Thomas Paul Chipp was a chorister of Westminster Abbey and later a harpist and drummer. He was a member of the London orchestras from 1818 to 1870, and was a well-known figure at the Sacred Harmonic Society's concerts in the centre of the orchestra, with his two great drums before him and a kettle-drum at the side. He was short of stature and had a marvellous way of throwing himself on the drums when he wished to suddenly silence them.