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

*''

'' (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 Hatfield
at '' Australian Dictionary of Biography''
William Hatfield
at AustLit (subscription required) *''Big Timber'' was serialised in 1936 �
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Hatfield, William Australian writers 1892 births 1969 deaths English emigrants to Australia Australian pacifists