Frederic ChapplePrint Page

The brass plaque commemorates Frederic Chapple who was the Headmaster of Prince Alfred College from 1876 to 1914.

The Principal of Prince Alfred College, John Anderson Hartley, B.A., BSc (1844–1896), resigned late in 1875 after only five years as head, to take a position as Inspector-General of State Schools. Rev. Drs. Alfred Rigg (1832–1891) and James Egan Moulton (c. 1841–1909) were commissioned by the Prince Alfred College Committee to find his replacement, and after some hesitation Chapple accepted their invitation, and arrived with his family in Adelaide on 8 April 1876. He joined the Kent Town Church the next day, and occupied the same pew for the next 32 years.

He reduced the high importance the school had previously placed on Classical languages – Latin and Greek – and greatly increased the stress on English, Mathematics and Sciences, but maintained the close linkage of the school with the Methodist Church. 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. Chapple placed equal importance on a healthy body – he brought to the school a new emphasis on physical fitness, and ensured the school's gymnastic and sporting equipment was kept up-to-date, and encouraged a sense of pride in the school's sporting achievements, notably in competition with St Peter`s College ("Reds" v. "Blues").

He was a strict disciplinarian but cheerful with it, and an inspiration to his students, who universally remembered their old head, nicknamed "Jingles" or "Conk", fondly. He was a keen cricketer and in the early days played for the school team. He was highly effective in raising the public profile and status of the school, and consequently its ability to raise building funds from parents as fees, and from past students as bequests. He retired in November 1914. 

Tablet Unveiling 1924

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