William Hatfield (1892–1969) was the pen name of Ernest Chapman, an English-born writer best known for his work in Australia.
Biography
He emigrated to Australia in 1912 and did a variety of jobs before turning to writing with ''Sheepmates'' in 1931.
He wrote fiction for adults and children, travel stories, autobiography, short stories (particularly for ''The Australian Journal'' and ''Australiana''). Hatfield served in the Australian army during World War II.
He was, in September 1949, a charter member of the
Australian Peace Council.
Hatfield died on 2 February 1969 at
Concord
Concord may refer to:
Meaning "agreement"
* Pact or treaty, frequently between nations (indicating a condition of harmony)
* Harmony, in music
* Agreement (linguistics), a change in the form of a word depending on grammatical features of other ...
, New South Wales.
Film work
''
Sheepmates
''Sheepmates'' was a proposed Australian film from director F. W. Thring based on a 1931 novel by William Hatfield.
Development
Thring bought the rights to Hatfield's novel in mid 1933. He paid a reported £300."Counting the Cash in Australian ...
'' was meant to be filmed in 1934 by
F. W. Thring, and Hatfield helped scout locations, but the project was abandoned during shooting. Hatfield promised Thring to shoot some footage of an aboriginal
corroboree
A corroboree is a generic word for a meeting of Australian Aboriginal peoples. It may be a sacred ceremony, a festive celebration, or of a warlike character. A word coined by the first British settlers in the Sydney area from a word in the l ...
for a proposed screen version of ''
Collits' Inn'' during a cross-country trip, but the film did not eventuate. Thring also bought the rights to ''Ginger Murdoch'' as a vehicle for
George Wallace but died before he got a chance to make it.
Cinesound Productions
Cinesound Productions Pty Ltd was an Australian feature film production company, established in June 1931, Cinesound developed out of a group of companies centred on Greater Union Theatres, that covered all facets of the film process, from produ ...
announced a film version of Hatfield's novel ''Big Timber'' but instead chose to shoot an original script, ''
Tall Timbers'' (1937).
Selected writings
*''
Sheepmates
''Sheepmates'' was a proposed Australian film from director F. W. Thring based on a 1931 novel by William Hatfield.
Development
Thring bought the rights to Hatfield's novel in mid 1933. He paid a reported £300."Counting the Cash in Australian ...
'' (1931)
*''Ginger Murdoch'' (1932)
*''Christmastown'' (1932)
*''Desert Saga'' (1933)
*''River Crossing'' (1934)
*''Black Waterlily'' (1935)
*''Australia Through the Windscreen'' (1936)
*''Big Timber'' (1936)
*''I Find Australia'' (1937)
*''Buffalo Jim'' (1938)
*''Barrier Reef Days'' (1948)
*''Wild Dog Frontier'' (1951)
References
External links
William Hatfieldat ''
Australian Dictionary of Biography''
William Hatfieldat
AustLit (subscription required)
*''Big Timber'' was serialised in 1936 â€
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Hatfield, William
Australian writers
1892 births
1969 deaths
English emigrants to Australia
Australian pacifists