J. K. Chapman

1919-1999

James Keith Chapman was born 24 April 1919 in Gagetown, New Brunswick, and passed away 13 October 1999 in Fredericton. His early education began at the Gagetown Grammar School, then he moved to the Provincial Normal School in 1937. From 1940-1946, he served in the Royal Canadian Air Force. Upon returning to New Brunswick, he attended UNB from 1946–1950 and graduated with his BA in history and political science with honors. He continued at UNB and received his MA in 1952 while holding a Beaverbrook Scholarship for studies in the relations of Maine and New Brunswick. He then attended the University of London and obtained a PhD in British imperial history in 1954 after having been awarded a Beaverbrook Overseas Scholarship. Chapman was a professor in the History Department at UNB for thirty years (1954–1984). In 1984, he was awarded an honorary doctorate from Mount Allison University and the next year, 1985, he was named Professor Emeritus at UNB. Chapman’s research focused on Sir Arthur Hamilton Gordon. His two books in the field were The Career of Arthur Hamilton Gordon: First Lord Stanmore 1829–1912 (1964) and A Political Correspondence of the Gladstone Era: The Letters of Lady Sophia Palmer and Sir Arthur Gordon, 1884–1889 (1971). Later in life he turned to writing about growing up in rural New Brunswick.  The three books in his the River Boy Trilogy, are:  River Boy: Life Along the St. John (1980), River Boy Returns (1983), and River Boy at War (1985).

Predominant New Brunswick Residences:

Gagetown, Fredericton

Archival Material

• James K. Chapman fonds
  ⌄
  Location

  University of New Brunswick Archives & Special Collections

  Website/Catalogue Record

  View Archival Record

  Retrieval Number

  UA RG 363

  Date Range of Material

  1908-1999

  Extent

  1 m textual records and other material

  Scope and Content Note

  Fonds consists chiefly of correspondence to J.K. Chapman from various military and local history associates, personal correspondence, and Chapman’s “letters to the editor”; also some research and historical writing by J.K. Chapman. Other material in the fonds includes photographs, photo albums, and family memorabilia of James K. Chapman and his wife, Rhoda Wilson.

• James K. Chapman collection
  ⌄
  Location

  Provincial Archives of New Brunswick

  Retrieval Number

  MC2554

  Date Range of Material

  1922-1999

  Extent

  7 cm of textual records and 5 photographs

  Scope and Content Note

  This collection consists of a scrapbook of clippings of New Brunswick Tourist scenes - [1930s] and automobiles of 1933 and photographs of Marianne Grey Otty's father, Norval, with a gun; of ceremonies at the opening of the Fredericton train bridge, 1938; of Beaverbrook Overseas Scholars and wives, [1952]; of Old Government House, Fredericton; and of Henry Harvey Stuart and Mrs. Stuart. There is also a typed copy of reminiscences by W. Frank Hatheway entitled, "Warren Franklin Hatheway," dictated in 1921-1922 to Ella Bertha Hatheway, his wife, which was used as a source for one of J.K. Chapman's articles. Also included are drafts of "The Wonder of the Swinging Galaxy" by Linden Peebles; "The Chapman Family of Gagetown" by J. K. Chapman; and "Over the Waves and Far Way" by Linden Peebles. The photographs were transferred to the Photograph Section.