Rise of Neville Chamberlain a half years as Chancellor, directing Britain's financial policies as the nation emerged from the Depression. When Baldwin (who had replaced MacDonald as Prime Minister in 1935) retired in 1937, Chamberlain succeeded him. Chamberlain was born in a house called Southbourne, in the Edgbaston district of Birmingham, England, as the only son of the second marriage of Joseph Chamberlain, who later became Mayor of Birmingham, and who also served as a Cabinet minister. Joseph Chamberlain had fathered two children by his first marriage, Beatrice and Austen. Joseph's first wife, Harriet, died giving birth to Austen; Neville's mother, the former Florence
William Neville Harding William Neville Harding William Neville Harding (4 January 1893 – 31 March 1978) was a Taxation accountant, company director and New South Wales local government politician who was Lord Mayor of Sydney and an Alderman of the Sydney City Council from 1935 to 1948. William Neville Harding was born in Sydney, Colony of New South Wales, on 4 January 1893, the son of William and Agnes Harding. Harding was educated at the University of Sydney and became a public accountant specialising in taxation, and a company director. On 3 August 1918 he married Constance Agilvie and had two sons and