14 Facts About Frederic Chapman

Frederic Chapman was the youngest son of Michael and Mary Chapman of Hitchin in Hertfordshire.

Frederic Chapman was born at Cork Street, Hitchin, in 1823, in the house which had belonged to his collateral ancestor, George Chapman, the poet, and was educated at Hitchin Grammar School.

On his shoulders, even when Edward Frederic Chapman was alive, lay the burden.

Frederic Chapman was a tall, burly, rubicund man, and had good business instinct.

Frederic Chapman had a small but delightful house in Ovington Square, to which some one had added a billiard-room, which he turned into a charming dining-room.

In 1860 Frederic Chapman projected The Fortnightly Review, which was eventually published twice a month in 1865 and was first edited by George Henry Lewes.

The Fortnightly Review was not a commercial success and in 1869 to attempt to raise new capital Frederic Chapman sold a third of the company to Anthony Trollope, who passed it on to his son, Henry Merivale Trollope, who remained a partner for three and a half years.

In 1880 Frederic Chapman turned his business into a limited company, at the head of which he remained until the time of his death.

Frederic Chapman bought the remainder of those copyrights after Dickens's death; he carefully cultivated Dickens' relatives Georgina Hogarth and Mary Dickens when they proposed to edit Dickens's letters.

Frederic Chapman was on intimate terms with numerous men of letters of his day.

Frederic Chapman died of influenza on 1 March 1895 at his house at 10 Ovington Square, London.

Frederic Chapman was twice married; in 1861 he married Clara, eldest daughter of Joseph Woodin of Petersham, Surrey.

Frederic Chapman explained that it was better than moping at home, and that the death of his child seemed to prepare him for the second bereavement.

Frederic Chapman married her in 1867 and by her he left a daughter, Reine, married to Harold Brooke Alder.