Chamberlain Connection
Joseph and his sons, Austen and Neville Chamberlain are all direct descendants of William Tertius Harding. Joseph Chamberlain married twice, Austen Chamberlain being a son from his first marriage to Harriet Kenrick and Neville Chamberlain from his second marriage to Florence Kenrick. Harriet and Florence Kenrick were first cousins of each other and great-great-grandchildren of William Tertius Harding.
There are several less direct lines due to the number of marriages between the Harding, Paget, Kenrick, Ryland, Thompson and Byng families who were prominent in the Birmingham area. Neville's ancestry starting with his great-great-grandparents is attached.
These are links to and extracts based on Wikipedia entries for Joseph, Austen and Neville Chamberlain.
(8 July 1836- 2 July 1914) was an influential British businessman, politician and statesman
In his early years he was a radically minded Liberal Party member, a campaigner for educational reform, and President of the Board of Trade. He later became a Liberal Unionist in alliance with the Conservative Party and was appointed Colonial Secretary. At the end of his career he led the tariff reform campaign. Despite never becoming Prime Minister, he is regarded as one of the most important British politicians of the late 19th century and early 20th century, as well as a colourful character and renowned orator.
He was the father of Sir Austen Chamberlain and Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain.
Sir (Joseph) Austen Chamberlain, KG (16 October 1863 – 17 March 1937) was a British statesman and recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. At various times he was Postmaster General, Chancellor of the Exchequer, Secretary of State for India, Lord Privy Seal, Conservative Leader in the House of Commons, Leader of the Conservative Party, Foreign Secretary and First Lord of the Admiralty.
He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1924 possibly for his involvement in the Locarno Pact?
(Arthur) Neville Chamberlain (18 March 1869 – 9 November 1940) was a British Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from May 1937 to May 1940. Chamberlain is best known for his appeasement foreign policy, and in particular for his signing of the Munich Agreement in 1938, conceding the Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia to Nazi Germany. When Adolf Hitler continued his aggression, Britain declared war on Germany on 3 September 1939, and Chamberlain led Britain through the first eight months of the Second World War.
After working in business and local government and after a short spell as Director of National Service in 1916 and 1917, Neville Chamberlain followed his father and older half-brother in becoming a Member of Parliament in the 1918 general election at age 49. He declined a junior ministerial position, remaining a backbencher until 1922. He was rapidly promoted in 1923 to Minister of Health and then Chancellor of the Exchequer. After a short Labour-led government, he returned as Minister of Health, introducing a range of reform measures from 1924 to 1929. He was appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer in the National Government in 1931. When Stanley Baldwin retired in May 1937, Chamberlain took his place as Prime Minister. His premiership was dominated by the question of policy towards the increasingly aggressive Germany, and his actions at Munich were widely popular among Britons at the time. When Hitler continued his aggression, Chamberlain pledged Britain to defend Poland's independence if the latter were attacked, an alliance that brought Britain into war when Germany attacked Poland in 1939.
He resigned the premiership on 10 May 1940, after the Allies were forced to retreat from Norway as he believed a government supported by all parties was essential, and the Labour and Liberal parties would not join a government headed by him. He was succeeded by Winston Churchill and remained very well regarded in Parliament, especially among Conservatives. Before ill health forced him to resign, he was an important member of Churchill's War Cabinet, heading it in the new premier's absence. Chamberlain died of cancer six months after leaving the premiership.
Neville Chamberlain's reputation remains controversial among historians, with the initial high regard for him being entirely eroded by books such as Guilty Men published in July 1940, which blamed him and his associates for the Munich accord and for allegedly failing to prepare the country for war. Most historians in the generation following his death held similar views, led by Churchill in The Gathering Storm. Some recent historians have taken a more favourable perspective of him and his policies, citing government papers released under the Thirty Year Rule.
See here for a pedigree of the Chamberlain family
A tree showing the Thompson and Chamberlain connection is linked here.