A group of 13 greatly enjoyed a guided tour of “Highbury” – Victorian statesman Joseph Chamberlain’s Victorian mansion on the southern fringe of Birmingham.

The tour of the building, with its exquisite Victorian decoration, was expertly woven by our guide into the story of the Chamberlain family, principally Joseph and his two sons, Austen and Neville.

We also had a fascinating and largely shower-free tour of the gardens with the new head gardener who is starting out, with £2m of Lottery money available (!), to restore what in parts has become a jungle to the way it looked in its Victorian heyday.

A thumbnail summary of Joseph (1836–1914) is as follows:

• Early Life & Business: Born in London, Chamberlain moved to Birmingham at 18 and became wealthy through his family’s screw manufacturing business.
• Local Leadership: Elected Birmingham town councillor in 1869 and Mayor in 1873. He transformed the city with:
  • Municipal water and gas services
  • Slum clearance and creation of Corporation Street
  • New schools, libraries, swimming baths, and parks
    Birmingham earned the reputation as “the best governed city in the world.”
• Education Legacy: Co-founded the University of Birmingham and became its first Chancellor in 1900.
• National Politics: Elected Liberal MP for West Birmingham in 1876. Though influential, his career was divisive—he never became Prime Minister and fractured both major parties. Winston Churchill famously said Chamberlain “made the weather.”
• Later Years & Death: Suffered a stroke in 1906, retired from politics, and died in 1914. He is buried in Key Hill Cemetery, Birmingham.
• Commemoration: The Chamberlain Clock in Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter