaftsbury in 1611 but the account in the Victoria County History(8) the actual inscription on the house(7), and David Underdown(2c) all state that they were built by Matthew Chubb during his lifetime. Matthew's second marriage was to Margaret the daughter of Alexander BUCKLER of Woolcombe Matravers in the parish of Melbury Bubb and Margery Martyn of Kingston Russell.(9) Her father Alexander was buried at Melbury Bubb in 1622 when a table tomb was erected for him just outside and opposite the church doors. Margaret died and was buried at All Saints Church in Dorchester in 1627 leaving a Will. Significantly there were no children from either marriage. Matthew Chubb was a member of the Corporation by 1583 when he became town steward. He was already being entrusted with important public business for example when he was sent to Exeter to lobby the judges when there was a danger that Dorchester might lose the Assizes. According to David Underdown(2a) he was elected Bailiff of Dorchester for the first time in 1588. The listing of Bailiffs by John Hutchins (1a) is blank for that year but shows his election on three other occasions (in 1594, 1601 & 1610). In the 43rd year of the reign of Elizabeth I (1600) he was the first townsman to represent Dorchester in Parliament since William Adyn thirty years before, and he was returned again in the 1st year of the reign of James I (1602/3). This time he tried to get out of it, protesting both before and at the election ' the disability of his body to endure that service'. When his fellow burgesses ignored his objections he simply refused to go to Westminster and got them to join him in unsuccessfully petitioning the Commons to let him resign. Chubb was in reasonable health during the next few years so it looks as if he simply wanted to avoid the trouble and expense of the journey to London. To him it was a straightforward cash matter: he offered £5 'to some others to be chosen' at the election. Nowhere is there any sign that Chubb saw membership in Parliament- or any other- public office - as anything more than a matter of self-interest. Chubb was involved in a number of law suits at this time which are covered by David Underdown(2b) and there is no doubt that he disliked White's sermons often crossing the fields into nearby Fordington for prayers and the sermon there. Chubb and White eventually agreed in 1608 to a formal reconciliation, which was drawn up, witnessed and sealed so the situation must have been serious for so formal a procedure being needed to end a feud between the rector and the towns leading burgess. It needs to be remembered that this was still in the early days of John White's incumbancy as he only arrived in 1606 and the puritan Edward Pele did not arrive at Fordington until 1616. In 1613 following the disasterous fire in Dorchester the Privy Council authorised a general collection throughout the kingdom for the relief of the victims which was signed by the King on 12th Nov 1613. Matthew Chubb as the most prestigious burgess ran the relief fund and donated £1,000. As was not unusal for the time in such circumstances the King promised repayment to him out of the next parliamentary subsidy but the likelyhood of repayment in practice was never good and it is clear from Chubbs will proved in 1617 that he had not been repaid as his donation of £500 to Dorchester for charitable purposes was to come out of this repayment. The Great Fire of 1613 started in a shop in High West Street just across the road from St Peters church. Next to the church on the north side of the road stood the large and imposing George Inn which sprawled over 3 tenements and was one of the many buildings destroyed that day. There is an interesting account in Fire from Heaven by David Underdown (page 36) as to how Matthew came to own the lease. This was formally transferred to Margaret his widow in 1620. Page 378 ref to memorials in church + shield of arms [All saints] Died 1617 wills Baptism of Matthew son of Matthew CHUBB baptised 1621; JHutch ( son of his brother living with him at time of his death in 1617) 1628 18 JAN MRS CHUBB DIED GAVE ALL HER LANDS --- WW MATTHEW CHUBB DIED 8 MARCH 1633 WW 28 Jan 1635 Mrs Joane Chubb young widow married in London to Mr Thomas Man 2nd entry for 6th Feb Robert COKER married into the Chubb family (circa 1603) when he wed Martha the daughter of William CHUBB of Frome Selwood in Somerset. According to the 1623 Visitation of Dorset they had seven children:- Mathew 1604; Robert 1607; Margaret 1609 who married William PATY 6 Oct 1628; Joane 1612; John 1618; William 1620; and Martha in 1622. Robert became a close friend to another goldsmith Matthew CHUBB (the elder) who was bailiff of Dorchester 1593, 1602 and in 1610. Matthew was authorised by the King on 12 Nov 1613 to advance £1,000 for the rebuilding of Dorchester after the great fire that year. The richest man in Dorchester he rebuilt the George Inn and with his wife Margaret endowed an almshouse for women. Matthew died in 1617. By the time his widow Margaret CHUBB died in 1628 her only son and heir Matthew CHUBB junior was still under age (who William Whiteway in his diary refers to as a 'little boy') so she left in her will dated 18 April 1625 all her lands and goods to Robert COKER on the condition that his 2nd daughter Joan COKER married her son. This clearly happened as Charter 636 (item 9) refers to Joane CHUBB the widow of Matthew CHUBB conveying the premises back to her parents on 23 Jan 1633. William Chubb, Matthews old brother, was a Clerk in Frome and had 3 daughters, all were married Dashwood bequeathed money to Chubbs Almshouse Page 32 Weesex worthies death in Bond chronology tomb inscription Genealogical Notes:- (Much has been written about the life of Matthew Chubb and his family; some is inaccurate or misleading and many statements do not quote a source. I have therefore gone to greater lengths than normal to document where my information has come from and throw it open to scrutiny - always willing to review and revise if more information comes to light). (1). The History and Antiquities of the County of Dorset by John Hutchins: 3rd Edition published 1868) (1a) List of Bailiffs of Dorchester Pages 350/354: (1b) The Arms of Dorchester Page 355; (1c) Dorchester Alms Houses Pages 369-371 (2). 'Fire from Heaven' Life in an English Town in the Seventeenth Century - by David Underdown Published by Pimlico 2003 (2a) Pages 23 & 24: (2b) pages 28-36 (2c) page 34 (3). National Archives Matthew Chubb Prob 11/130 will proved 15 July 1617: Margaret Chubb Prob 11/153 will proved 14 May 1628 (4). Dorchester Divided - Researches & Reflections on Dorchester in the Early 17thc by the Community Play Research Group - published 2002 Pages 19 & 138 Chubb page 135 etc (5). The Municipal Records of the Borough of Dorchester Dorset edited by Charles Herbert Mayo MA published in 1908. (5a) I am aware that the book 'Dorchester Divided [See 4 above] on page 134 gives a short account of Matthew Chubb's life and states that "he was the son of John Chubb formerly of Misterton , Somerset and his wife Joan, daughter of Henry Corbin of Dorchester". This has been taken from an addendum to the 1623 Visitation of Dorset published in 1888. This collection unlike the 1623 visitation does not have the signatures of family members who vouch for the authenticity of the pedigrees which according to the preamble originate from the DHC. It is at varience with the information that I have located in Charters 635 & 636. The only Henry Corbyn that I can locate was not baptised until 10th Jan 1564/5 in Holy Trinity Church Dorchester. Whilst he did have a daughter called Joan she was not baptised at Holy Trinity until 13 Jun 1630. Whilst therefore there is no dispute that Matthew was the son of John CHUBB from Misterton his wife was clearly Agnes nee Corbin the daughter of John CORBIN. (5b) John Corbyn was witness to many land transactions, the earliest that I can trace being Charter 574 in the 27th year of the reign of Henry VIII (1535/6): (5c) For example See Charters 600/601: (5d) See preamble to Charter 606. (5e) See Charters 610;612;624 (6) William Whiteway of Dorchester His Diary 1618-1635 Published 1991 by the Dorset Record Society Volume 12 (7). Also on this site is a close up of the inscription on the house (8). Victoria County History Publication A History of the County of Somerset: Volume 4 Author R.W. Dunning (editor), A.P. Baggs, R.J.E. Bush Year published 1978.pp 4-38 for Crewkerne. A similar situation is reflected in A Topographical Dictionary of England (1848), pp. 51-56 in respect of the Almshouse in Shaftsbury. (9). Visitation of Dorsetshire 1623 Page 24 also Buckler in addendum page 20 (10). History of Parliament; the Commons 1558-1603, ed P.W.Hasler : Extracts from Notes & Queries for Somerset & Dorset, Mar1995 vol.xxxiii, 341, p363 (11). Will of John Boden, Gentleman of Shaston, Dorset, 1609 PCC Rudd 12 (12). History of Parliament - members Biographies (12a) John Boden (c1547-1614) Proved 10th Feb 1615 |