[1] He received his education at the Melbourne Grammar School and in London, and was called to the bar of the Inner Temple in 1871.

[5] Chapman returned to New Zealand in 1875 and started to practise on his own account.

[1] Chapman took over the editorship of the New Zealand Law Reports after Fitzgerald's death.

He once gave as his reason for taking up Spanish because he planned to go on a trip to that country, and could not bear the thought of not being able to read the local newspapers.

[1] The funeral service was held at St Paul's Cathedral, after which he was cremated.