Year approved: 1887
Located in East Belfast, off Albertbridge Road near the Short Strand.
Application of R. J. McConnell & Co. for new streets on their property off Albertbridge Road and Roundhill Street to be named Chamberlain Street, Montrose Street, and Vicarage Street was approved by the Town Improvement Committee on 19 October 1887. He was requested to submit another name in place of Melrose Street. (TIC, 19 October 1887)
The name almost certainly honours Joseph Chamberlain (1836–1914), a prominent British politician. By the mid-1880s Chamberlain had broken with Gladstone over Irish Home Rule and emerged as a leader of the Liberal Unionists, a position that would have resonated strongly with Belfast developers and civic leaders. The naming fits a wider pattern of late-Victorian Belfast streets commemorating contemporary statesmen associated with opposition to Home Rule.
Sources:
Belfast Town Improvement Committee minutes, 19 October 1887
Biographical details on Joseph Chamberlain (1836–1914)