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Chamberlain family

mikejee said:
Paul
You may be right about Neville's feelings, but i don't think he served in WW1. He was Birmingham lord Mayor for at least part of the war, and , at 45 when the war started, would probably have been a bit old to take part .
mike
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Neville Chamberlain was Lord Mayor in 1916 but did not complete his year of office. The story goes that he was sitting on a train at Euston returning to Birmingham when the railway police boarded the train and told him that the prime minister, David Lloyd George, wished to see him urgently in Downing Street. He was then offered the post of a minister in the war cabinet and this started his national political career.

A favourite quiz question I ask, and no one has ever got it right. Name the only man to have held those two great offices of state, Lord Mayor of Birmingham and Prime Minister?
 
Sad news about a vandalism attack at Highbury Hall

Parents egged on gang of vandals to smash up Birmingham's Highbury Park

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A GANG of young boys seemingly amazingly egged on by their parents smashed a Victorian viewing platform used by Joseph Chamberlain causing at least £50,000 damage.
The attack in broad daylight at Birmingham’s Highbury Park was witnessed by onlookers who were shocked when adults encouraged the vandals.
City council culture cabinet member Martin Mullaney said he was “sickened” by the wanton destruction, which is part of a pattern of vandalism in city parks.

He has vowed to restore the 120-year-old structure, which was built in the shadow of Highbury Hall, the Chamberlain family’s ancestral mansion.
The stone-built platform was completely destroyed at about four o’clock in the afternoon when a small number of boys tore the ornate stonework apart and pushed the blocks over the edge of a rocky outcrop, where they smashed into pieces.
Coun Mullaney (Lib Dem Moseley & Kings Heath) said: “The historic feature which was completely demolished was created in 1890.
“It was from this platform that Joseph Chamberlain was able to view his ornate gardens of Highbury Hall, looking down to the main pond that still exists today.
“A member of the Friends of Highbury Park witnessed this vandalism and described the group as all male, containing a small number of 40 to 50-year-old men, who were encouraging teenage boys to smash up the stonework.
“When the member of the Friends approached the group, he was sworn at and threatened.
“The timing of this vandalism has been terrible, since I was busy finding money to fully restore this viewing platform this autumn and this has significantly increased that cost. Some of the stone blocks are re-usable, but there are lot that will require complete replacing.”
Although the platform was not in a good state of repair before the attack, it will now require major and expensive restoration work, Coun Mullaney said.
The attack is a blow to plans to restore the Highbury gardens in time for the 100th anniversary of Joseph Chamberlain’s death in 2014.
Coun Mullaney is working on a £5 million bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund to pay for the work, which would re-create formal Victorian gardens at Highbury.
He said a spate of recent attacks in parks included extensive damage to a toilet block at Cannon Hill Park, caused by an unknown assailant armed with a sledgehammer, and the destruction of a wall dating from the 1780s at Highbury Park, again with a sledgehammer.
Coun Mullaney added: “It seems there are people who like to smash things up, and unfortunately they don’t get caught.”
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These youths have no respect for history, and it took place in broad daylight according to the article.

They need to be caught. Is there no CCTV of them in or near the park or hall?
 
Actually I think they need to be transported back further to the Birmingham that it was before Joseph Chamberlain made it the best governed city in the world a it was then described
 
There's different images of the smashed Victorian platform on the Birmingham Post site


Vandalism of the Victorian viewing platform at Highbury Hall
 
DavidGrain said:
Actually I think they need to be transported back further to the Birmingham that it was before Joseph Chamberlain made it the best governed city in the world a it was then described
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Very well said David. I just despair at some of our youth today. I know it's a minority but it seems to be getting worse!

Lovely pictures Topsey and very poignant!
 
You will find these families mentioned on their own threads on the forum. The Kenricks married into the Chamberlain family they along with the Martineau's are all buried in Key Hill cemetery.
 
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July 7th. 1906, the eve of Mr. Joseph Chamberlains seventieth birthday and here he is with Mrs. Chamberlain arriving at the Council House for the Lord Mayors reception and luncheon to honour the occasion.
 
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Another day but the birthday celebrations continue in the form of a procession of motor cars in Small Heath, Victoria and Ward End Parks.
 
Hope this will come about and that the awful neglect of this handsome building won't have gone too far and the cost to renovate the place won't prove to be too expensive.
 
Birmingham's most famous family & son's, problem is perhaps there isn't many born, and bred Brummie's, in the council any more???????????????.
paul
 
this is good news indeed we have lost too many historical buildings as it is...would like a look round when work is completed...

lyn
 
They have open days a couple of times a year and wedding fayres etc. It is magnificent inside; my daughter's wedding reception was there in 2004. At that time there was a monthly 'fine dining' evening as well - not sure if those still happen.
Somewhere I have photos that I took inside on an open day; I'll try to find them.
 
leslam said:
They have open days a couple of times a year and wedding fayres etc. It is magnificent inside; my daughter's wedding reception was there in 2004. At that time there was a monthly 'fine dining' evening as well - not sure if those still happen.
Somewhere I have photos that I took inside on an open day; I'll try to find them.
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what a splendid place to hold a reception les....look forward to the photos when you find them..

lyn
 
yes this is a very fine house, with good viues from the back garden both down stairs and up. the landing around the main dining room and the staires are out of this world. one could say that brum dose and still has all the 1001 and more trades to do this house justice. in brum the trades are still here and we should be very very proube of what we can do, world class. remember , we knock ourselves to much but only in fun. the skill base in brum is one of the best in the world still. i f you want somethid done you will find in brum some one to do it proplery. kind reguardsv sidwho
 
Joseph Chamberlain's 70th birthday postcard. Re: Chamberlain family

I could not find this postcard on the Forum. It relates to the 70th birthday of Joseph Chamberlain on 8th July 1906. The day was commemorated by a procession through the city watched by thousands. There was also a programme of official lunches, public addresses and parades. Entertainment and firework displays were held in many parks. Stitcher's posts (#74 and 75) show visits by the Chamberlains to a park. The Chamberlain motto at the top of the postcard "I hold fast", essentially means "I will not give up". Joseph Chamberlain suffered a stroke not long after his 70th birthday and died in 1914.

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Chamberlain House on Yew Tree Road near Queensbridge Road, Moseley is now the Uffculme School (Secondary Site).

Metal fences all around so a bit difficult to get photos.





New modern entrance



 
Some photos from my Birmingham Heritage Week visit last Sunday on the Open Day.





Portrait of Neville Chamberlain



Portrait of Joseph Chamberlain



Some of the bedrooms





Room on the ground floor.

 
The old red brick wall in Highbury Park looks fully restored.







You can see here that the bricks near the gate entrance have been rebuilt since damage from 9 years ago.



The same wall during the snow of December 2009



 
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