Chamberlain was born in
Leicester on 21 June 1831, son of a Baptist minister, and received his architectural training with a local practice. After further experience in London and a period travelling in Italy he moved to Birmingham in 1853. He designed two buildings for John Eld, the business partner of his uncle. The first of these to be completed, Eld's house at 12 Ampton Road,
Edgbaston (1855) survives to this day and already shows many of the features that would characterise much of Chamberlain's later work: a
gothic structure in polychromatic brick with finely crafted decoration inspired by natural and organic forms. The shop at 28–29 Union Street for Eld & Chamberlain has been demolished. Although Chamberlain continued to build in both Leicester and Birmingham (where he built the
Edgbaston Waterworks whose tower would inspire the young
J. R. R. Tolkien) his career failed to take off, and in 1864 he considered moving to
New Zealand after being offered a commission to design
Christchurch Cathedral. as a member of the
Birmingham and Midland Institute: detail from an 1866 leaflet Instead he went into partnership with
William Martin who was already established as the city's public works architect. Chamberlain took the lead in design matters, while Martin saw to the more practical side of running an architectural practice. Chamberlain's belief in the value of individual craftsmanship and patterns inspired by nature (characteristic of the
Arts and Crafts movement) together with his sense of
urbanism and the civilising potential of cities (that was much less typical of a movement which generally abhorred the
Industrial Revolution and viewed large cities as dehumanising) chimed perfectly with the
progressive non-conformist ideology – dubbed the "
Civic Gospel" – of Birmingham's ruling liberals, who sought to transform industrial Birmingham into a cultural centre to rival the great European capitals. Together with Martin's contacts and business acumen this saw the partnership win a string of commissions to design civic structures throughout Birmingham, including libraries, hospitals, public utilities, major projects such as the cutting of
Corporation Street and culminating in 1871 with a commission to design no fewer than 41
board schools in response to the
Elementary Education Act 1870. Among the most important buildings were the Birmingham Institute of Art and Design in Paradise Street, and the Free Libraries in Edmund Street. Chamberlain became the unofficial domestic architect to Birmingham's civic leaders, designing a string of prestigious houses in upmarket districts of South Birmingham, including
Highbury Hall, the home of
Joseph Chamberlain himself. He served from 1865 until his death as Honorary Secretary and on the Council of the
Birmingham and Midland Institute. He was also responsible for an extension to the Institute's building, completed in 1881. , now part of
Birmingham City University Shortly before his death he completed the designs for what is generally considered his finest building – the
Birmingham School of Art. The building was subsequently completed by
William Martin and his son Frederick. ==Death and burial==