Editing Neville Chamberlain (section)

=== Childhood and businessman ===
[[File:Jchamberlain-achamberlain.jpg|thumb|left|upright|alt=Joseph Chamberlain and Austen Chamberlain, 1892|[[Joseph Chamberlain]] (seated) and [[Austen Chamberlain]], 1892]]
Chamberlain was born on 18 March 1869 in a house called Southbourne in the [[Edgbaston]] district of [[Birmingham]].{{sfn|Crozier|2004–09}} He was the only son of the second marriage of [[Joseph Chamberlain]], who later became [[List of Lord Mayors of Birmingham|Mayor of Birmingham]] and a Cabinet minister. His mother was Florence Kenrick, a cousin of [[William Kenrick (Birmingham MP)|William Kenrick MP]]; she died when he was a small boy. Joseph Chamberlain had had another son, [[Austen Chamberlain]], by his first marriage.{{sfn|Macklin|2006|p=11}} The Chamberlain family were Unitarian, though Joseph lost personal religious faith by the time Neville was six years old and never required religious adherence of his children.<ref name=lapsed>{{cite web
| last =Ruston
| first =Alan
| title =Neville Chamberlain
| publisher =Unitarian Universalist Historical Society
| url =http://www.uua.org/uuhs/duub/articles/nevillechamberlain.html
| access-date =28 January 2022
| archive-date =21 February 2007
| archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20070221213453/http://www.uua.org/uuhs/duub/articles/nevillechamberlain.html
| url-status =dead
}}</ref> Neville, who disliked attending worship services of any kind and showed no interest in organised religion, described himself as a Unitarian with no stated faith and also a "reverent agnostic".<ref name=lapsed />

Neville Chamberlain was educated at home by his elder sister [[Beatrice Chamberlain]] and later at [[Rugby School]].{{sfn|Smart|2010|pp=2–3}} Joseph Chamberlain then sent Neville to [[Mason College]],{{sfn|Smart|2010|pp=5–6}} now the [[University of Birmingham]]. Neville Chamberlain had little interest in his studies there, and in 1889 his father apprenticed him to a firm of accountants.{{sfn|Smart|2010|pp=6–8}} Within six months he became a salaried employee.{{sfn|Self|2006|p=21}} In an effort to recoup diminished family fortunes, Joseph Chamberlain sent his younger son to establish a [[sisal]] plantation on [[Andros, Bahamas|Andros Island in the Bahamas]].{{sfn|Self|2006|p=22}} Neville Chamberlain spent six years there but the plantation was a failure, and Joseph Chamberlain lost £50,000{{efn|name=plantation lose}}{{sfn|Dutton|2001|p=9}} (equivalent to £{{formatnum:{{Inflation|UK|50000|1895|r=-3}}}} in {{CURRENTISOYEAR}}).{{Inflation-fn|UK|df=y}}

On his return to England, Neville Chamberlain entered business, purchasing (with assistance from his family) Hoskins & Company, a manufacturer of metal ship berths.{{sfn|Smart|2010|p=33}} Chamberlain served as managing director of Hoskins for 17&nbsp;years during which time the company prospered.{{sfn|Smart|2010|pp=33–34}} He also involved himself in civic activities in Birmingham. In 1906, as Governor of [[Birmingham General Hospital]], and along with "no more than fifteen" other dignitaries, Chamberlain became a founding member of the national United Hospitals Committee of the [[British Medical Association]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/44042799/|title=The United Hospitals Conference of Great Britain and Ireland|work=The Times|date=7 December 1906|page=8|access-date=25 February 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140301111428/http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/44042799/|archive-date=1 March 2014|url-status=live}}</ref>{{sfn|Self|2006|p=31}}

At forty, Chamberlain was expecting to remain a bachelor, but in 1910 he fell in love with [[Anne Chamberlain|Anne Cole]], a recent connection by marriage, and married her the following year.{{sfn|Self|2006|pp=33–35}} They met through his Aunt Lilian, the Canadian-born widow of Joseph Chamberlain's brother Herbert, who in 1907 had married Anne Cole's uncle [[Alfred Clayton Cole]], a director of the [[Bank of England]].{{sfn|Dilks|1984|pp=115–116}}

She encouraged and supported his entry into local politics and was to be his constant companion, helper, and trusted colleague, fully sharing his interests in housing and other political and social activities after his election as an MP. The couple had a son and a daughter.{{sfn|Self|2006|pp=33–35}}