Thomas Chipman and his son, John Chipman, came to New England from Dorchester, Dorsetshire, England in 1631. John eventually settled at Barnstable and married Hope Howland. One descendant, Handley Chipman (1716-1799), emigrated from Newport, Rhode Island in 1761 to Nova Scotia. Descendants lived in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, northern U.S., Virginia, and elsewhere.