Horace Colbert Chamberlain was born in Edmonton, Tottenham in 1884 to Arthur John Chamberlain and Elizabeth Colbert  He then appeared in the 1891 Census return for Tottenham where he lived with his mother (now a widow).  In this Census return his birth place is stated as New Beckenham Kent, which is echoed in his army attestation records 24 years later.

Between 1891 and 1915 Horace is difficult to find.  Oral family history suggests that Horace ran away from home after his mother remarried.  Horace’s step father was a strict military man and appeared to be the cause for him leaving without trace.   

On the 22nd November 1915 aged 30 Horace enlisted in the British Army.  The  army  B.2512 attestation form states Horace as living at 44 number 3 Three Colts Lane and employed as a Railway Porter.  He is described as married to Jane Chamberlain (his stated next of kin), and his son and daughter - Horace Colbert and Jenny Elizabeth are listed with their birth dates.  Horace is described as  5 feet and 7 inches tall, with a chest ‘girth’ measurement  of 33 inches, with a 3 inch range of expansion.

On the 3rd October 1916 Horace was appointed as Private to the 13th Infantry Works Battalion previously known as the 13th Royal Devonshire Regiment and was stationed in Exeter.

Horace’s military medical history performed on 11th September 1916 reveals further detail about his health/physique.   On this occasion Horace states that he is 33 years old and was born in the parish of  Beckenham, in Surrey.  He is described as weighing 176 pounds and 5 feet  7 ½ Inches tall , with a reduction of ½ an Inch from his original 3 Inch range of chest expansion measured previously on 22nd November 1915.   Horace’s right eye visual acuity is measured as 6/36 and in  his left eye 6/18.  It is clear that he suffered bad eyesight and would have needed glasses.  Horace suffered myopia worse in his right eye than his left - ‘normal’ ‘20/20’ vision using the Snellen system  in metric would be 6/6.

The examiner noted 2 vaccination marks on his left arm and a scar on his right shoulder and ‘defective teeth’ (which ‘were not deemed as sufficient to cause rejection’).

On the 10th November 1916 the 13th Infantry Works Battalion soon to be known as the Labour Coy 156th went to France.  Horace was awarded the British War Medal and Victory Medal.  By the 2nd May 1918 Horace had been promoted to a/Corporal, and on the 25th February 1919 was moved to the 2nd Army  Reserve and then demobilised - his records note ‘Character V Good’.

Regiment numbers
- 22nd November 1915: (Attested) 13th Devonshire Regiment #41832
- 12th September 1916: (Transferred) Labour Corps #34321
- 2nd May 1918: Labour Corps 156th
- 25th February 1919: 2nd Army Reserve #93114 A/Corporal (Demobilised)

On demobilisation 25th February 1919 Horace and family had moved to 24 Tent Street (Brady Street) Bethnal Green.

Horace Colbert Chamberlain died at home (134 Cann Hall Road Leytonstone) resulting from ‘Carcinoma of Pelvic Colon’.  His was recorded as a ‘Railway Shunter’ on his death certificate and his wife Jane was present at death.

Arthur John Chamberlain was born to John Chamberlain and Jane Tew in 68 St Paul’s Street , Tabernacle Square, St Leonard’s, Shoreditch in 1857.  By the 1861 Census return Arthur, the youngest of 2 other siblings, had moved with his parents to 12 Baldwin Road, Islington, Finsbury.  The 1871 Census return records Arthur (recorded as a ‘scholar’) as moving with his family to St Peter’s Street, Islington, Finsbury.  

Between the 1871 and 1881 Census returns Arthur joined the ‘7th (Queen’s Own) Hussars.  The War Office Muster Books and Paylists for the 7th Hussar’s Calvary and Foot Guards between 1879 and 1881, record Arthur as a Private based in Ireland, around Newbridge, Cahir and Dublin.

By 1881 the Census return states Arthur, a ‘Private in the 7th Hussar’s’ as living with his wife Elizabeth in a town called ‘Sandych’ in Hythe, Cheriton on Chapel Street.  Elizabeth is recorded as being born in Dublin, Ireland.  It is not clear where Arthur and Elizabeth married, however, his service under the 7th Hussars meant that Arthur would have been in Ireland and near to Dublin in the time leading up to the 1881 Census.  It is likely (if they were married) that they were married in Ireland, as searches for a marriage certificate in the United Kingdom have so far proved fruitless.

John Chamberlain is recorded in the 1841 Census return for Clifton Upon Dunsmore as a ‘Tailor’ aged 20 years.  He is stated as living with ‘Thos Chambelin’ a 55 year old ‘agricultural labourer’ and ‘Hellener Chambelin’ of 60 years.  All 3 are recorded as not ‘born in the same country’ by ‘n’ rather than ‘y’ filling the box next to each of their names on the Census.  

John married Jane Tew in 1850 at St Philips Church in the Parish of Birmingham, Warwick.  John and his father Thomas are listed as Tailor’s, and Jane’s father Arthur is listed as a Farmer on the marriage certificate.  Both John and Jane are recorded as living on ‘Bell Mount Row’.

The 1851 Census return records the couple as living on Newton Road in Clifton and John is stated as a ‘Tailor’ by profession.

By the 1861 Census return life had changed for John and Jane.  They had a family of 3 children, Geo E aged 8 years, Ellen J aged 6 years and Arthur John aged 3 years.  John and Jane had moved to 12 Baldwin Road, Islington Finsbury in a house that they shared with Owen Dicey (‘Boarder’ and ‘Tailor’) and Jonathan Scrivens (‘Apprentice’/’Tailor’s Apprentice’) aged 20 and 18 years, respectively.

The 1871 Census return records John and family living at 36 St Peter’s Square(or Street) .  John is still stated as a ‘Tailor’ by profession, with his son George following as ‘Tailor’ and Ellen a ‘Dressmaker’, (Arthur is recorded as a ‘scholar’).

By 1873 John Chamberlain is recorded as having died.

Click here for Chamberlain Family Tree

Click here for Chamberlain Family Tree

Click here for Chamberlain Family Tree

Click here for Chamberlain Family Tree

Click here for Chamberlain Family Tree

Click here for Chamberlain Family Tree