Wilfred Broadhurst Chapman (1893-1964; Vicar 1948-1957)

Wilfred Broadhurst Chapman (1893-1964) was Vicar of Badsey, Aldington and Wickhamford from 1948 until 1957. He was born in Birmingham, the youngest son of Walter and Kate Chapman. Walter was the manager of a metallic bedstead works and the family lived in Edgbaston. Wilfred began his working career as an accounts clerk but then became a theological student at St David’s College, Lampeter. He was a student there during the First World War and, in January 1916, he joined a unit of the Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) in North Wales. The unit consisted mainly of ordained ministers and theological students of all denominations. After training, the unit was dispersed across the various battlefields to work in Field Ambulances, Casualty Clearing Stations, and Hospital Ships. After the war, he returned to his studies and went on to become an ordained minister, serving parishes in various parts of Yorkshire.

In 1926, Wilfred Chapman married Alice Maude Wellox in Huddersfield. They had two children: John Michael (1929), known as Michael or Mick, and Angela Mary (1936), both born in Yorkshire. From 1936-1947, Wilfred was Vicar of Featherstone, situated between Wakefield and Pontefract. The Chapmans moved to Badsey in January 1948. Because of ill-health, Reverend Chapman moved to the much smaller parish of Hinton-on-the-Green in November 1957 where he remained until 1962. The Chapmans retired to Huddersfield where Wilfred died in November 1964.