Page:The Dictionary of Australasian Biography.djvu/105

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been validated.
Cha]
DICTIONARY OF AUSTRALASIAN BIOGRAPHY.
[Che

March 10th, 1858, when Mr. Chapman resumed his office, holding it till Oct. 27th, 1859. He was also Law Lecturer at the Melbourne University, and acted from 1862 to 1863 for Sir Redmond Barry, as Judge of the Supreme Court. He formulated and introduced the Ballot Bill into the Victorian Parliament, from which it has spread into use all over the British Empire. In 1864 he was reappointed Judge of the Supreme Court of New Zealand, and lived in Dunedin till his death, on Dec. 27th, 1881. In 1875 he retired from the Bench, and was subsequently Chancellor of the University of Otago. Mr. Chapman was the author of many pamphlets and papers, including "The New Zealand Portfolio" (1843)and "Parliamentary Government or Responsible Ministries of the Australian Colonies" (1854). In regard to his connection with the ballot, it may be stated that he drafted for Mr. Nicholson in 1855 the clauses which created the special form of the device known as the "Australian ballot," which simply leaves the voter to strike out the names of those candidates for whom he does not intend to vote. This form has been very generally adopted in America. Mr. Chapman married first, in 1840, Caroline, daughter of Mr. J. G. Brewer, barrister-at-law; and, secondly, Miss Carr, a sister of the wife of Mr. R. D. Ireland (q.v.).

Chapman, Hon. Thomas Daniel, M.L.C., was born at Bedford, England, and came to Tasmania about 1844, becoming a leading merchant in Hobart. Entering on politics, he was returned for the City as a member of the first semi-elective Legislative Council which met in 1851. He became the leader of the Liberal party; having much to do with the cessation of transportation and the concession of responsible government, on lines which he largely shaped, in 1850. He joined the Champ Ministry—the first formed under the new régime—and held office as Colonial Treasurer from Nov. 1st, 1856, to Feb. 26th, 1857. After four years and a half in Opposition he himself became Premier on August 2nd, 1861. At first he held no portfolio, but on Nov. 1st in the next year assumed that of Colonial Treasurer. He resigned, with his colleagues, on Jan. 20th, 1863, and, after four years spent in opposition to the Whyte Ministry, reassumed office as Colonial Treasurer, under Sir Richard Dry, on Nov. 24th, 1866. On the reconstruction of the Ministry under Mr. (afterwards Sir) James Milne-Wilson, on August 4th, 1869, Mr. Chapman continued to hold the Treasurership till the retirement of the Ministry, on Nov. 4th, 1872. His six years' tenure of the post was the longest since responsible government was inaugurated. Mr. Chapman left the Assembly for the Legislative Council in 1873, when he was returned for Buckingham, a constituency which he represented till his death. He took office for the last time on August 4th, 1873, becoming Colonial Secretary in Mr. Kennerley's Government, but resigned on April 1st, 1876. On July 11th, 1882, he succeeded Mr. Innes as President of the Legislative Council, a position which he held till his demise on Feb. 17th, 1884.

Cheeke, Hon. Alfred, sometime Supreme Court Judge, New South Wales, was born at Evesham, Worcestershire, in 1811, and is stated to have been a lineal descendant of the celebrated Sir John Cheke. He was called to the English bar in 1835, and joined the Oxford Circuit. Having emigrated to Sydney in 1837, he was appointed a magistrate in 1838, and practised as a barrister. In 1841 he was appointed Commissioner of the Court of Claims, and in June of the same year Crown Prosecutor, Chairman of Quarter Sessions in 1844, and Commissioner of the Court of Requests in 1845. From 1851 to 1857 he again acted as Chairman of Quarter Sessions, and from 1858 to 1865 was a District Court Judge. From the latter date till his death, on March 14th, 1876, he officiated as a Judge of the Supreme Court.

Chester, Henry Majoribanks, P.M., has been in the Queensland Government service since 1876, and in 1877 was sent on an exploring expedition to New Guinea. In July of the next year Mr. Chester was appointed by Sir Arthur Gordon to represent him in New Guinea in his capacity as High Commissioner of the Western Pacific. In 1883, when Sir Thomas McIlwraith decided on annexing the island on behalf of the Queensland Government, Mr. Chester was employed to proclaim the Queen's sovereignty, which he carried into effect on April 4th. Mr. Chester has been police magistrate at Croydon since Nov. 1887.

89