Born in Fordingbridge, Hampshire, he trained as a blacksmith who started a hardware business at Winchester then moved to Portsea, Portsmouth.
In 1835, he patented a process intended to render safes burglar-proof and fireproof, and subsequently established a large safe-factory in London.
He died on 16 May 1846, and was succeeded in the business by his son, John Chubb (1816–1872), who patented various improvements in the products of the firm and greatly increased its output.
The factories were combined under one roof in a model plant and the business grew to enormous proportions, now Chubb Locks.
His plot (no.1847) is in the dissenters section, immediately behind the family grave of the missionary Elijah Hoole.