He was the son of John Chapman and his wife Ann née Sidebottom, of Hill End House, Hollingworth, near Mottram, Cheshire.

John Chapman was Member of Parliament for Great Grimsby and a major landowner, having made a fortune from the development of railways and docks.

[1] Edward Chapman was educated at Merton College, Oxford, having been graduated with a first-class honours degree in Natural Science in 1864.

[1] He was involved in local politics, elected as president of the Hyde Conservative Association in 1895,[4] and for twenty years was chairman of the Mottram Urban District Council.

Chapman was found dead at Hill End on 25 July 1906, apparently as the result of a fall.