She was reportedly the grandniece of President Zachary Taylor through her mother, Mathilda Schoolcraft. Her father, Henry R. Schoolcraft was an actor who appeared in shows in Mobile, Alabama and at Crisp"s Gaiety Theater in New Orleans and who despite his death in 1854, saw to it that his son Luke Schoolcraft and his daughters Jane and Alfreda all pursued careers in theater.
Born Alfreda Schoolcraft in New Orleans, Louisiana into a family of actors and artists. Alfreda and Jane performed sketches as a pair in local variety theater. Alfreda married William B. Chippendale, scion of a famous English acting family headed by William Henry Chippendale about 1860.
Her husband joined the Confederate Army as Second Lieutenant of the Louisiana 30th Infantry.
He died in 1864 at the Battle of Ezra Church near Atlanta, Georgia. She appeared at the Winter Garden in New York City as Nanette in the burlesque Camille in June 1863.
She also appeared as Sally in The Eton Boy that same season before appearing at the Griswold Opera House in Troy, New York in 1864-1865. Chippendale appeared in Louisville, Kentucky in 1865 before returning to New Orleans in 1866.
Later, Chippendale and Calder performed in The White Slave and The Shadows of a Great City.
Alfy Chippendale died in Lancashire on November 9, 1887.
