Frontispiece

“It is not often that I am able to extricate myself long enough from my daily concerns to reflect upon and think about my past. This evening, I am especially reminded about my life at St. Andrew’s College, where I went to school from the age of 14 to 18. It was clearly the most important period of my life, aside from the past five years in Almonte. And, in a way, I think of both periods with much the same heart. I received today a recording of songs and instrumentals from SAC in recognition of my financial contributions over the past few years. The boys singing in the Chapel made me particularly happy. I remember those warm summer evenings (or, Spring evenings, I guess I should say). The football field, the fraternity, the hard work, the early mornings, the good Masters. It was a very rich life. Very rich. The flood of memories is almost staggering. The school ties blowing in the wind, the colours, even the smelly locker rooms. The religious backdrop is also very dear to me. How I wish that I could remember every moment in a flash. Life was so full of excitement and discovery.
St. Andrew’s was of course very sheltered from the world. But, even by comparison, I feel that Almonte is the same. I have no desire to enter into a comparative analysis of the two. I love Almonte very much. The associations which I have here are equally important to me. And everything from the morning breakfast club to the late night work at the Office make me happy.

About the Author

Born in Montreal, P.Q. on December 11, 1948. Son of Group Captain and Mrs. C. G. William Chapman of Ottawa. Mr. Chapman is senior counsel in Almonte where he has practised law for over 23 years, after having completed Articles with Macdonald, Affleck on Sparks Street in Ottawa, and the Bar Admission Course at Osgoode Hall in Toronto. He lived in the Toronto area where he attended St. Andrew's College (Aurora), graduating as an Ontario Scholar and recipient of the Headmaster's Medal, Board of Governors Medal and Lt. Governor's Award in 1967. In addition to a brief course of study at Alliance Francaise in Paris, he attended Glendon Hall of York University where he obtained his Bachelor of Arts Degree in Philosophy. Thereafter, he pursued graduate studies in law at Dalhousie University(Halifax). During his preparatory years of study (and later in law school), he was active in public speaking and debate, including Trinity College School (Port Hope), Hart House (University of Toronto) and the McGill International Debating Tournament in which his team ranked third out of 120 participants. He also won the Sir Winston Churchill Medal for Oration. His love of Almonte has included over the years active participation in many local groups, such as St. Paul's Anglican Church (Warden), Almonte Board of Management (Chairman), Business & Professional Association (President), Elizabeth Kelly Library Foundation (a founding Trustee), Local Architectural Conservation Advisory Committee (Policy and Procedure), Mississippi River Power Corporation (Director), 78th Fraser Highlanders (Ensign, Fort Glengarry Garrison), 1st Lanark Highlanders (Major - Adjutant), Mississippi Lodge No. 147, A.F. & A.M. (Master, Secretary and Historian) and Mississippi Masonic Hall Inc. (President). He has completed and published a history of the local Masonic Lodge from its Charter in 1861 to 1994. Public speaking engagements have been undertaken for local community organizations, Algonquin College (elective and credit courses) and business management seminars. He is a social member of the Mississippi Golf Club, Appleton. In addition to the company of his good friends and good food, he enjoys piano (Toronto Royal Conservatory of Music), the fine arts and his faithful French bulldog, Monroe.

Introduction

Sepia
by L. G. William Chapman, B.A., LL.B.
An Anecdotal Look at my Life based upon my Diaries, Personal Journals and Fading Memories.

SEPIA
by L. G. William Chapman, B.A., LL.B.

An Anecdotal Look at my Life
based upon my Diaries, Personal Journals and Fading Memories.

Dedicated to my loving sister, Linda who gave me the first of many diaries on which these tales are based.

Perhaps I've always felt like the luckiest guy in the world, but I do believe I am.

Diary of L. G. William Chapman, January 1, 1990.

4 Laura Crescent ALMONTE, Ontario K0A 1A0
October 6, 1997

Fourth Form at St. Andrew's (1963 - 1964)

The first little book, or diary, that I kept is one that began on December 25, 1963, the first year of my banishment to boarding school at St. Andrew's College in Aurora, Ontario at the age of fourteen. The book was one of those types that you would expect some little romantically inclined young girl to have: it had a lock (now gone) and key (also gone). The book is bound, with green, padded plastic covers (which somehow adds to the intimacy of the tome). The first few inside pages are plain and heavier quality paper than the rest (which were lined for convenience and neatness of writing). The size of the diary is really quite preposterous; it's about three and one-half inches wide and about four inches high. Hardly enough space on any one page to record anything more than the date and the temperature. But of course it did. A lot more. And not all of what it recorded is between the covers. I cannot help but note that this undertaking of keeping track of things began within months of my separation from my family, who had gone to Stockholm, Sweden, where my father (Group Captain C. G. William Chapman, D.S.O.) had been sent to the Canadian embassy as military attache in both Stockholm and Helsinki, Finland. I had always thought to myself that the accident of boarding school was more than acceptable, and that I had no visible scars for having been torn from the family at a relatively young age. In fact, I still think that is so. But there appears to be some case to be made for the loss of social fabric (at least in the first little while at the school) which compelled me to supplement the missing background with a record of my own life, a bit of wall paper to an otherwise rather bland environment (as were our rooms in Fourth House, among the more modern of the four houses for the boarders). The little green plastic-covered diary had been given to me as a Christmas gift by my sister, Linda (who was also in Stockholm, attending a school primarily for displaced foreigners, especially American). Lindy (as I call her, and she calls me "Billy") was never good at being away from home. I have a vague memory of her first attempt (while we were living in Washington, D.C. in the early 1950's) at a summer camp, which ended rather abruptly after two days absence from the nest. I, on the other hand, apparently increased the stay from two weeks to a month. Here's the first entry in the diary:

Fifth Form at St. Andrew's (1964 - 1965)

The year must have started off with a lot of excitement, because my first entry was not until November 19, 1964:

It sure has been a long time since I wrote anything in this diary. Well, I had a great summer. We went to Paris, Piza, Sardinia, Franco Champs, all of Norway, Copenhagen (where we met the Moffits before they left for Canada), and all of Sweden, too.

Upper Sixth Form at St. Andrew's (1966 - 1967)

For some reason, I stopped writing my diary in Lower Sixth Form (1965 - 1966). What I remember of the Lower Sixth Form was that I began it by taking up residence with Fred Duggan as a House Captain in MacDonald House (the Lower School). Fred was not exactly an intellectual, so that perhaps curtailed my interest in keeping a diary somewhat. As well, I was developing an increased interest in my daily tasks with other people, apart from my historical concern about my own personal undertakings. Anyway, the next entry in the little green plastic covered diary is on November 8, 1966:

First Year at Glendon Hall (1967 - 1968)

What my diary does not disclose, but what is the fact, is that my attendance at Glendon Hall of York University was largely the result of the efforts of the then Principal, Dr. Escott Reid. Dr. Reid had attended at St. Andrew's sometime in our last year to address the graduating class on the value of applying to Glendon for admission. There is no doubt that he was cultivating a breeding ground for young public servants and foreign emissaries. We found out years later that he had visited many of the other private schools on a similar mission.