[2] He was defeated in early 1928 for his position as secretary of the Wellington Typographical Union by James Henrichs.

[5] In 1937 he was part of the printing unions' successful negotiating team for a legislated 40-hour work week.

[12][13] He contested the Wellington South electorate in the 1908 election and came third behind Robert Wright and William Henry Peter Barber.

[14] He contested the Hawke's Bay electorate in the 1919 election for the Labour Party and came third behind Hugh Campbell and Gilbert McKay.

[15] In 1922, he stood in the Hawke's Bay electorate again and came a distant third (and last) after Gilbert McKay and Andrew Hamilton Russell.

[17] In 1928, Chapman was elected as the Member of Parliament for Wellington North which he held until the seats abolition in 1946.

[20] Chapman died in Wellington in 1957, aged 80, survived by a step-son and step-daughter.