Chamberlain, Joseph 1836-1914
English politician

Born in London, he was educated at University College School, entered Nettlefold's Birmingham screw factory, and retired in 1874 with a fortune. A Radical politician, in 1868 he became a Birmingham town councillor, and mayor (1873-75). Returned unopposed for Birmingham in 1876, in 1880 he was appointed President of the Board of Trade, with a seat in the Cabinet. He was responsible for the passing of the Bankruptcy Bill. Regarded as the leader of the extreme Radical Party, he produced an 'unauthorized' programme during the general election of 1886, which included the readjustment of taxation, free schools, and the creation of allotments by compulsory purchase. In 1886 he became president of the local government board, but resigned a month later because of his strong objections to Gladstone's Home Rule Bill, of which he became the most strenuous opponent. From 1889 he was leader of the Liberal Unionists, and in the coalition government of 1895 took office as Secretary for the Colonies. In 1903 he resigned office to be free to advocate his scheme of tariff reform, giving preferential treatment to colonial imports and protection for native manufactures. Subsequently, in 1919 and especially 1932, the scheme was carried out by his sons Neville and Austen Chamberlain. In 1906 he withdrew from public life after a stroke.

Bibliography: James L Garvin and Julian Amery, The Life of Joseph Chamberlain (6 vols, 1932-69)