Robert N. Chamberlain (1856-1917) was born in Bangor, New York, and died in Boston, Massachusetts. He attended academies in Colebrook, New Hampshire, and Derby, Vermont, and then began reading law in a private practice in Canaan, Vermont. In 1881 he moved to Berlin, New Hampshire, and began practicing law. He married Maria H. Chamberlain (b. Mason) in Gorham, New Hampshire, in 1882.
From 1893 to 1895 he served as Speaker of the New Hampshire House of Representatives, and in 1904 he was appointed an associate justice in the New Hampshire Superior Court. In that capacity, Chamberlain presided over the "Next Friends" lawsuit involving Mary Baker Eddy claiming that she was not competent to manage her own affairs. A determinative turn in the high-profile case came when Chamberlain appointed a delegation of three independent Masters, composed of Edgar Aldrich (a judge), George E. Jelly (an attorney), and Hosea W. Parker (a psychiatrist), to evaluate Eddy's mental competence by meeting and interviewing her in her home. The Masters' conclusion that Eddy was completely competent to manage her affairs led the plaintiffs to file a motion to withdraw and dismiss the lawsuit, which Chamberlain granted. He then denied the plaintiffs' subsequent claims for their costs. Chamberlain went on to become the chief justice of the New Hampshire Superior Court in 1917.
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Robert N. Chamberlain (1856-1917) was born in Bangor, New York, and died in Boston, Massachusetts. He attended academies in Colebrook, New Hampshire, and Derby, Vermont, and then began reading law in a private practice in Canaan, Vermont. In 1881 he moved to Berlin, New Hampshire, and began practicing law. He married Maria H. Chamberlain (b. Mason) in Gorham, New Hampshire, in 1882.
From 1893 to 1895 he served as Speaker of the New Hampshire House of Representatives, and in 1904 he was appointed an associate justice in the New Hampshire Superior Court. In that capacity, Chamberlain presided over the "Next Friends" lawsuit involving Mary Baker Eddy claiming that she was not competent to manage her own affairs. A determinative turn in the high-profile case came when Chamberlain appointed a delegation of three independent Masters, composed of Edgar Aldrich (a judge), George E. Jelly (an attorney), and Hosea W. Parker (a psychiatrist), to evaluate Eddy's mental competence by meeting and interviewing her in her home. The Masters' conclusion that Eddy was completely competent to manage her affairs led the plaintiffs to file a motion to withdraw and dismiss the lawsuit, which Chamberlain granted. He then denied the plaintiffs' subsequent claims for their costs. Chamberlain went on to become the chief justice of the New Hampshire Superior Court in 1917.
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