Hi,
While I have no expertise in Worcester genealogy, I can't resist jumping in here. As I am a lover of fine porcelain, the names Chamberlain and Grainger immediately set off the alarm bells in my head. How lucky you are to have such ancestors.
A quick look through some of my reference books indicates that all the porcelain experts give 1736/37 as the probable birth date of Robert Chamberlain. A look at the IGI yielded a Robert Chamberlain, baptised 01 Aug., 1736, St. Michael Bedwardine, Worcester, Worcestor. Mother: Sarah Chamberlain. I then checked the Chamberlain Family GenForum on Genealogy.com and found several researchers working on the family of Robert Chamberlain.
From what I read, it appears that they too, mostly accept the 1836 birth date in Worcester. I did not have time to read all the postings,
but none that I saw, had managed to trace Robert's ancestry. The most recent of these postings was about two years old, so perhaps by now they have made some progress.
You don't say where you found the 1723 birth date. I am inclined to
accept the 1736 date as more likely in light of the known facts about
Robert's career in the porcelain business.
"Robert Chamberlain was reputedly the first apprentice at the famous Dr Wall factory at Worcester in the early 1750s. There he progressed to be in charge of the decorating department before leaving to establish his own separate works in the 1780s. From this time onward the factory was under the command of a Chamberlain, and when in 1840 the owners of the rival original Worcester factory declined to continue, it was the Chamberlains who took over, so ensuring an unbroken tradition of fine porcelain manufacture in Worcester from 1751 to the present day."
from: Chamberlain-Worcester Porcelain 1788-1852
Geoffrey A. Godden
ISBN: 0839002955
A birth date of 1723 would make him a little too old to have started as an apprentice in the early 1850s.
I could not find any information about a son named Thomas being an apprentice of Robert. Robert's son-in-law Thomas Grainger was an apprentice, as was a son, Humphrey. From a Google search, I turned up another Worcester family web site which kindly listed information from the Worster Archives.
http://www.hartwright.info/w50%20600%2B%20Other%20names.%20Version%202.htmChamberlain Hugh 1 May 1776 was apprenticed to his father Robert Chamberlain "Enamell Painter". Found in Worcester City Archives - Freemen's records
Chamberlain Robert 1 May 1776 was apprenticed to his father also Robert Chamberlain "Enamell Painter". Found in Worcester City Archives
From IGI listings, the named Chamberlain appears to go back a long way in Worcestershire. I think it is more lkely that Robert was a local lad than one that migrated from the West Country.
Re: Thomas, I did find two Thomas Chamberlains in the IGI. May be the same man with different wives.
Thos. Chamberlain married Anne Dewsbury, 24 Feb 1811, in Kidderminster. (Dewsbury is another famous name in Worcester porcelain)
Ann Chamberlain, chr. 29 Jan 1836, Kidderminster, dau. of Thomas & Hannah Chamberlain
I suggest that you get in touch with some of the other researchers on the GenForum site. Here are the URLs. (I wandered around a bit and lost track of where I had been, so may be repeats)
http://genforum.genealogy.com/cgi-bin/pageload.cgi?Worcester::chamberlain::2803.htmlhttp://genforum.genealogy.com/chamberlain/page3.htmlhttp://www.genealogyboard.com/chamberlain/messages/2969.htmlYou might find this interesting, if you don't already know about Worcester porcelain.
http://www.chinacupboard.co.uk/chamberl.htm Happy Hunting,
Carmela
