Letters Additional of Austen Chamberlain

Artificial collection of letters and other papers of and relating to Sir (Joseph) Austen Chamberlain, (1863-1937), statesman.

Joseph) Austen Chamberlain (1863-1937) was born in Birmingham and was the elder son of Joseph Chamberlain (1836-1914; industrialist, Mayor of Birmingham, Member of Parliament and several times Minister of the Crown). He was also half-brother to Neville Chamberlain (1869-1940; industrialist, Alderman and Lord Mayor of Birmingham, and subsequently MP, Minister of Health, Chancellor of the Exchequer and, finally, Prime Minister). Austen Chamberlain's Parliamentary career spanned 45 years in all, from 1892 to 1937, and he was deeply involved in party, national and international politics as the supporter of his father, as a leader in the Conservative/Unionist party and as elder statesman. The offices he held include: Junior Whip, 1893; Civil Lord of the Admiralty, 1895-1900; Financial Secretary to the Treasury, 1900-1902; Postmaster General, 1902-1903; Chancellor of the Exchequer, 1903-1905 and 1919-1921; Secretary of State for India 1915-1917; Leader of the House and Lord Privy Seal, 1921-1922; Foreign Secretary, 1924-1929, and First Lord of the Admiralty, 1931. Chamberlain was made a knight in 1925 and won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1926.

Reference: University of Birmingham, Special Collections Department, Online Archive Catalogue ( http://calmview.bham.ac.uk/ ). Accessed May 2002.

This collection is catalogued at item or file level and the individual documents are numbered in a single numerical sequence which reflects the order in which they were acquired. The items in this collection are mounted in fascicules and stored in custom made boxes.

Open. Access to all registered researchers.

Please see full catalogue for further details.

Copies The majority of this collection is available on microfilm (ACLAdd/1-228). Facilities are available in this Library for researchers to make paper copies of individual items from these microfilms for their own private research purposes. The microfilm copy has been micropublished by Primary Source Media as part of its major micropublication of the Chamberlain Papers.

Permission to make any published use of any material from the collection must be sought in advance in writing from the University Archivist, Special Collections. Identification of copyright holders of unpublished material is often difficult. Special Collections will assist where possible with identifying copyright owners, but responsibility for ensuring copyright clearance rests with the user of the material.

Regular additions are made to this collection by purchase, gift or deposit.

The Special Collections Department holds several related collections: Austen Chamberlain Collection (GB 150 AC); Joseph Chamberlain Collection (GB 150 JC); Neville Chamberlain Collection (GB 150 NC) (catalogue is not yet available on the Online Archive Catalogue); Beatrice, Ida and Hilda Chamberlain Collection (GB 150 BC); Chamberlain Family Collection (GB 150 C); Artificial collections of letters and other documents of Joseph and Neville Chamberlain (GB 150 JCLAdd, GB 150 NCLAdd).