Beatrice Chamberlain (25 May 1862 – 19 November 1918) was a British educationalist and political organizer.
Life
Chamberlain was born in
Edgbaston
Edgbaston () is a suburb of Birmingham, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It lies immediately south-west of Birmingham city centre, and was historically in Warwickshire. The Ward (electoral subdivision), wards of Edgbaston and Nort ...
in 1862. Her father was
Joseph Chamberlain
Joseph Chamberlain (8 July 1836 – 2 July 1914) was a British statesman who was first a radical Liberal Party (UK), Liberal, then a Liberal Unionist after opposing home rule for Ireland, and eventually was a leading New Imperialism, imperial ...
, a local industrialist who later became
Mayor of Birmingham and a Cabinet minister and was, for roughly thirty years until he suffered a stroke in 1906, one of the most consequential figures in British politics. Her mother was Harriet Kenrick,
the sister of
William Kenrick MP. Beatrice was her parents' eldest child; the birth of her younger brother
Austen Chamberlain
Sir Joseph Austen Chamberlain (16 October 1863 – 16 March 1937) was a British statesman, son of Joseph Chamberlain and older half-brother of Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain. He served as a Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of ...
took the life of her mother.
Beatrice was devoted to her aunt, Caroline Kenrick.
Her early education was at
Edgbaston High School for Girls
Edgbaston High School for Girls is a private day school for girls aged 2 to 18 in the Edgbaston area of Birmingham, England.
History
In 1846, Elizabeth Brady founded a school in Edgbaston for the daughters of Quakers in 1846 and this ran for 21 ...
. As a girl Beatrice dominated her shyer brother Austen.
Her father married again and had four children, but the birth of the fifth child took the life of his second wife, Florence, and the newborn in 1875.
Beatrice took over as carer
and governess to her half siblings:
Neville,
Ida,
Hilda
Hilda is one of several feminine given names derived from the name ''Hild'', formed from Old Norse , meaning 'battle'. Hild, a Nordic-German Bellona, was a Valkyrie who conveyed fallen warriors to Valhalla. Warfare was often called Hild's Game. ...
, and Ethel.
Beatrice continued her education in
Fontainebleau
Fontainebleau ( , , ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Functional area (France), metropolitan area of Paris, France. It is located south-southeast of the Kilometre zero#France, centre of Paris. Fontainebleau is a Subprefectures in Franc ...
at Les Ruches, a private school for girls. By 1888 she was back in Edgbaston, where she was able to give up the role of châtelaine to her father when he married for the third time. Beatrice was free to gather funds for the
Children's Country Holidays Fund while she helped manage primary schools in
Hammersmith
Hammersmith is a district of West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, and identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London.
It ...
and
Fulham
Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies in a loop on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea, London, Chelsea ...
.
Her new stepmother, Mary, who was the daughter of
William Crowninshield Endicott
William Crowninshield Endicott (November 19, 1826 – May 6, 1900) was an American politician and Secretary of War in the first administration of President Grover Cleveland (1885–1889).
Early life
Endicott was born in Salem, Massachusetts ...
,
Grover Cleveland
Stephen Grover Cleveland (March 18, 1837June 24, 1908) was the 22nd and 24th president of the United States, serving from 1885 to 1889 and from 1893 to 1897. He was the first U.S. president to serve nonconsecutive terms and the first Hist ...
's
Secretary of War
The secretary of war was a member of the U.S. president's Cabinet, beginning with George Washington's administration. A similar position, called either "Secretary at War" or "Secretary of War", had been appointed to serve the Congress of the ...
, introduced her to leading American politicians, including
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt Jr. (October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), also known as Teddy or T.R., was the 26th president of the United States, serving from 1901 to 1909. Roosevelt previously was involved in New York (state), New York politics, incl ...
and
William Howard Taft
William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857March 8, 1930) served as the 27th president of the United States from 1909 to 1913 and the tenth chief justice of the United States from 1921 to 1930. He is the only person to have held both offices. ...
. Her brother Austen turned to Beatrice for support when he was the
Chancellor of the Exchequer
The chancellor of the exchequer, often abbreviated to chancellor, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom, and the head of HM Treasury, His Majesty's Treasury. As one of the four Great Offices of State, t ...
; she in turn served as an advocate for Austen with the wives of those who were opposing him.
Being fluent in French, she helped organise the
French Wounded Emergency Fund
French may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France
** French people, a nation and ethnic group
** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices
Arts and media
* The French (band), a ...
at the start of
World War I
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, coming shortly after her father died. Her fundraising for hospitals in France was so successful that she was asked to extend her efforts across the country.
She was also involved with preparations for peace, acting as an advisor to the
Ministry for Reconstruction
Ministry may refer to:
Government
* Ministry (collective executive), the complete body of government ministers under the leadership of a prime minister
* Ministry (government department), a department of a government
Religion
* Christian mi ...
. Although she and all of her family had opposed giving the vote to women, and Chamberlain herself had been involved in creating women's anti-suffrage groups within the Unionist Party, she now accepted it as inevitable.
Chamberlain died in
Kensington
Kensington is an area of London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, around west of Central London.
The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up by Kensingt ...
in 1918 in the flu pandemic.
Her obituary noted that she had the "mind of a Great Man". Her siblings, including her half-sister Ethel, who died in 1905, had all admired her.
Her brother, Austen, went on to win a
Nobel Peace Prize
The Nobel Peace Prize (Swedish language, Swedish and ) is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the Will and testament, will of Sweden, Swedish industrialist, inventor, and armaments manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Nobe ...
, her half-brother Neville would be the Prime Minister
who declared war on Germany, and her half-sisters all had long, notable lives.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chamberlain, Beatrice
1862 births
1918 deaths
British women educators
Beatrice
Beatrice may refer to:
* Beatrice (given name)
Places In the United States
* Beatrice, Alabama, a town
* Beatrice, Humboldt County, California, a locality
* Beatrice, Georgia, an unincorporated community
* Beatrice, Indiana, an unincorporated ...
Deaths from the Spanish flu pandemic in England
People from Edgbaston
British anti-suffragists