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{{shortShort description|British architect}}
{{otherOther people|John Chamberlain}}
{{EngvarB|date=September 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=SeptemberJanuary 20132024}}
{{Infobox architect
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'''John Henry Chamberlain''' (21 June 1831 – 22 October 1883), generally known professionally as '''J. H. Chamberlain''', was a British 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]].
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[[File:Birmingham Central Library c1890.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.1|The rebuilt Central Library of 1882, demolished in 1974]]
[[File:BMI leaflet detail.jpg|left|thumb|upright|Chamberlain enrolling [[Hercules]] as a member of the [[Birmingham and Midland Institute]]: detail from an 1866 leaflet]]
Instead he went into partnership with [[MartinWilliam &Martin Chamberlain(architect)|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.{{sfn|Boase|1887}}
 
Chamberlain's belief in the value of individual craftsmanship and patterns inspired by nature (characteristic of the [[artsArts and craftsCrafts 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 [[industrialIndustrial revolutionRevolution]] and viewed large cities as dehumanising) chimed perfectly with the [[progressivism|progressive]] [[Nonconformist (Protestantism)|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, Birmingham|Corporation Street]] and culminating in 1871 with a commission to design no fewer than 41 [[Birmingham board schools|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.{{sfn|Boase|1887}}
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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, Birmingham|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 & Midland Institute|The Birmingham &and Midland Institute]]. He was also responsible for an extension to the Institute's building, completed in 1881.<ref>{{cite book |first=Rachel E. |last=Waterhouse |authorlinkauthor-link=Rachel Waterhouse |title=The Birmingham and Midland Institute, 1854–1954 |publisher=Birmingham and Midland Institute |place=Birmingham |year=1954 |pages=44–58, 69, 190 }}</ref>
 
[[Image:BirminghamBIADFineArtMargaretStreet.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.1|[[Birmingham School of Art]], now part of [[Birmingham City University]]'s [[Birmingham Institute of Art and Design]]]]▼
Chamberlain'sShortly deathbefore camehis shortlydeath afterhe completingcompleted the designs for what is generally considered his finest building – the [[Birmingham School of Art]],.{{sfn|Foster|2005|pp=69–73}} whichThe building was subsequently completed afterby his[[Martin death by& Chamberlain|William Martin and his son [[Frederick Martin (architect)|Frederick Martin]].▼
 
==Death and burial==
Chamberlain died suddenly on 22 October 1883, immediately after delivering an evening lecture at the Birmingham and Midland Institute. His subject was "Exotic Art", and he concluded by quoting [[Alfred, Lord Tennyson]]'s poem "Amphion":
▲[[Image:BirminghamBIADFineArtMargaretStreet.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.1|[[Birmingham School of Art]], now part of [[Birmingham City University]]'s [[Birmingham Institute of Art and Design]]]]
''''{{blockquote|<poem>And I must work thro' months of toil,▼
Chamberlain died suddenly on 22 October 1883, and was, at the time, Honorary Secretary of [[Birmingham & Midland Institute|The Birmingham & Midland Institute]], and had been delivering one of the Monday evening lectures at the institute. His subject was "Exotic Art" and (little mindful of his own approaching end) he concluded by quoting Tennyson's words:
▲''''And I must work thro' months of toil
And years of cultivation,
Upon my proper patch of soil
To grow my own plantation.
I'll take the showers as they fall,
I will not vex my bosom;:
Enough, if I at the end of all
A little garden blossom''''.</poem>}}
 
Afterwards, he left the lecture room and when he reached Lawson Tait's house, in the Crescent, he fainted away and died.▼
 
In the institute's Report of 1883 it said: ''"Under his guidance the Institute has undergone development that is truly marevelous; he had genius to see the needs of the time and the direction in which the Institute could be developed to meet them. The wisdom of his counsel, the extent and variety of his knowledge, the grace of his eloquence and the wonderful charm of his personal presence made him a colleague whom it is impossible to replace"''▼
 
▲Afterwards,He heafterwards left the lecture room, andbut when he reached Lawsonthe Tait'shome house,of in[[Lawson the Crescent, heTait]] fainted away and died.
<ref>{{cite book |first=J. H. |last=Muirhead |authorlink=J. H. Muirhead |title=Birmingham Institutions |publisher=Cornish Brothers |place=Birmingham |year=1911 |pages=350-351 }}</ref>
 
▲InThe the instituteInstitute's Report offor 1883 it saidcommented: ''"Under his guidance the Institute has undergone development that is truly marevelousmarvellous; he had genius to see the needs of the time and the direction in which the Institute could be developed to meet them. The wisdom of his counsel, the extent and variety of his knowledge, the grace of his eloquence and the wonderful charm of his personal presence made him a colleague whom it is impossible to replace."''<ref>{{cite book |first=J. H. |last=Muirhead |author-link=J. H. Muirhead |title=Birmingham Institutions |publisher=Cornish Brothers |place=Birmingham |year=1911 |pages=350–351 }}</ref>
▲Chamberlain's death came shortly after completing the designs for what is generally considered his finest building – the [[Birmingham School of Art]], which was completed after his death by William Martin and his son [[Frederick Martin (architect)|Frederick Martin]].
 
He is buried in [[Key Hill Cemetery]], [[Hockley, West Midlands|Hockley]], in Birmingham's [[Jewellery Quarter]].
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[[File:Highbury Hall Birmingham.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.1|[[Highbury Hall]], Moseley, commissioned by Joseph Chamberlain]]
*12 Ampton Road (Shenstone House), [[Edgbaston]] – Chamberlain's first house; "the first High Victorian house in the town"
* The Birmingham & Midlands Institute, Paradise Street façade (1881); "exhuberant gothic style" - demolished 1966.
*[[Birmingham Central Library]] (1882) – Demolished in 1974.
*[[Chamberlain Memorial]], Birmingham (1882)
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==Sources==
*{{ODNBweb|first=G. C. |last=Boase |first2=Michael W. (revised) |last2=Brooks |title=Chamberlain, John Henry (1831–1883) |year=2004 |edition=online |id=5047 }}
*{{cite book |title=Birmingham |first=Andy |last=Foster |year=2005 |series=Pevsner Architectural Guides |publisher=Yale University Press |place=New Haven/London |ISBNisbn=0-300-10731-5 }}
*{{cite book |title=Birmingham's Victorian and Edwardian Architects |last=Holyoak |first=Joe |chapter=John Henry Chamberlain |editor-first=Phillada |editor-last=Ballard |publisher=Oblong |place=Wetherby |year=2009 |ISBNisbn=978-0-9556576-2-7 |pages=153–81 |ref=harv }}
*{{cite DNB|wstitle=Chamberlain, John Henry|first=George Clement|last=Boase|authorlink = George Clement Boase|volume=10|pages=2–3}}
 
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[[Category:Gothic Revival architects]]
[[Category:English ecclesiastical architects]]
[[Category:PeopleArchitects from Leicester]]
[[Category:1831 births]]
[[Category:1883 deaths]]
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[[Category:Burials at Key Hill Cemetery]]
[[Category:Architects from Birmingham, West Midlands]]
[[Category:Guild of St George]]
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