P_10433_1955 – Sir William Chapman
William Chapman was a co-investor with Thomas Hall (q.v.) in three voyages, one of which was alongside the South Sea Company. He is identified as Sir William Chapman, a cloth factor supplying woollen goods to slave ships bound for West Africa, by Conrad Gill. Sir William Chapman was a director of the South Sea Company in 1720, but recovered from his entanglement in the South Sea Bubble and at the time he made his will in 1734 [proved 1737] was in the sugar trade with Thomas Emerson. His son Sir John Chapman (d. 1781) was MP for Taunton 1741-47: Sir John Chapman’s entry in the History of Parliament describes his father as Lord Mayor of London, as well as director of the South Sea Co., but Sir William Chapman does not appear elsewhere on lists of Lord Mayors (although his father, Sir Jasper or Sir John Chapman, does).
Title: Sir
First name: William
Middle name: /
Last name: Chapman
Aliases: Chapman, William
Primary cohort: London
Sex: Male
Religion: /
Social background: Trade
Primary outcome: Gentry
Political Affiliation: /
Relations
Sir John Chapman MP
Son
Sir John Chapman Alderman
Father
Political Offices Held
No Information
Bankruptcies
No Information
Geographic experiences
No Information
Internal migrant: No
Foreign born: No
Supplier to slave trade voyages: Yes
Sir William Chapman & Co., cloth factors of London, supplied woollen goods to slave ships bound for West Africa. [Gill, p. 76]
Creditor to slave trade voyages: No
Philanthropy: No
Plantation owner: No
Sources: Conrad Gill, Merchants and Mariners of the 18th Century (1961) p. 76. Case of Sir William Chapman one of the late Directors of the South Sea Co. (1721). https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1715-1754/member/chapman-sir-john-1710-81. PROB 11/683/338.
Other Individuals
No information
Organisations (2)
Corporation of the London Assurance
Role: Director
South Sea Company
Role: Director
Crossings (3)
77048 - Mermaid (a) Sirena (1729 - 1730)
Role: Owner
76567 - Mermaid (1734 - 1735)
Role: Owner
76363 - Mermaid (a) Sirena (1732 - 1732)
Role: Owner
Birth
Date: /
Location: /
Death
Date: 07/05/1737
Location: /
Burial
Date: /
Location: /
Memorial details: /
Christening: /
Knighthood: /
Baronetcy: 13/06/1720
Peerage: /
Residencies
No information
Occupation: /
Schools
No Information
Universities
No Information
Inns of Court
No Information
Military training
No Information
Imperial positions
No Information
Apprenticeships
No Information
Livery company affiliations
No Information
Other business activities
No Information
Was slave trading profitable: Don't know
Will
Value of Total Personalty: /
Value of Known Legacies (where material to total estate): /
Occupation: /
Town/City: /
Courts: /
The will of Sir William Chapman of Battersea Surrey was proved 09/06/1737. He left to his son William his half share in a copyhold estate at Battersea owned jointly with Thomas Emerson and held from the Lord of the Manor by Richard Houlditch (q.v.) and Thomas Emerson, the whole valued, he said, at £5000, and he left William a further £5500 on the latter signing a release of another of the testator's sons, John Chapman, from any claim by William [the son] on legacies left to John by the testator's cousin Elizabeth Webb. He made his son John his residuary heir after some minor monetary legacies.
Legacies
No information
No information