Cirrus@Austlit

Ernest Chapman studied law in England, but came to Australia to experience life in the outback. After arriving in Australia, he worked as a drover, a station hand, a horse-breaker and a signwriter in South Australia, Queensland and the Northern Territory. He also spent time with Aboriginal people in Central Australia and learnt the Yantawanta dialect. He used his outback experiences as the basis for his novels and characters. During World War II he served with the A.I.F., and by 1942 he was a Lieutenant in the Army Education Service.

Writing as William Hatfield, he wrote in the fields of autobiography, children's literature, fiction, travel writing and Australiana. He formally changed his birth name to his writing name by deed poll in 1938.