East Melbourne, Victoria Parade 514, 516, 518, 520, 522, 524, Royal Villas

Owners:
1876-1880: John Hanlon Knipe, auctioneer and estate agent. For more see Australian Dictionary of Biography, link below
1880-1884: George Godfrey, solicitor
1885: Strain
1886- Joseph Loch. Harriet Loch was the owner in 1909

Occupiers:
1880: (No.5) Robert Olphert Campbell and Lydia Dora Campbell (Ryan) and family. Robert and Lydia emigrated from Ireland in 1864 with their older children. Robert had been a lieutenant in HM 30th Regiment. His second youngest child, Garnet Butler Campbell, was born on the 19th July 1880 at Royal Villas. He was the 2nd youngest of 14 children, 5 deceased before his birth. His siblings were born "everywhere" Ireland, Albert Park, Richmond, Prahan, St. Kilda, Collingwood all around Melbourne. In 1901 Garnet Butler Campbell joined the 5th Mounted Rifles for service in the Boer War.

1888 (No.3) Edward and Talitha Chapman. Great great grand-daughter, Petrina Dakin tells their story: [They] lived in East Melbourne from 1875 to around 1895 and raised 15 children. Edward was a famous racing writer and later sports editor with ‘The Australasian’ newspaper, a sister publication of ‘The Argus’. Under his non de plume ‘Augur’, he was known throughout Australia and New Zealand and considered the outstanding sports writer of his time. He was lauded as an accurate tipster, extremely well-informed, fearless and forthright.

He travelled extensively through Australasia, to major race meetings and visiting studs. When he became seriously ill with tuberculosis in 1891, a complimentary race meeting was organised and raised more than £2000 for the benefit of his family. After 18 months of illness, he died at Swansea House, 50 Berry St, East Melbourne in June 1892.

Talitha bore 15 children over a period of 28 years. Both Edward Samuel Chapman and Talitha Jane Woolley were born in Hobart in 1842 and married in 1860, where they had three children. They settled in Melbourne in the mid-1860s, presumably to further Edward’s career as a newspaper compositor and develop his racing writing opportunities in the home of the Melbourne Cup.

The Chapman family lived at 28 Smith Street, Collingwood, not far from the Victoria Parade intersection, from 1867 to 1874. To house a growing family, the Chapmans moved across the nearby municipal boundary from Collingwood into East Melbourne.

They had several addresses in East Melbourne: Albert St (1875-1877); 2 Avon Terrace, 282 Victoria Parade (1878-1887); 3 Royal Villas, Victoria Parade (1888), ‘Swansea House’, 50 Berry Street, East Melbourne (1889-1894); and 163 Hoddle Street (1895-1896?).

E.S. Chapman started work in Hobart as an apprentice compositor, and in his spare time contributed articles to Bell’s Life in Tasmania under the non de plume of ‘Orange Blossom’. In Melbourne, he worked as a compositor at 'The Herald'(becoming No. 1 case with a reputation for speed and accuracy). He was a regular contributor to Bell’s Life in Victoria, which was set up in 1870 to cater for the burgeoning interest in cricket (the publication was later incorporated into The Australasian).

In 1873 he joined the staff of The Australasian as a permanent sporting writer, under sports editor Mr W.J. Hammersley. He became the sports editor in 1880, where he remained until his death in 1892. “Mr Chapman had an intimate and accurate knowledge of horse racing and was a vigorous and fearless writer, with that love of a fair contest and straight dealing which characterizes true sportsmen.”

He was a member of the Yorick Club, Tattersall’s Club, Victorian Turf Club and Victorian Amateur Turf Club. He wrote a column called “Under the Elms” when covering Flemington races and “Under the Figs” when at Randwick. He also wrote the whimsical “A Few Stray Notes”, which he continued to write up to two days before his death.

Comments from one of several extensive obituaries included: Tasmanian Mail, 11 June 1892, page 11 “… in addition to being the highest colonial authority on sporting matters, (he) was, perhaps, the most popular pressman throughout Australasia.” “Besides being an enthusiastic turf student, Mr. Chapman was of a musical state of mind, and in his day had few equals as an amateur banjoist. Pure racing and music were his delights, but to shady tricks on the turf and trashy ditties he had the greatest aversion. Rowing, too, was one of his pleasures, and cricket was to him a favourite outdoor pastime. To his powerful literary aid may be credited much of the progress sport has made in Australia.”

His son Etienne Samuel Chapman went to Scotch College in East Melbourne from 1888 to 1894 (his younger brother Percy Shakespeare went there for one year in 1892) and excelled at sport, representing the firsts in cricket and football. Known as Sam Chapman, he went on to play for South St. Kilda and Fitzroy (Victorian Football Association) before joining Carlton in the inaugural season of the Victorian Football League competition. He played 25 games for the Blues during 1897-1898. He also played district cricket with Richmond for two seasons in 1901-1902, playing 13 games. Later Etienne became a VFL goal umpire, officiating in 160 games from 1902 to 1913, including three grand finals.

Sadly many of the Chapman family, particularly the daughters in their 20s, died of TB within a couple of years of ES Chapman's death. The journalistic tradition was passed on: Augur's half-brother James had a 50-year career as compositor and journalist with The Mercury in Hobart, and I also began my career as a journalist in the 1980s and 1990s before moving into public relations.

1891: A W Steele, the well known aristocratic tout, according to his advertisement in the Australian Town and Country Journal. [See link below]
1901-1910: Richard Henry (known as Harry) Small, insurance agent, lived at 518 Victoria Parade with his wife, Mary, from c.1901 to c.1910, when he died.