William Leslie Chapman was an Australian politician and a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly

New South Wales Legislative Assembly

The Legislative Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The other chamber is the Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament House in the state capital, Sydney...

 between 1956 and 1962. He was a member of the Liberal Party of Australia

Liberal Party of Australia

The Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Founded a year after the 1943 federal election to replace the United Australia Party, the centre-right Liberal Party typically competes with the centre-left Australian Labor Party for political office...

.

Early life

Chapman was born in Singleton, New South Wales

Singleton, New South Wales

-Industry & Commerce:Major industries near Singleton include coal mining, energy generation, light industry, vineyards, horse breeding and cattle production. Dairying was once a mainstay in the area, but has declined....

. He was the son of a policeman and was raised by his grandparents in the Penrith

Penrith, New South Wales

Penrith is a suburb in western Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Penrith is located west of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre for the local government area of the City of Penrith...

 area. He was educated to elementary level and initially worked as a porter for the New South Wales Government Railways

New South Wales Government Railways

The New South Wales Government Railways was the government department that operated the New South Wales Government's railways until the establishment of the Public Transport Commission in 1972. Although later known officially as the Department of Railways, New South Wales, it was still generally...

 but was retrenched during the Great Depression. He commenced a carrier business in 1934 with one truck and eventually built this into a 24-truck fleet. He was involved in community groups in the Penrith region including Rotary

Rotary International

Rotary International is an organization of service clubs known as Rotary Clubs located all over the world. The stated purpose of the organization is to bring together business and professional leaders to provide humanitarian service, encourage high ethical standards in all vocations, and help...

 and the Australian Red Cross

Australian Red Cross

The Australian Red Cross is one of the many national Red Cross societies around the world. The Australian organisation was established in 1914, nine days after the commencement of World War I, by Karen Tenenbaum, when she formed a branch of the British Red Cross.the organisation grew at a rapid rate...

. Chapman was elected as an alderman to Penrith City Council between 1948 and 1959 and between 1961 and 1971. He was the mayor between 1950 and 1956 and between 1961 and 1968.

State politics

Chapman was elected to the New South Wales Parliament as the Liberal Party member for Nepean

Electoral district of Nepean (New South Wales)

Nepean was an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of New South Wales, originally created in 1859, and named after the Nepean River. It was abolished in 1904 with the downsizing of the Assembly after Federation. Nepean was recreated in 1927 and abolished again in...

 at the 1956

New South Wales state election, 1956

The 1956 New South Wales state election was held on 3 March 1956. It was conducted in single member constituencies with compulsory preferential voting and was held on boundaries created at a 1952 redistribution...

. The sitting Liberal member Joseph Jackson

Joseph Jackson (Australian politician)

Joseph Jackson was an Australian politician and a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 1922 until 1956...

 had retired and Chapman defeated Jim Chalmers

Jim Chalmers

Jim Chalmers was an Australian politician. He was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 1947 until 1956 . He was a member of the Australian Labor Party until he resigned from the party in 1952 and then sat as an independent Labor member.Chalmers was born in Lanarkshire,...

, the Independent Labor member for Hartley

Electoral district of Hartley (New South Wales)

Hartley was an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of New South Wales, originally created in 1859 in the Lithgow area and named after the town of Hartley, near Lithgow. It replaced part of Cook and Westmoreland. From 1891 to 1894, it elected two members...

, who attempted to transfer to Nepean. Chapman retained the seat at 1959

New South Wales state election, 1959

The 1959 New South Wales state election was held on 21 March 1959. It was conducted in single member constituencies with compulsory preferential voting and was held on boundaries created at a 1957 redistribution...

 election. He was defeated by Labor's Alfred Bennett

Alfred Bennett (Australian politician)

Alfred Ernest Bennett was an Australian politician. He was an Australian Labor Party member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 1962 to 1965, representing the electorate of Nepean....

 in 1962

New South Wales state election, 1962

The 1962 New South Wales state election was held on 3 March 1962. It was conducted in single member constituencies with compulsory preferential voting and was held on boundaries created at a 1961 redistribution...

after an unfavourable redistribution made Nepean a notionally Labor seat. He failed to gain Liberal Party endorsement for the 1965 election and left the party in 1966. He did not hold a ministerial, party or parliamentary position.