# James Chappell (servant)

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**James Chappell** (1648–1730) was an English servant of [Sir Christopher Hatton](/source/Christopher_Hatton,_1st_Viscount_Hatton). Chappell saved the life of Hatton and his three young daughters in a 1672 explosion at [Castle Cornet](/source/Castle_Cornet) in Guernsey. Hatton awarded Chappell a £20-a-year pension in his will which he used to set up a household and become landlord of a [public house](/source/Pub). Chappell is thought to have been the first black English landlord.

## Biography

James Chappell was born in 1648 and, at the age of 15, joined the household of [Sir Christopher Hatton](/source/Christopher_Hatton,_1st_Viscount_Hatton) as a servant at [Kirby Hall](/source/Kirby_Hall), Northamptonshire.[1][2] Chappell accompanied Hatton and his family to Guernsey when Hatton was appointed governor in 1670.[1]

The official residence of the governor was [Castle Cornet](/source/Castle_Cornet) in the [Little Roussel](/source/Little_Roussel). It was struck by lightning in 1672 which ignited a store of gunpowder, triggering a large explosion that killed Hatton's wife and mother.[1][2] Chappell pulled Hatton and his three young daughters from the rubble, saving their lives.[1][3] Hatton and his household, including Chappell, returned to England later that year and stayed briefly in London,[1] and Chappell's marriage to Elizabeth is likely to be that of "Jacobi Chappell" recorded in the 1672 [parish register](/source/Parish_register) of [St Martin-in-the-Fields](/source/St_Martin-in-the-Fields), Westminster.[4] Chappell and Elizabeth had a daughter, also named Elizabeth, who was baptised in [Gretton](/source/Gretton,_Northamptonshire), near Kirby Hall, on 10 September 1676. This child died young and was buried in 1679.[4]

Chappell was named as a beneficiary in Hatton's 1695 will, being entitled to a pension of £20 a year for the remainder of his life after Hatton's 1706 death.[1][4] Such a sum was a lifechanging amount in this period, especially as most black servants would neither have been paid nor free to leave service.[1][5]

Chappell's wife died in 1704 and he remarried the following year to Mercy Peach; together they had one daughter, Amey. At this time a Thomas Peach, likely to have been Mercy's father or brother, was the licensee of the Hatton Arms.[4] Chappell used his pension to establish a household near Kirby and became landlord of a public house, which local legend states was the Hatton Arms.[1][4] Chappell is believed to have been the first black landlord in England.[6] He died in 1730.[2]

In 2021 Chappell was featured in an [English Heritage](/source/English_Heritage) exhibition on the African diaspora in English history. A fictionalized painting of Chappell in later life was commissioned from Glory Samjolly, who used a black male model's likeness as Chappell and exhibited at Kirby Hall in June 2021.[5][2]

## References

1. ["Learn: Black Lives in Britain"](https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/learn/teaching-resources/-learn-black-lives-in-britain/). *English Heritage*. Retrieved 11 June 2021.

1. Cronin, Kate (9 June 2021). ["The hero African servant who saved the life of Sir Christopher Hatton honoured at new Kirby Hall exhibition"](https://www.northantstelegraph.co.uk/heritage-and-retro/heritage/the-hero-african-servant-who-saved-the-life-of-sir-christopher-hatton-honoured-at-new-kirby-hall-exhibition-3266114). *Northamptonshire Telegraph*. Retrieved 11 June 2021.

1. [*Current Archaeology*](https://books.google.com/books?id=TH4nAQAAMAAJ). A & W. Selkirk. 2002. p. 471.

1. Habib, Imtiaz (15 May 2017). [*Black Lives in the English Archives, 1500–1677: Imprints of the Invisible*](https://books.google.com/books?id=bgkkDwAAQBAJ). Routledge. p. 357. ISBN 978-1-317-17394-6.

1. ["The African figures 'forgotten' by England's cultural past"](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-57397584). *BBC News*. 9 June 2021. Retrieved 11 June 2021.

1. Quarmby, Katharine (20 April 2005). ["Uncovering black history"](https://www.theguardian.com/society/2005/apr/20/guardiansocietysupplement2). *The Guardian*. Retrieved 11 June 2021.

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