Chatham Township, New Jersey incorporated as an independent borough and its former village boundaries were expanded between 1891 - 1899 with annexed portions of rural lands that had formerly been within the township. The settlement of Chatham had been established in 1710 as "John Day's Bridge" and, in 1773 when New Jersey was an English province, adopted the name of "Chatham" to honor William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham, a British supporter of the colonial cause. This village also had been within Morris Township and it was an active community in the Revolutionary War. On August 19, 1892, Chatham seceded from the new township
Francis Godolphin, 2nd Earl of Godolphin humourist Messenger Monsey, for whom he obtained the position of physician to Royal Chelsea Hospital. He died at his house in the Stable Yard, St James's on 17 January 1766, and was buried in Kensington Church on 25 January, when the earldom of Godolphin, viscounty of Rialton, and barony of Godolphin of Rialton became extinct; the barony of Godolphin of Helston devolved upon his cousin Francis Godolphin, 2nd Baron Godolphin of Helston. Francis Godolphin, 2nd Earl of Godolphin Francis Godolphin, 2nd Earl of Godolphin, (3 September 167817 January 1766) was an English nobleman, courtier and philanthropist, styled Viscount Rialton 1706–1712.