Research topic: Joseph Chamberlain

Joseph Chamberlain 1836-1914, British statesman. After a successful business career, he entered local politics and won distinction as a reforming mayor of Birmingham (1873-76). Entering Parliament as a Liberal in 1876, Chamberlain advocated radical social reform and served under William Gladstone as president of the Board of Trade (1880-85). In 1886, however, he broke with Gladstone, leading the defection from the Liberal party of the Liberal Unionists (those Liberals who opposed Home Rule for Ireland). In 1887-88 he negotiated a treaty with the United States to settle the fisheries dispute... Read more