22 Facts About James Chapple

James Henry George Chapple was a Unitarian minister, former Presbyterian minister and pacifist.

James Chapple was charged with making seditious utterances in 1917 and imprisoned for 11 months, and was the inspiration for the character George Plumb in the Plumb trilogy written by his grandson Maurice Gee.

James Chapple was one of only two New Zealanders nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize before 1956.

James Chapple was the first child of English immigrants William Chapple, a butcher, and his wife Elizabeth.

James Chapple's father drowned in April 1867, and after his death, James Chapple's mother gave birth to their second son who died in November of that year.

James Chapple was raised in England and educated at a private girls' school run by two of his aunts.

James Chapple's mother took him back to Australia in his late teens.

James Chapple joined the New Zealand Socialist Party around 1905, which resulted in him becoming increasingly unpopular with Presbyterian leadership.

In September 1910 the presbytery held a public hearing asking James Chapple to explain his conduct in relation to a number of matters, including chairing at a lecture by English rationalist Joseph McCabe, by subscribing to the London Rationalist Association and by preaching at the Unitarian Church in Auckland.

In 1911, James Chapple founded the Timaru Unitarian Society where he lectured as minister.

In July 1915 James Chapple moved to California with his wife and thirteen of his fourteen surviving children, in the expectation that the United States would remain neutral.

James Chapple wrote that he wished to escape the "vortex of racial ill-will and jingoism" that New Zealand had become.

When it became clear that the United States would enter the war the family returned to New Zealand and settled in Christchurch, where James Chapple founded a Unitarian church.

James Chapple did not deny having said these words, but his defence was that they were said with qualifications or elaborations that would disprove the charge.

James Chapple was however convicted on both counts and sentenced to 11 months in prison, with the magistrate describing him as "a dangerous man to be at large".

James Chapple's family were supported by socialist friends and sympathisers during his imprisonment, including Fred Cooke, Ada Wells, Tim Armstrong and Ted Howard.

James Chapple wrote two books which were published in England in 1924: The Divine Need of the Rebel and A Rebel's Vision Splendid.

James Chapple was a frequent speaker at meetings of the Rationalist Association.

James Chapple continued to work as a Unitarian minister until 1941, when he voluntarily resigned; he had supported the Soviet Union in its non-aggression pact with Germany, which was opposed by many in the church, and when Germany invaded the Soviet Union his position became untenable.

James Chapple died in 1947, survived by his wife and fourteen of his children.

James Chapple's grandson Maurice Gee is a well-known New Zealand author, whose novel Plumb is considered one of the best novels ever written in New Zealand.

James Chapple is himself a political activist having been involved in protests against the 1981 Springbok rugby tour in New Zealand and the anti-nuclear movement.