| Bess Chapman | |
| Fictional Character | |
| 1632 series POD: May, 1631 | |
| Appearance(s): | Grantville Gazette III |
| Nationality: | England |
A tavern-keeper's daughter in the town of Cambridge, featured in the short story "Hobson's Choice." She was given the opportunity for an education through tutoring by a new student at Cambridge, which she embraced wholeheartedly. Their relationship was the subject of a short-lived scandal, on the assumption that their interaction was salacious rather than pedagogical, until Chapman demonstrated the result of the lessons she had received. Subsequently, she was accepted as a fellow intellectual, and ultimately accompanied an older woman (as well as some scholars) from Cambridge to the Rudolstadt Colloquy, tasked with obtaining information and materials for the elite of the town, relating to the Grantville and future history, for practical application rather than the scholarly focus upon theological implications.