Sir Austin Chapman (10 July 186412 January 1926) was an Australian politician who served in the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

from 1901 until his death in 1926. He held ministerial office in the governments of

Alfred Deakin Alfred Deakin (3 August 1856 – 7 October 1919) was an Australian politician who served as the second Prime Minister of Australia. He was a leader of the movement for Federation, which occurred in 1901. During his three terms as prime ministe ...

and

Stanley Bruce Stanley Melbourne Bruce, 1st Viscount Bruce of Melbourne, (15 April 1883 – 25 August 1967) was an Australian politician who served as the eighth prime minister of Australia from 1923 to 1929, as leader of the Nationalist Party. Born ...

, serving as

Minister for Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

(1903–1904),

Postmaster-General A Postmaster General, in Anglosphere countries, is the chief executive officer of the postal service of that country, a Ministry (government department), ministerial office responsible for overseeing all other postmasters. The practice of having ...

(1905–1907), Minister for Trade and Customs (1907–1908, 1923–1924), and

Minister for Health A health minister is the member of a country's government typically responsible for protecting and promoting public health and providing welfare and other social security services. Some governments have separate ministers for mental health. Coun ...

(1923–1924).

Early life

Chapman was born on 10 July 1864 in Bong Bong, New South Wales. He was the son of Monica (née Cain; also spelt Kean or Kein) and Richard Chapman, his father being a wheelwright and publican. His mother was born in Ireland. His given name was spelled "Austen" until 1897. Chapman attended the state school in

Marulan Marulan is the traditional lands of the Gundungurra people. It is a small town in the Southern Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia in the Goulburn Mulwaree Council local government area. It is located south-west of Sydney on the Hume Highway ...

until the age of 14, when he was apprenticed to a

saddle The saddle is a supportive structure for a rider of an animal, fastened to an animal's back by a girth. The most common type is equestrian. However, specialized saddles have been created for oxen, camels and other animals. It is not kno ...

r working in

Goulburn Goulburn ( ) is a regional city in the Southern Tablelands of the Australian state of New South Wales, approximately south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Canberra. It was proclaimed as Australia's first inland city through letters pate ...

and

Mudgee Mudgee is a town in the Central West of New South Wales, Australia. It is in the broad fertile Cudgegong River valley north-west of Sydney and is the largest town in the Mid-Western Regional Council local government area as well as being th ...

. By 1885 he was operating Chapman's Hotel in

Bungendore Bungendore is a town in the Queanbeyan Region of New South Wales, Australia, in Queanbeyan-Palerang Regional Council. It is on the Kings Highway near Lake George, the Molonglo River Valley and the Australian Capital Territory border. It has ...

, close to the eventual site of Canberra. Chapman moved to Sydney in 1887 and went into partnership with

Edward William O'Sullivan Edward William O'Sullivan (17 March 1846 – 25 April 1910) was an Australian journalist and politician. Early life and journalism O'Sullivan was born in Launceston, Tasmania. His father deserted the family when he was a child and he was mai ...

in an auctioneering firm, of which he was managing partner. He was also the proprietor of the Emu Inn on Bathurst Street. His partnership with O'Sullivan was dissolved in 1889, and he subsequently established the Royal Hotel in Braidwood.

New South Wales politics

In 1891 he was elected to the

New South Wales Legislative Assembly The New South Wales Legislative Assembly is the lower of the two houses of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The upper house is the New South Wales Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament Ho ...

as MLA for Braidwood. Like most politicians from the southern border regions of New South Wales, he was an active supporter of federation of the Australian colonies.

Federal politics

1901 Events January * January 1 – The Crown colony, British colonies of New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria (Australia), Victoria and Western Australia Federation of Australia, federate as the Australia, ...

Chapman was elected to the first

as MP for the

Division of Eden-Monaro The Division of Eden-Monaro is an Australian electoral division in the state of New South Wales. The previous member, Mike Kelly resigned due to ill health on 30 April 2020. The seat was filled at a by-election on 4 July 2020. Geography Si ...

(his brother

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succeeded him as the member for Braidwood in the New South Wales Parliament). A

Protectionist Protectionism, sometimes referred to as trade protectionism, is the economic policy of restricting imports from other countries through methods such as tariffs on imported goods, import quotas, and a variety of other government regulations. ...

, he was

in the first ministry of

(1903–04),

in the second Deakin ministry (1905–08), and Minister for Trade and Customs from 1907 to 1908. After a long period on the backbench as a result of a stroke in 1909, which paralysed one of his arms, he was appointed Minister for Trade and Customs and

in the

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in February 1923. He was criticised by both

Nationalists Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...

and the Country Party and he resigned in May 1924 on the grounds of ill health and was subsequently made a

KCMG KCMG may refer to * KC Motorgroup, based in Hong Kong, China * Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George, British honour * KCMG-LP, radio station in New Mexico, USA * KCMG, callsign 1997-2001 of Los Angeles radio station KKLQ (FM) ...

. Chapman had a significant role during the selection of Australia's national capital site,

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

. A strong advocate for the rival site of Dalgety—legislated as the capital site by the

Seat of Government Act 1904 The Seat of Government Act 1904 was an Act of the Parliament of Australia which provided that the "seat of government of the Commonwealth" (i.e., the national capital) should be within of Dalgety, New South Wales. The site turned out to be un ...

—he stated in August 1906 that, ''"I will defend Dalgety to the end. Any change from the selection already made can only be achieved over my political corpse."'' In early 1908, he would concede that Canberra was "''the second best site, but Dalgety easily stands first.''" As the process finally reached its conclusion, later in 1908, Chapman was suffering ill health. In his absence, although he had been 'paired' for the ballots so as not to prejudice the outcome, at the ninth ballot, Dalgety went down to Yass-Canberra by 39 votes to 33. However, once Canberra had been selected, Chapman strenuously advocated the development of the site on the

Molonglo River The Molonglo River, a perennial river that is part of the Murrumbidgee catchment within the Murray–Darling basin, is located in the Monaro and Capital Country regions of New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory, in Australia. ...

near

Queanbeyan Queanbeyan ( ) is a city in the south-eastern region of New South Wales, Australia, located adjacent to the Australian Capital Territory in the Southern Tablelands region. Located on the Queanbeyan River, the city is the council seat of the ...

, which like Dalgety was in his electorate. The success of his efforts benefited many of his friends who owned land in the area, and also greatly boosted trade in Queanbeyan, the nearest town to the site. He was still MP for Eden-Monaro at the time of his death in Sydney of cerebro-vascular disease, before he could sit in the new Parliament House in Canberra, which opened in May 1927. He was survived by his wife, two daughters and two sons, James Austin Chapman and John Austin Chapman who both became distinguished soldiers. The Canberra suburb of Chapman was named after him.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chapman, Austin 1864 births 1926 deaths Commonwealth Liberal Party members of the Parliament of Australia Australian Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Australian politicians awarded knighthoods Protectionist Party members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Cabinet of Australia Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Eden-Monaro Members of the Australian House of Representatives Australian federationists Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly People from Bowral Politicians from Sydney Australian auctioneers Nationalist Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia Defence ministers of Australia 20th-century Australian politicians Australian Ministers for Health