Born in London, Joseph Chamberlain made his career in Birmingham firstly in the manufacture of screws and then as the Mayor of Birmingham.

Joseph Chamberlain was actually born in London on July 8th, 1836 and was a British politician and statesman. At the time, most politicians were from well to do families and had attended either Oxford or Cambridge. Joseph Chamberlain on the other hand was a self made businessman.

In his early career he was a radical member of the Liberal Party and campaigned for the reform of the education system. Relatively late in a life for a politician, he entered the House of Commons when he was nearly forty and rose to power through his influence of grassroots organization of the Liberal Party. He was President of the Board of Trade during Gladstone’s second term in government. During Gladstone’s third term in parliament Chamberlain resigned in opposition to the Irish Home Rule and when the Liberal Party split, Chamberlain became a a member of the Liberal Unionist Party that included a number of MP’s from and around Birmingham.

Following the general election of 1895, the Liberal Unionists worked in coalition with the Conservatives under Lord Salisbury, his former opponent.

Declining many positions, Chamberlain finally became the Secretary of State for the Colonies. In this role he oversaw the Boer war and was the figure that dominated in the Unionists Government’s re-election in 1900 at what was known as the ‘Khaki Election’.

Resigning from the cabinet in 1903 to campaign for tariff reform, he obtained much support from his fellow Unionists but the party split and this contributed to their defeat at the general election in 1906.

Some months after the defeat Chamberlain had a stroke that disabled him and despite never having become Prime Minister, he was regarded as one of the most important politicians of the time and was a renowned orator.

By different marriages, Chamberlain was the father of Sir Austen Chamberlain and the Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain.

Whilst Chamberlain was born in London, he found great success in Birmingham and at the age of 18, he joined a firm that his father had invested in. That firm was Guest, Keen and Nettlefolds of Birmingham, one of the largest screw manufacturers in the country and at the time, they were responsible for producing over two-thirds of the screws made in the country. When Chamberlain became a partner with Joseph Nettlefold, the firm became known as Nettlefold and Chamberlain. When he retired from the business in 1874, the firm was exporting screws to Australia, Europe, India, Japan, the USA and Canada.

Chamberlain first married a member of a Unitarian from Birmingham (family came from Wrexham in Wales), in 1861, Harriet Kenrick, who had a premonition that she would die in childbirth. Following the birth of their son, Joseph Austen, she became ill and died three days later.

In 1868 Chamberlain married Harriet’s cousin, Florence Kenrick, with who he had four children. Florence died within a day of giving birth to their fifth child as did the baby.

Chamberlain married Mary Endicott in Washington DC. Mary was the daughter of William Endicott, the US Secretary for War.

Chamberlain died on July 2nd 1914 and the famous clock tower at Birmingham University was named the “Joseph Chamberlain Memorial Clock Tower” in his honour.

Naz Daud
Birmingham
Birmingham Guide
Birmingham News

Naz Daud
http://www.citylocal.co.uk/cities/Birmingham/ http://www.citylocal.co.uk/cities/Birmingham/business/directory-guide-search/
http://www.citylocal.co.uk/Birmingham/cinema-listings-guide-in-Birmingham/

Author Bio: Naz Daud
Birmingham
Birmingham Guide
Birmingham News

Category: Travel
Keywords: Birmingham, Mayor, Joseph, Chamberlain