J H Chamberlain
| John Henry Chamberlain | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
21 June 1831 Leicester, England |
| Died | 22 October 1883 (aged 52) Birmingham, England |
| Occupation | Architect |
| Practice | Martin & Chamberlain |
| Buildings |
Birmingham School of Art Highbury Hall |
| Projects |
Birmingham board schools Corporation Street |
John Henry Chamberlain (21 June 1831 – 22 October 1883), generally known professionally as J. H. Chamberlain, was a nineteenth-century architect based in Birmingham, England.
Working predominantly in the Victorian Gothic style, he was one of the earliest and foremost practical exponents of the ideas of architectural theorist John Ruskin, who selected Chamberlain as one of the trustees of his Guild of St George. Chamberlain's later work was increasingly influenced by the early Arts and Crafts movement.
The majority of Chamberlain's buildings were located in and around Birmingham, where he was a major figure in civic life and an influential friend of many of the Liberal elite who dominated the city under Mayor Joseph Chamberlain (to whom he was unrelated).
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.
In the late 1850s, he entered into a partnership with William Harris. This was short-lived, but the two men remained friends, and, in later years, Harris would marry Chamberlain's widow.
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.
...
Wikipedia