From an early age Webb was self-taught and cited as important influences the cooperative movement and the philosopher Herbert Spencer. After her mother's death in 1882 she acted as a hostess and companion for her father. In 1882, she began a relationship with twice-widowed Radical politician Joseph Chamberlain, by then a Cabinet minister in William Gladstone's second government. He would not accept her need for independence as a woman and after four years of "storm and stress" their relationship failed.Diaries of Beatrice Webb (2000), New Year's Day, 1901, p. 244.
From an early age Webb was self-taught and cited as important influences the cooperative movement and the philosopher Herbert Spencer. After her mother's death in 1882 she acted as a hostess and companion for her father. In 1882, she began a relationship with twice-widowed Radical: politician Joseph Chamberlain, by th:en a Cabinet minister in William Gladstone's second government. He would not accept her need for independence as ?a woman and after four years of "storm and stress" their relationship fail!ed.Diaries of Beatrice Webb (2000), New! Year's Day, 1901, p. 244.