He was a leader in the Unitarian Church, ending up as lay president of the international organisation.
[1] He was born in Acton, London to John Sutton Nettlefold, who founded the brass fixing company Nettlefold and Chamberlain with Frederick's cousin Joseph Chamberlain, father of Austen and Neville.
[1] After his father retired and cousin left the business to concentrate on politics, Frederick took over the running of the London part of the business as chairman, while his brother Joseph was sent to Birmingham to manage their new foundry.
Frederick retired from Nettlefolds in 1893 and helped develop Samuel Courtauld's silk and crepe company.
He devoted much of his energy to the Unitarian Church, was president of the Sunday School Association and later the British and Foreign Unitarian Association, and was one of the main supporters behind the construction of the 1886 Essex Hall, the headquarters building for the denomination.