Handley Chipman was born August 31, 1717 in Sandwich, Massachusetts. His father, John Chipman, had nine children by a previous wife and subsequently had two children by Handley’s mother, Elizabeth, who died in 1725. A cabinet maker by trade, Handley Chipman became a Justice of the Peace (1748) in Newport, Rhode Island. He was elected Magistrate in 1753 and Deputy to the Rhode Island General Assembly.
Chipman acquired land in Cornwallis, Kings Co., Nova Scotia and moved there on 7 May 1761. He was eventually elected Justice of the Peace, then Judge of Probate, a position which he maintained until his death.
Chipman was married twice, the first taking place on 24 April 1740 to Jean Allen (1722-1775), and the second on 14 December 1775 to Nancy Post (1755-1802). He had fifteen children in total: eleven by Jean Allen and four with Nancy Post. His eighth child was Thomas Handley (1756-1830) who became one of the founders of the Baptist denomination in Nova Scotia. His ninth child was William Allen Chipman (1757-1845), a Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, Town Clerk for Cornwallis, and an M.P. for Kings County between 1799 and 1806 and for Cornwallis between 1918 and 1818.
Handley Chipman died on 27 May 1799 in Cornwallis, Kings Co., N.S. and is buried in the Congregational Cemetery, Chipmans Corner, Kings Co., N.S. The inscription on his tombstone reads:
Here Lies the Body of Handley Chipman
Esqr who Departed this life May the 27th,
1799 in the 82nd Year of his Age.