He was ordained deacon in 1878 and priest in 1881. During his time at Lorrimore Square he was
Chaplain to the Forces in Egypt during the
Anglo-Egyptian War of 1882. He was an active supporter of
Father Damien's leper hospital in Hawaii. He established a "Hugh Boswell" Lodge of the
Independent Order of Odd Fellows at St Luke's; the Bishop of Rochester, the Rt Rev
Edward Talbot was initiated as a member in 1901. St Luke's had a notable reputation under Chapman:
Princess Mary, the Duchess of Teck (the mother of
Queen Mary) was a regular visitor, and he was responsible for decorations being installed by
John Ruskin's
Century Guild of Artists,
Herbert Horne,
Frederic Shields,
Selwyn Image, and
Edward Burne-Jones. (The church was bombed in 1941, and rebuilt.) Notable weddings included that of
Consuelo, Duchess of Marlborough and Lt Col
Jacques Balsan in 1921 and
Edith Stuyvesant Vanderbilt and Senator
Peter Goelet Gerry in 1925. A condition of such 'benedictory' services was that there be no publicity. Nevertheless, in 1926 Chapman refused to marry Lord Sholto Douglas and Mrs Mendelssohn Pickles, on the basis they were the guilty parties in their respective divorces. Chapman's successor as Chaplain, the Rev Cyril Cresswell, immediately brought an end to the marriage of divorced persons in the Chapel. ==London County Council==