Neville Chamberlain March 1869 in a house called Southbourne in the Edgbaston district of Birmingham. He was the only son of the second marriage of Joseph Chamberlain, who later became Mayor of Birmingham and a Cabinet minister. His mother was Florence Kenrick, cousin to William Kenrick MP; she died when he was a small boy. Joseph Chamberlain had had another son, Austen Chamberlain, by his first marriage. Neville Chamberlain was educated at Rugby School. Joseph Chamberlain then sent Neville to Mason College (taking external exams of University of London). Neville Chamberlain had little interest in his studies there, and in 1889 his
Rise of Neville Chamberlain of the business. In November 1897, he purchased (with assistance from his family) Hoskins & Company, a manufacturer of metal ship berths. Chamberlain served as managing director of Hoskins for 17 years, during which time the company prospered. Chamberlain introduced a profit-sharing scheme at Hoskins which he credited with ensuring industrial peace, and opened a medical clinic for the workers. His business acumen raised him in the eyes of his father, who told a friend that of his two sons, "Neville is really the clever one" and but for his lack of interest in politics, "I would back him to