Rise of Neville Chamberlain particularly successful. After a period in a firm of chartered accountants, the younger Chamberlain spent six years in the Bahamas managing a sisal plantation in a failed attempt to recoup the family fortunes. After returning to England in 1897, Chamberlain became a successful businessman in his home city of Birmingham. He was interested in social affairs, and successfully stood for Birmingham City Council in 1911. He became Lord Mayor of Birmingham in 1915. His second term was interrupted in December 1916 when Prime Minister David Lloyd George asked him to become Director of National Service. Chamberlain received little support from
Geoffrey de Neville Geoffrey de Neville Geoffrey de Neville (c.1225) was a 12th-13th century English nobleman who served as King's Chamberlain and Seneschal of Gascony and Périgord. Neville was a younger son of Alan de Neville and a daughter of the lord of Pont Audemer. Neville is first mentioned when King John of England gave him lands in 1204. In 1207, Geoffrey served briefly as a steward of the Household, before he was appointed the King's Chamberlain. He served in 1207 for a short time as Sheriff of Wiltshire and in 1210 he was sent with reinforcements to the Angevin County of Poitou.