Chapman James Clare

Chapman James Clare
Chapman James Clare from the The Adelaide Chronicle, 5 July 1902
Born	(1853-06-23)23 June 1853 Bay of Biscay
Died	28 September 1940(1940-09-28) (aged 87) Glenelg, Adelaide, Australia
Nationality	British, Australian
Occupation	Sailor
Known for	Coastwatchers

Chapman James Clare, CMG (23 June 1853 – 28 September 1940) was a British sailor who worked on merchant vessels, then on Australian government ships, and after formation of the Royal Australian Navy as a senior naval officer. He served during the Boxer Rebellion (1899–1901) and World War I (1914–1918). It was on his suggestion that the Coastwatchers organisation was established in 1919. The coastwatchers played an important role during World War II.

Chapman James Clare was the son of James Coughron Clare, a merchant ship master. He was born on his father's ship Matilda Wattenbach on 23 June 1853 in the Bay of Biscay. His father became a lieutenant in the Royal Naval Reserve. Clare was educated in private schools in England at Cheshunt and Edmonton. When Clare was fifteen he joined Smith, Fleming & Co. of London as a merchant marine apprentice, and worked on sailing ships for the next five years.

In 1873 Clare became mate on a steamer of the Royal Mail Line of Belgium. From 1875 until 1880 he worked on steamers of Apcar & Company of Calcutta, engaged in the opium trade between Calcutta and Hong Kong. Clare resigned from Apcar & Company in 1880 and moved to South Australia. On 15 June 1880 he joined the Marine Board. In 1884 he was put in command of Governor Musgrave, a steamer engaged in maintenance of coastal lighthouses and navigation aids. On 5 April 1885 Clare married Ellen Minnie Cotgrave. They had three children, two boys and one girl.

Clare spent some time in the South Australian naval reserve, then on 1 December 1886 was appointed lieutenant-commander in the South Australian Naval Forces. Until 1900 he nominally remained master of Governor Musgrave but spent much of this time in the cruiser HMCS Protector training reserves and performing other duties. In May 1900 Clare was appointed commander, transferred to the Protector. In July 1900 Clare succeeded Captain William Rooke Creswell as naval commandant on the Protector. Creswell became Commandant of the Queensland Naval Forces. Later that year the Australian government offered to lend the Protector to assist British forces engaged in suppressing the Boxer Rebellion (1899–1901). For reasons of protocol, Clare agree to serve as second in command under Creswell, a former Royal Navy officer. The Australian government did not accede to the British demand that the ship be manned by a British crew.