In the early years of the 17th century the wealthiest man in the prosperous trading town of Dorchester was Matthew Chubb. During his lifetime he held all the important offices of the borough and for a time he was the Member of Parliament for the town. He was enterprising and hard working, though not altogether a self-made man. Much of his wealth was inherited and his journey along the path too riches was helped by marrying well – twice. He was the kind of man who craved the acquaintance of his social superiors, even though financially he had the better of them. Arguably, he was a generous man but his charity was usually self-serving; he liked his good works to be visible and acknowledged.
Matthew was the son of John and Agnes Chubb. John came from Misterton near Crewkerne in Somerset and he married Agnes, the daughter of John Corbyn, a prominent member of Dorchester society. Matthew was born in 1548 and shortly after his birth the family moved to Dorchester where John prospered and quickly established himself, becoming a member of The Corporation and the Town Steward by 1555. There is evidence that John Corbyn conveyed property to John Chubb and in due time this property passed to Matthew.
In the 1560’s Matthew set up a school in Dorchester but abandoned the project when The Corporation sponsored a Free School. He became a scrivener, drawing up wills and conveyances and he appears to have had some negotiating skills, he lent money and was a goldsmith. Like his father he became a member of The Corporation and was himself appointed Town Steward in 1583. He was sent to Exeter by The Corporation to lobby and negotiate for Dorchester to keep the Assizes. In 1601 he became Member of Parliament for the town and was re-elected in 1604, though, on this occasion claimed his health was not up to the job but his colleagues still re-elected him. Actually, Matthew was in good health throughout this period and we are left to assume that it did not suit him to have to be away in London so much.
Towards the end of the reign of Elizabeth I and the early years of the reign of James I he was the most important member of The Corporation but his influence began to wane once the Reverend John White arrived in the town in 1606. It seems Matthew Chubb had quite liberal views and he frequently disagreed with some of the ideas the minister was promoting to his congregation at Holy Trinity. After the great fire of 1613, which destroyed much of the town, many people were convinced they were being punished for their loose morals; congregations grew in all three Dorchester parishes following the fire.
John White was a moderate puritan, though clearly not moderate enough for Matthew Chubb. At one point things between the two men reached such a low ebb that the layman preferred to walk the lanes to Fordington to say his prayers and hear a sermon. It was generally believed that Chubb was behind the anonymous pamphlets distributed in Dorchester suggesting all manner of impropriety on the part of the minister, whose popularity was in the ascendancy.
On November 12th, 1613 Matthew Chubb was authorised by King James I to loan £1,000 towards the rebuilding of Dorchester after the great fire. He and his wife rebuilt the George Inn and endowed an almshouse for women.
Matthew Chubb died in 1617. His widow, Margaret, died in 1628, when their only son and the heir to their fortune was Matthew Chubb Junior but at the time of his mother’s death he was still under age. Margaret Chubb made a will on April 18th 1625 leaving all her lands and property to Robert Coker on the condition that Joan, his second daughter, married her boy. Robert Coker was a goldsmith who had been a good friend of Matthew Chubb Sr. Matthew and Joan married but Matthew passed away in 1632 and on the January 23rd 1633 Joan Chubb conveyed the property back to her parents, Robert and Martha Coker.
