He was born in Somers Town, London, on 14 Aug. 1801, and received some education at the high school, Edinburgh, in which city his father made his first appearance on 25 July 1814 as Polonius.

Glasgow, Carlisle, the Lincoln, York, and Worcester circuits, and Manchester, Birmingham, Bath, and Bristol saw him in leading business in comedy.

[1] Chippendale returned to the United Kingdom in 1853, performing at the Haymarket Theatre for over two decades,[1] and took the role of Polonius in the Henry Irving production of Hamlet at the Lyceum.

His parts in this included, in addition to those named—Sir Francis Gripe in the 'Busybody,' Sullen in the 'Beaux' Stratagem,' Malvolio, Adam, Sir Harcourt Courtly, Hardcastle, Old Mirabel in the 'Inconstant,' Lord Duberly in The Heir at Law, Lord Priory in 'Wives as they were and Maids as they are,' Old Dornton in 'Road to Ruin,' and Sir Walter Fondlove in The Love Chase.

His original parts comprised also Ingot in 'David Garrick,' Dr. Vivian in 'A Lesson for Life,' and Gervais Dumont in 'A Hero of Romance.

'[2] On tour at the Theatre Royal, Dundee in The School For Scandal his Sir Peter Teazle, opposite Miss Caroline Hill's Lady Teazle, was described as "a pure and perfectly chrysalis experience of dramatic art, exquisitely complete in every, even the minutest, shade of delineation".