Stanley K. Chapman

A stalwart in the shipping industry in Barbados

2009, July 21: The Barbados shipping community mourned the loss of one of its stalwarts. Stanley Chapman died on Easter evening, April 12th, 2009, at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, after a short illness and a lifetime of work which helped laid the foundation for development of a modern shipping industry in his homeland.

He was honoured by the Shipping Association of Barbados in 2005 as a "Stalwart" in the shipping industry in Barbados.

Stanley Chapman was born in August 1923 in Christ Church, Barbados, the third of four boys in the family of Norman and Louise Chapman. Educated at the Boys Foundation School, he secured junior and senior Oxford and Cambridge certificates (high school qualifications) and won a prize for mathematics. Rather than pursue higher studies, the rather bright youngster went straight to work, as many young men of that pre-war age often did.

Stanley Chapman 1923 - 2009

Stan, or ‘Speed’, as he was affectionately called, started his working life as a shipping clerk at Da Costas Ltd. In a career spanning four decades, characterized by hard work and dedication to duty, he earned successive promotion through the ranks to retire as Chairman of Da Costa & Musson, then the largest subsidiary of the Barbados Shipping & Trading Group. He also served the Group as a Director and Vice-Chairman. His appointment as a Director at Da Costas at the age of 33 made him the youngest director in the group at the time.

SHIPPING WAS HIS PASSION

Stan married Eleanor Skinner in April 1951. The marriage produced two daughters and a son. Stan was a devoted family man but shipping was his passion. His wife and children can all testify to the countless nights he (and sometimes they accompanied him) spent going out on lighters to service ships. This, of course, was before the deep water harbour of the Bridgetown port  was constructed. Stan was always solving “after hours problems”; entertaining ships captains; and, when the Bridgetown deep water harbour was being built, made sure that every evening he went to see what progress had been made.

Stan was one of a team of three tasked with the responsibility of doing the feasibility study on the harbour and selecting the right model for Barbados. In this regard, just three days after his son was born, he was required to travel all over the United Kingdom and Europe for six weeks in 1958, investigating and observing the best solutions and practices. He then helped to oversee the construction of the new port.

The opening of the new Barbados port was one of Stanley Chapman’s proudest moments. He subsequently served as Chairman of Port Contractors Ltd for a number of years.

Stan was also a stalwart in the development of the shipping association. Indeed, an inscription presented to him by the Barbados association, on the occasion of its 25th anniversary, reads “To SKC, whose vision it was to form the association as a representative body, to better serve the maritime industry in Barbados” This is just one of many awards Stan received from the shipping industry.

An affable and well loved individual, some called him a “people person”, Stan was a founding member of the Challenor School for Mentally Retarded Children. He was also a Founding Member of the Rotary Club in Barbados.

Stanley Chapman was Japan’s Honorary Consul in Barbados for 15 years and was decorated by the Emperor of Japan for his service. He received the Queen of England’s Silver Jubilee medal for social work and his native Barbados subsequently honored him with a Gold Crown of Merit for his contribution to business and for his social work in that country.

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