At the time of Queen

Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was List of English monarchs, Queen of England and List of Irish monarchs, Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. She was the last and longest reigning monarch of the House of Tudo ...

, Richard Chapman (born c. 1520, and died c.1592) was the owner of a private shipyard at

Deptford Deptford is an area on the south bank of the River Thames in southeast London, in the Royal Borough of Greenwich and London Borough of Lewisham. It is named after a Ford (crossing), ford of the River Ravensbourne. From the mid 16th century ...

, had the title of 'Queen's Master Shipwright,' and had been involved in the construction of river defences along the

Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after th ...

, along with

Peter Pett Peter Pett may refer to: * Peter Pett (shipwright, died 1672) (1610–1672), English master-shipwright at Chatham Dockyard * Peter Pett (shipwright, died 1589) (?–1589), English master-shipwright at Deptford Dockyard * Sir Peter Pett (lawyer) ...

and

Mathew Baker Matthew or Matt Baker may refer to: Entertainment * Matt Baker (artist) (1921–1959), American comic book artist * Matt Baker (born 1977), British television presenter * Matthew Baker (bass-baritone), Australian bass-baritone opera singer * S ...

, two other important shipwrights of the time. Chapman was Master Shipwright of Woolwich and Deptford and built the first ''Ark Royal'' (initially ordered as a private venture as the ''Ark Ralegh'', but taken over for the Queen while still on the stocks). Chapman's father, John, was also a Master Shipwright and he also had strong ties to the important shipbuilding family, the Petts as his mother was Ann Pett and he was raised in the Pett household. The Chapman family itself, however, included several mariners whose origins appear to be in

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

and shipwrights who lived at

Greenwich Greenwich ( , , ) is an List of areas of London, area in south-east London, England, within the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London, east-south-east of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime hi ...

, working at this craft since the reign of the King

Edward I Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots (Latin: Malleus Scotorum), was King of England from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he was Lord of Ireland, and from 125 ...

st (1239–1307). Richard's son, Edmund Chapman, became 'Chief Joiner' to the Queen and owned significant property in Greenwich. Edmund provided land for the almshouses named 'Queen Elizabeth College', founded in 1574, and himself lived at 'Swanne House.'

External links

Queen Elizabeth's College
Chapman, Richard Chapman, Richard 1590s deaths 16th-century English people {{England-bio-stub