Chamberlain, << CHAYM buhr lihn >> Joseph (1836-1914), was a leading statesman in the United Kingdom. He played an important role in the Liberal Party during the late 1800’s and the first years of the 1900’s. Chamberlain’s sons, Austen and Neville, were also prominent politicians.
Joseph Chamberlain was born in London on July 8, 1836, and was educated at University College School, London. At the age of 16, he began working in his father’s shoemaking business. Two years later, he joined a screw manufacturing business that was owned by a cousin. When Chamberlain retired from the business in 1874, he had amassed a fortune.
Chamberlain then turned his attention to politics. He served as mayor of Birmingham from 1873 to 1875. In this role, he improved housing for the poor, cleared slums, and established libraries.
In 1876, Chamberlain was elected to Parliament as a member of the Liberal Party. In 1880, he joined the Cabinet of Prime Minister William Gladstone as president of the Board of Trade. Chamberlain negotiated the Kilmainham Treaty with the Irish leader Charles Stewart Parnell in 1882. This treaty promised more rights for Irish tenants and ended a campaign against landlords who lived outside Ireland and collected high rents. The following year, Chamberlain helped reform the laws of bankruptcy.
In 1886, Chamberlain opposed Gladstone’s Irish Home Rule Bill and resigned from the Cabinet. The bill, which would have allowed Ireland partial self-government, was defeated in the House of Commons later that year. Chamberlain and other Liberals who supported the Conservatives in opposing Irish home rule became known as Liberal Unionists. After 1886, he became leader of the Liberal Unionists, who eventually allied with the Conservatives.
Chamberlain served as colonial secretary from 1895 to 1903 in the government of the Marquess of Salisbury. In this role, Chamberlain was suspected of approving the Jameson Raid in South Africa, which became one of the causes of the Anglo-Boer War of 1899-1902. In 1902, Chamberlain helped reconcile British settlers and Boers in South Africa after the two sides signed a peace settlement, the Treaty of Vereeniging.
Later in 1902, Chamberlain began advocating a tariff reform plan. He proposed using tariffs to encourage trade between the United Kingdom and its colonies, while discouraging trade with other countries. Chamberlain hoped to create a common market among the members of the British Empire. However, the United Kingdom had practiced free trade since the mid-1800’s, and his tariff reform proposal proved unpopular.
In 1903, Chamberlain resigned from the government to work on building support for his tariff proposal. The issue split the Conservative Party, and the Liberal Party won a decisive victory in the 1906 elections. Chamberlain suffered a stroke that same year and retired from politics. He died on July 2, 1914.
