[1] She was a specialist in European colonisation and de-colonisation and British foreign policy in the nineteenth century.
[1][3] In 1975 she became the first woman to reach the role of dean at the university, in 1987 was promoted to professor and in 1989 was voted into her first term as head of the history department.
[3] As well as her specialist interest in the British empire and Commonwealth history, she wrote the first biography of George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen, a politician who was Prime Minister from 1852 until 1855.
[4] She chaired the trustees of the Cambrian Archaeological Association for many years and was President of the society in 2003.
Due to her father's work, Chamberlain moved around growing up, living and going to school in Bristol, Preston, and Leeds.