Charles Rothschild
Elizabeth Charlotte Rothschild
Victor Rothschild, 3rd Baron Rothschild
Pannonica Rothschild
Emma Louise von Rothschild
Hon. Nathaniel Charles Rothschild (9 May 1877 – 12 October 1923) was an English banker and entomologist and a member of the Rothschild family. He is remembered for The Rothschild List, a list he made in 1915 of 284 sites across Britain that he considered suitable for nature reserves.
Family
Nathaniel Charles Rothschild was born in London into the Rothschild family, a prominent Jewish family of bankers. His parents, Nathan Rothschild, 1st Baron Rothschild, and Emma Rothschild (née von Rothschild), were cousins. Charles predeceased his older brother Walter Rothschild, 2nd Baron Rothschild (1868–1937), who died without issue. The peerage therefore passed to Charles's son Victor Rothschild, 3rd Baron Rothschild. Charles boarded at Harrow School, which he found somewhat traumatising for incidents of bullying on account of his religion.[1]
He worked as a partner in the family bank NM Rothschild and Sons in London. He went to Rothschild's Bank every morning; despite all his interest in science and in natural history, he never missed a day. He was also very interested in the gold refinery operated by Rothschild's, and invented a variety of devices for collecting gold, and working on gold from a scientific point of view. He also became Chairman of the Alliance Assurance Company.[2]
Career
Entomology
Like his zoologist brother Walter, Charles devoted much of his energies to entomology and natural history collecting. His enormous collection of some 260,000 fleas is now in the Rothschild Collection at the Natural History Museum; he described about 500 new flea species.[3] One of these, which he discovered and named, was the Bubonic plague vector flea, Xenopsylla cheopis, also known as the oriental rat flea, which he collected at Shendi, Sudan, on an expedition in 1901, publishing his finding in 1903.[4]
Nature conservation
Rothschild is regarded as a pioneer of nature conservation in Britain, and is credited with establishing the UK's first nature reserve when he bought Wicken Fen, near Ely, in 1899.[5] Wicken Fen was presented to the National Trust but the Trust declined to take Woodwalton Fen, near Huntingdon, which Rothschild bought in 1910, and this wetland, now a National Nature Reserve, was kept as a private nature reserve.[6] In 1911 Rothschild built a bungalow at Woodwalton Fen as a base for fields trips, which still stands.[7][8] During his lifetime he built and managed his estate at Ashton Wold[9] in Northamptonshire to maximise its suitability for wildlife, especially butterflies. He was concerned about the loss of wildlife habitats, and in 1912 set up the Society for the Promotion of Nature Reserves, the forerunner of The Wildlife Trusts partnership. In 1915 he produced "The Rothschild List",[10] a schedule of the best 284 wildlife sites in the country, some of which were purchased as nature reserves.[6]
Public service
As well as a Lieutenant of the City of London, Rothschild became a JP for the county of Northamptonshire in 1902.[11] He served as High Sheriff of Northamptonshire for 1905.[12]
Personal life
In 1907, Rothschild married Rózsika Edle von Wertheimstein (1870–1940), a descendant of an old Austrian-Jewish family that was ennobled long before the Rothschilds.[13] She was born in 1870 at Nagyvárad, Hungary (now the Romanian city of Oradea), the daughter of a retired army officer, Baron Alfred Edler von Wertheimstein. Alfred's sister Charlotte was married to Moritz von Königswarter [de].[14] Rózsika was one of seven children and had been a champion lawn tennis player in Hungary.[15]
After their marriage on 6 February 1907, they lived at Tring and in London. Rothschild, who worked in the family's banking business, was a dedicated naturalist in his spare time: the young couple had met on a butterfly-collecting trip in the Carpathian Mountains. In the evening, they might go together to a concert or a dinner party, but he really preferred to sort out his butterflies. Together, they had four children:
- Miriam Louisa Rothschild (1908–2005), a zoologist
- Elizabeth Charlotte Rothschild (1909–1988), known as "Liberty"
- Nathaniel Mayer Victor Rothschild (1910–1990), known as "Victor", 3rd Baron Rothschild.
- Kathleen Annie Pannonica Rothschild (1913–1988), known as "Nica", a bebop jazz enthusiast and patroness of Thelonious Monk and Charlie Parker
Suffering from encephalitis, in 1923 Rothschild died by suicide. He was found with his throat slit, locked alone inside his bathroom at his home at Ashton Wold, Northamptonshire.[16] His suicide, when he was 46 years old, was a severe shock to his wife and four children. Rózsika died on 30 June 1940.[17]
Ancestry
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See also
References
- Notes
- ^ Hannah Rothschild, "The Butterfly Effect", Bonhams Magazine, Spring 2009, page 21.
- ^ Who Was Who, 1916-1928. A and C Black. 1947. p. 1277.
- ^ "Siphonaptera collections". Natural History Museum, London. Retrieved 16 February 2017.
- ^ "Charles Rothschild". The Wildlife Trusts. Retrieved 1 November 2016.
- ^ "Charles Rothschild: The banker who changed the world for good". The Independent. 12 May 2012. Retrieved 31 July 2017.
- ^ a b Barnes, Simon (2015). "Prophet and Loss". Archived from the original on 22 January 2016. Retrieved 16 January 2016.
- ^ "Woodwalton Fen". Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Northamptonshire Wildlife Trust. Retrieved 4 August 2021.
- ^ "Naturalist's bungalow gets a face-lift". The Hunts Post. 5 July 2011.
- ^ Pevsner, Nikolaus (1961). The Buildings of England – Northamptonshire. London and New Haven: Yale University Press. pp. 94–5. ISBN 978-0-300-09632-3.
- ^ "The Rothschild List: 1915-2015 A review 100 years on" (PDF). The Wildlife Trusts. 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 March 2016. Retrieved 7 May 2017.
- ^ Kelly's Handbook to the Titled, Landed and Official Classes, 1916. Kelly's. p. 1277.
- ^ "No. 27777". The London Gazette. 21 March 1905. p. 2179.
- ^ Fraenkel, Josef (1967). The Jews of Austria: Essays on their Life, History and Destruction. Vallentine, Mitchell. p. 103. ISBN 9780853030003.
- ^ Drewes, Kai (2013). Jüdischer Adel: Nobilitierungen von Juden im Europa des 19. Jahrhunderts. Campus Verlag. p. 361. ISBN 9783593397757.
- ^ "February 2016: Portrait of Rozsika Rothschild, c.1910". The Rothschild Archives. Retrieved 4 August 2021.
- ^ "The Hon. Nathaniel Rothschild". The Times. The Times Digital Archive. 15 October 1923. p. 14.
- ^ "The Rothschild Archive :: Genealogy".
- Sources
- Rothschild, Miriam (1983) Dear Lord Rothschild ISBN 0-09-153740-1
- v
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companies
- Rothschild & Co
- RIT Capital Partners
- Edmond de Rothschild Group
- de Rothschild Frères
- S. M. von Rothschild
- Imerys
- Eramet
- Club Med
- Libération
- Economist Group (The Economist)
- Mouton Cadet
- Opus One Winery
- Chemins de Fer du Nord
- Vítkovice Mining and Iron Corporation
- Palestine Jewish Colonization Association
- Yad Hanadiv
- Creditanstalt
- British South Africa Company
- Rio Tinto
- De Beers
- Caspian and Black Sea Oil Company
- Emperor Ferdinand Northern Railway
- Asia Resource Minerals
- Genel Energy
- Alliance Assurance
- Rothschild properties in the Home counties
- Ascott House
- Aston Clinton House
- Champneys
- Eythrope
- Exbury Gardens
- Gunnersbury Park
- Halton House
- Mentmore Towers
- Tring Park Mansion
- Waddesdon Manor
- Spencer House
- Palais Rothschild
- Château Mouton Rothschild
- Abbaye des Vaux de Cernay
- Château Clarke
- Château de Ferrières
- Château Lafite
- Château de Laversine
- Château des Laurets
- Château de la Muette
- Château Rothschild, Boulogne-Billancourt
- Haras de Meautry
- Hôtel Lambert
- Hôtel de Marigny
- Hôtel de Pontalba
- Hôtel Salomon de Rothschild
- Talleyrand Building
- Salomon Mayer von Rothschild
- Anselm Salomon von Rothschild
- Mathilde Hannah von Rothschild
- Nathaniel Mayer Anselm von Rothschild
- Ferdinand de Rothschild
- Salomon Albert Anmselm von Rothschild
- Ludwig (Louis) von Rothschild
- Eugéne Daniel von Rothschild
- Jeanne Stuart von Rothschild
- Alice Charlotte von Rothschild
- Alfred de Rothschild
- Amschel Mayor James Rothschild
- Sir Anthony de Rothschild, 1st Baronet
- Anthony Gustav de Rothschild
- Anthony James de Rothschild
- Charles Rothschild
- Charlotte Henriette de Rothschild
- David Mayer de Rothschild
- Dorothy de Rothschild
- Edmund Leopold de Rothschild
- Emma Georgina Rothschild
- Evelina de Rothschild
- Evelyn Achille de Rothschild
- Sir Evelyn de Rothschild
- Ferdinand de Rothschild
- Hannah de Rothschild, Countess of Rosebery
- Jacob Rothschild, 4th Baron Rothschild
- Kathleen (Nica de Koenigswarter) Rothschild
- Leopold de Rothschild
- Leopold David de Rothschild
- Lionel de Rothschild
- Lionel Nathan de Rothschild
- Lynn Forester de Rothschild
- Mayer Amschel de Rothschild
- Miriam Louisa Rothschild
- Nathaniel de Rothschild
- Nathan Mayer Rothschild
- Nathan Rothschild, 1st Baron Rothschild
- Nathaniel Rothschild, 5th Baron Rothschild
- Nicky Hilton Rothschild
- Serena Rothschild
- Victor Rothschild, 3rd Baron Rothschild
- Walter Rothschild, 2nd Baron Rothschild
- Alphonse James de Rothschild
- Aline Caroline de Rothschild
- Ariane de Rothschild
- Arthur de Rothschild
- Béatrice Ephrussi de Rothschild
- Benjamin de Rothschild
- Betty von Rothschild
- Charlotte de Rothschild
- Bethsabée de Rothschild
- David René de Rothschild
- Edmond Adolphe de Rothschild
- Edmond James de Rothschild
- Édouard Etienne de Rothschild
- Edouard Alphonse de Rothschild
- Élie de Rothschild
- Elisabeth de Rothschild
- Guy de Rothschild
- Hélène de Rothschild
- Henri de Rothschild
- Jacqueline Rebecca de Rothschild
- James Armand de Rothschild
- James Mayer de Rothschild
- Marie-Hélène de Rothschild
- Nadine de Rothschild
- Nathaniel Robert de Rothschild
- Nicole de Rothschild
- Pauline de Rothschild
- Philippe de Rothschild
- Philippine de Rothschild
- Salomon James de Rothschild
- Maurice de Rothschild
- Gustave de Rothschild
- Robert de Rothschild
- Alain de Rothschild
- Éric de Rothschild
- Marie Angliviel de la Beaumelle
- Category: Rothschild family