Frederic Chapple CMG (12 October 1845 – 29 February 1924) was the influential headmaster of Prince Alfred College in Adelaide, South Australia, from 1876 to 1914.
As well as reaching high academic standards he entered whole-heartedly into the religious life of the school and church, and at age 18 was assessed first among applicants for a scholarship to Westminster Training College.
The principal of Prince Alfred College, John Anderson Hartley, BA, BSc (1844–1896), resigned late in 1875 after only five years as head, to take a position as Inspector-General of State Schools.
He was an attractive and forceful speaker, and impressed on his students the value of thorough preparation before mounting the platform, and clear English and careful diction when delivering a speech.
[3] He maintained an interest in a variety of spheres until he was severely injured by falling down stairs at the Adelaide YMCA, which forced him to relinquish most of his activities.
He did not often travel outside Australia: only in 1901,[5] when he was a delegate to the Methodist Ecumenical Conference[6] and 1920,[7] when he took holidays in conjunction with a commission to represent the Council of Churches,[1] both in Britain.
He had intended another trip to visit his son Harold, an obstetric and gynaecological surgeon at Guy's Hospital, in February 1915, but World War I intervened.