Sir Robert Chaplin, 1st Baronet (c. 1670 – 1 July 1726) of Louth, Lincolnshire was a British lawyer, businessman and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1715 until 1721, when he was expelled for being a director of the South Sea Company.
His friend Sir James Bateman persuaded him in 1718 to become a Director of the South Sea Company.
The Company used dubious practices to inflate the value of its stock, and when the Bubble burst in 1720 thousands of investors lost their investments.
The Government intervened and sequestered part of the estates of the main participants in the company for paying compensation.
Chaplin was examined by an investigation committee, and argued that he had not been party to any fraud and had not taken any stock.