| Description | The following sub series comprises a large file of papers relating to a bequest of a portion of the estate of Captain Norman G. Chamberlain to the Corporation of Birmingham, who had died in combat in France in 1917 during the First World War. The Council were informed of the bequest on 12 June 1951, and it had been directed by Norman Chamberlain in his will that the bequest should be applied by or under the direction of the Corporation for the provision of playing fields and recreation grounds 'for the use of the working class inhabitants of the City and the neighbourhood thereof and other members of the public'. A sum of just over £24,559 had been paid to the Corporation, with a further £1,000 expected. The proposed works were a public recreation ground and pavillion at Shard End Estate. The Norman Chamberlain Playing Fields were officially opened on Thursday, 29 July 1965. |