Vol 1.1, 1st July 1993
Roger Crab of Chesham
Most people who set out on a climb through their family tree have a subconscious hope that somebody famous, notorious, or at least special in some way, will be up there somewhere. I'm sure the following somewhat optimistic and fanciful extract from Verney's "Bucks Biographies" is not quite what they have in mind:
"But in spite of his various callings as soldier, doctor, prophet, author, vegetarian & hermit, (Roger) Crab would have been long forgotten, had he not set up at Chesham, on leaving the army, as a 'haberdasher of hats'. He prospered greatly, but he persisted in praying behind his counter, and in 1651 he sold his shop and all his goods to give to the poor, and after such outrageous proceedings, won the immortal nickname of the Mad Hatter. He is, therefore, the undoubted ancestor of the fourth guest who took tea in Wonderland, with Alice, the Dormouse, and the March Hare; and he furnishes us with a link between the troublous times of the Commonwealth in Bucks, and the most charming fairy tale of our own day."
I leave you to make up your own mind on the truth, or otherwise, of the above. But it would be nice if it could be shown that Charles Dodgson (Lewis Carroll) knew the story from Chesham, wouldn't it?
Roger Crab lived an interesting and varied life and appears in various collections of biographies, especially those covering Buckinghamshire. He died unmarried and childless at a good age.
This page last updated on 20th August 1998.
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