Rise of Neville Chamberlain his eighteenth birthday. In later years, as Chamberlain rose to the heights of British politics, he seldom visited the school, did not enrol his own son, and rarely spoke of his time there. Joseph Chamberlain then sent Neville to Mason College (which later developed into the University of Birmingham), which both emphasised the politician's connection to Birmingham and catered to the interest in science which Neville had shown at Rugby. Neville Chamberlain studied metallurgy and engineering for two years, but had little interest in the subjects. In 1889 his father apprenticed him to a firm of accountants. Within six months,
Neville Bowles Chamberlain Madras Legislative Council and, for several months, acting military member of the council of the Governor-General of India. He left India in February 1881 and retired to Lordswood near Southampton in February 1886. In retirement Chamberlain was an active member of the Southampton Unitarian Church. He was promoted to field marshal on 25 April 1900, died at Lordswood on the 18 February 1902 and was buried at Rownhams near Southampton. In 1873 Chamberlain married Charlotte Cuyler Reid, daughter of Major-General Sir William Reid, who died in 1896; there were no children. Neville Bowles Chamberlain Field Marshal Sir Neville Bowles Chamberlain