Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 10.djvu/65

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Chapman
57
Chapman

the age of fifteen. It was published in 1856, when the author was only eighteen. It was followed by 'Lord Bridgnorth's Niece,' which appeared in 1862. In 1869 she contributed to the 'Churchman's Family Magazine' an historical tale, called 'Bellasis; or, the Fortunes of a Cavalier;' it was the joint production of herself and her father. A visit to Scotland, where her elder brother had settled as a clergyman of the Scotch episcopal church, led to her writing, in 1876, 'A Scotch Wooing,' the first of her books that attracted attention. In 1876 appeared her best novel, 'Gerald Marlowe's wife.' Her last work, published in 1879, was 'The Gift of the Gods.' This appeared under her own name; in her previous publications she had used the pseudonym of 'J. C. Ayrton.' Miss Chapman died, after a long illness, at Old Charlton, on 18 Feb. 1884. Her novels are, with the exception of 'Bellasis,' tales of domestic life, with comparatively little incident, but marked by good feeling and refined taste. Her chief gift was an unusual power of writing easy and natural dialogue.

[Private information.]

N. McC.

CHAPMAN, Sir STEPHEN REMNANT (1776–1851), officer in the royal engineers, and governor of Bermuda, eldest son of Richard Chapman of Tainfield House, near Taunton, by Mary, daughter of Stephen Remnant, was born at Tainfield House in 1776. He received his professional education at Woolwich, and entered the royal engineers as second lieutenant on 18 Sept. 1793, and was promoted lieutenant on 20 Nov. 1796. He first saw service in the unfortunate expedition to the Helder in 1799, and was promoted captain-lieutenant on 18 April 1801, and captain on a March 1800. He served in the expedition to Copenhagen in 1807, and was ordered to join the army in Portugal at the same time as Sir Arthur Wellesley, in March 1809. He soon rose high in the estimation of Wellesley and of the commanding royal engineer, Colonel Fletcher. He was employed in the neighbourhood of Lisbon in preparing for its defence during the campaign of Talavera, and if he did not actually suggest the formation of the famous lines of Torres Vedras, he was certainly the chief assistant of Colonel Fletcher in the fortification of them; his thorough knowledge of the ground made his co-operation invaluable, and in a despatch to Lord Wellington, Colonel Fletcher speaks of his services in the very highest terms (Wellington Supplementary Despatches, vi. 537). In 1810 he went to the front, and was commanding royal engineer present at the battle of Busaco, when his services were specially mentioned in despatches. Towards the close of 1810 he was appointed, by Lord Mulgrave, the master-general of the Ordnance, to the important office of secretary to the master-general (Wellington Despatches, iv. 470). Wellington did yet more for him, for after repeated solicitation he secured his promotion to the rank of major, antedated to the day of the battle of Busaco, and on 26 April 1812 he was promoted lieutenant-colonel in the army, and on 21 July 1813 lieutenant-colonel in the royal engineers. He continued to fill the office of secretary to the master-general of the Ordnance until his promotion to the rank of colonel on 29 July 1825. From 1825 to 1831 he filled the office of civil secretary at Gibraltar, and in the latter year he was knighted and appointed governor of the Bermuda or Somers Islands. In Bermuda he remained until 1839, and the most important duty which he had to perform during his term of office was to carry into effect the emancipation of the slaves there in 1834. He did not again leave England; in 1837 he was promoted major-general, and in 1846 lieutenant-general; and he died at Tainfield House on 6 March 1851.

[Royal Military Calendar; Gentleman's Magazine, April 1861; Williams's Account, Historical and Statistical, of the Bermudas, 1846.]

H. M. S.

CHAPMAN, THOMAS (1717–1760), prebendary of Durham, was born at Bellingham, Northumberland, in 1717. He was educated at Richmond grammar school, Yorkshire, and Christ's College, Cambridge, where he obtained a fellowship. In 1746 he was appointed master of Magdalene College. He received the degree of LL.D. in 1748, when he served the office of vice-chancellor, and was appointed one of the king's chaplains. In 1749 he received the degree of D.D., and was appointed rector of Kirkby-over-Blow, Yorkshire. The following year he was appointed to the prebendal stall at Durham, and in 1758 official to the dean and chapter. He died in 1760. He was the author of an 'Essay on the Roman Senate,' 1750, translated into French in 1765. Hurd refers to him as 'in nature a vain and busy man.'

[Gent. Mag. xxx. 298; Hutchinson's Durham, ii. 182; Letters from a late eminent Prelate, 306, 307, 3rd ed.; Nichols's Anecdotes, 1. 562, 562, ii. 615-16, iii. 622.]

T. F. H.

CHAPMAN, WALTER. [See Chepman.]

CHAPMAN, WILLIAM (1749–1832), engineer, was the son of William Chapman, an engineer at Whitby, who invented a