(1836–1914). Rather than change his radical ideas, the British politician Joseph Chamberlain sacrificed an opportunity to become prime minister. During his 30 years of public life the fiery statesman was one of the best loved and most hated men in his country.
Joseph Chamberlain was born in London on July 8, 1836. His father was a prosperous shoe and boot manufacturer. Chamberlain spent a short time at University College School in London but was withdrawn when he was 16 to enter the family business. By the time he was 38 he had amassed enough money to retire. A zeal for social reform led him into politics.
In 1873 he became mayor of Birmingham. In 1876 he entered Parliament as a Liberal. In 1880 he became one of William Gladstone’s Cabinet members and president of the Board of Trade. He sponsored legislation that favored the working class. In 1886 he resigned from the Cabinet in disagreement with the government’s policy of Home Rule for Ireland. He then formed the Liberal Unionist party.
As colonial secretary from 1895 to 1903, Chamberlain was criticized for not averting the Boer War. He worked unsuccessfully for an alliance between Britain, Germany, and the United States. He believed so strongly in imperialism that in 1903 he proposed tariff reforms that gave preference to the colonies in opposition to the traditional British doctrine of free trade. When his policy was rejected, Chamberlain resigned. In doing so, he lost his chance to become prime minister. His action split the Liberal Unionist party. The party suffered a crushing defeat in 1906, though Chamberlain was reelected in Birmingham. Shortly afterward he was paralyzed by a stroke. He died in London on July 2, 1914.
Two of Chamberlain’s sons attained higher offices than their father. Sir Austen Chamberlain won a share of the Nobel peace prize for his disarmament efforts as foreign secretary from 1924 to 1929. Austen’s half brother, Neville, became Britain’s prime minister in 1937. (See also Chamberlain, Austen; Chamberlain, Neville.)