Ronald Arthur Chamberlain (19 April 1901 – 12 May 1987) was a
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies.
* British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...
music lecturer, housing consultant and
Labour politician.
Education and early career
Chamberlain was educated at
Owen's School,
Islington
Islington ( ) is an inner-city area of north London, England, within the wider London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's #Islington High Street, High Street to Highbury Fields ...
, and
Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge
Gonville and Caius College, commonly known as Caius ( ), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1348 by Edmund Gonville, it is the fourth-oldest of the University of Cambridge's 31 colleges and ...
, where he gained a
lower second in Part I of the
Historical Tripos in 1922 and received both
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...
and
Bachelor of Music
A Bachelor of Music (BMus; sometimes conferred as Bachelor of Musical Arts) is an academic degree awarded by a college, university, or conservatory upon completion of a program of study in music. The degree may be awarded for performance, music ed ...
(MusB) degrees the following year. Having been awarded a
John Stewart of Rannoch Scholarship
John Stewart of Rannoch Scholarships are scholarship awards made at the University of Cambridge in Hebrew, Latin and Greek and Sacred Music.
The awards were established by the will of John Stewart of Rannoch, who died on 19 July 1884. Where candi ...
, he went on to become an Associate of the
Royal Academy of Music
The Royal Academy of Music (RAM) in London, England, is one of the oldest music schools in the UK, founded in 1822 by John Fane and Nicolas-Charles Bochsa. It received its royal charter in 1830 from King George IV with the support of the firs ...
(ARAM) in 1925.
["Trinity College of Music: Special Elocution Examiner"](_blank)
''The News'' (Hobart). 21 November 1925. p. 2. Accomplished on the organ, he was a Fellow of the
Royal College of Organists
The Royal College of Organists (RCO) is a charity and membership organisation based in the United Kingdom, with members worldwide. Its role is to promote and advance organ playing and choral music, and it offers music education, training and de ...
(FRCO) from 1920 and a resident organist at
St Clement Danes
St Clement Danes is an Anglican church in the City of Westminster, London. It is now situated near the 19th-century Royal Courts of Justice on the Strand in Aldwych. Although the first church on the site was reputedly founded in the 9th cent ...
,
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
.
Upon coming down from Cambridge, Chamberlain was appointed a lecturer at Chester Training College, and he was also an overseas examiner on behalf of
Trinity College of Music
Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance is a music, dance, and musical theatre conservatoire based in South East London. It was formed in 2005 as a merger of two older institutions – Trinity College of Music and Laban Dance Centre. Trini ...
in both music and elocution, working in countries such as
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
,
New Zealand
New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
and
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
.
Throughout the 1920s and early 1930s he gave frequent public recitals on piano and organ, including a performance at the
Anglican Pro-Cathedral in
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...
that was reportedly the first organ recital in the city for twelve years. In a review of a performance he gave at the
Aeolian Hall, ''
The Times
''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...
'' described Chamberlain as a "competent pianist" who "would be something more than that if he would develop a more personal style."
In the 1930s, Chamberlain underwent a change of career, emerging first as the secretary of the National Federation of Housing Societies and then, later, as the chief executive officer to the Miners' Welfare Commission.
Political career
In parliament
Chamberlain joined the
Labour Party soon after the
First World War
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 ...
.
[Chamberlain, Ronald, "Parting with the Labour Party". ''The Times''. 16 January 1971. p. 16.] At the
1945 general election, he was the party's candidate for the south London suburban constituency of
Norwood. The constituency had been held comfortably by the
Conservatives
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilizati ...
since its creation in 1885, but a landslide in favour of Labour saw Chamberlain elected
Member of Parliament, overturning a Conservative majority of 12,456 to win the seat by 2,023 votes.
He was appointed
parliamentary private secretary to the
Minister of Town and Country Planning,
Lewis Silkin
Lewis Silkin, 1st Baron Silkin CH (14 November 1889 – 11 May 1972), was a British Labour Party politician. Career
Lewis Silkin was born on 14 November 1889 to Abraham and Fanny Silkin, who were Litvak Jews from what was then the Lithuanian ...
. Chamberlain was regarded as a "maverick" member on the left wing fringe of the Parliamentary Labour Party. He was disciplined after voting against the signing of the
North Atlantic Treaty
The North Atlantic Treaty, also known as the Washington Treaty, forms the legal basis of, and is implemented by, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). The treaty was signed in Washington, D.C., on 4 April 1949.
Background
The treat ...
in 1949. He also controversially accepted an invitation to visit
Francoist Spain
Francoist Spain (), also known as the Francoist dictatorship (), or Nationalist Spain () was the period of Spanish history between 1936 and 1975, when Francisco Franco ruled Spain after the Spanish Civil War with the title . After his death i ...
, returning with favourable reports on the régime. He narrowly avoided de-selection prior to the
1950 general election. When the election was held he was unseated, with the Conservatives regaining the seat.
Later years
In April 1947 Chamberlain was elected to
Middlesex County Council
Middlesex County Council was the principal local government body in the administrative county of Middlesex from 1889 to 1965.
The county council was created by the Local Government Act 1888, which also removed the most populous part of the cou ...
to fill a casual vacancy in the representation of Hendon West. He held the seat until 1952, when he stepped down.
In 1951, he stood for election to the party's
National Executive Committee as a
Bevanite
Bevanism was a movement on the left wing of the Labour Party in the late 1950s led by Aneurin Bevan which also included Richard Crossman, Michael Foot and Barbara Castle. Bevanism was opposed by the Gaitskellites, moderate social democrats wit ...
candidate, without success – although, in a letter to ''The Times'' written earlier that year, he claimed he was not a Bevanite nor a sectarian supporter of the
Attlee administration, but representative of a "third way" approach that sought, above else, an independent British foreign policy that would "provide a bridge between the ideologies of the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
and the
U.S.S.R.
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until it dissolved in 1991. During its existence, it was the largest country by are ...
"
[Chamberlain, Ronald. "Labour Policy". ''The Times''. 14 June 1951, p. 7.]
In 1971 he resigned from the Labour Party over its support for trade unions, whose only purpose he claimed was the "continual forcing up of wage rates, regardless of their less fortunate brothers and sisters and equally regardless of the public interest."
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References
External links
*
1901 births
1987 deaths
UK MPs 1945–1950
Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies
People educated at Dame Alice Owen's School
Alumni of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge
Members of Middlesex County Council
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