Mayer Amschel de Rothschild
Encyclopedia
Mayer Amschel de Rothschild (29 June 1818 – 6 February 1874) of the English branch of the Rothschild family
was the fourth and youngest son of Nathan Mayer Rothschild
(1777–1836). He was named Mayer Amschel Rothschild, for his grandfather
, the patriarch of the Rothschild family.
. After studying at the University of Leipzig
and Heidelberg University
he became the first member of his family to receive an education at an English university, spending time at both Magdalene
and Trinity College
, Cambridge. Although apprenticed in the family's various banking houses in Europe, he never became a major part of the banking empire. He became High Sheriff of Buckinghamshire
in 1847 and was elected Liberal MP for Hythe
in 1859.
Mayer's mother Hannah (née Cohen
) began the Rothschild acquisitions in Buckinghamshire. Thinking her sons unhealthy, she began to purchase parcels of land around Aylesbury
in prime hunting country, where they could take outdoor exercise. By the middle of the 19th century, all three of her sons had large estates and mansions in the Vale of Aylesbury: Lionel de Rothschild
at Tring
; Anthony Nathan de Rothschild at Aston Clinton
; and Mayer at Mentmore
. There he built Mentmore Towers
, the most sumptuous of the English Rothschild houses at the time. Other cousins were to follow: Ferdinand James von Rothschild
at Waddesdon
, and Alfred de Rothschild
at Halton
.
Mayer Rothschild was a keen horseback rider
and hunter
in spite of his sixteen stone frame and was a fan of thoroughbred horse racing
. He established a stud farm at Crafton, Buckinghamshire
, and was a member of the Jockey Club
. In 1871, his horses won four of the five "classic" races: "Favonius" won the Epsom Derby
and "Hannah" won the Epsom Oaks
, the 1,000 Guineas and the St. Leger Stakes
.
In 1873 Baron Mayer bought 90 acres (360,000 m²) of land at Ascott
two miles from Mentmore
. This was given to his nephew Leopold de Rothschild
who enlarged the existing Ascott House
to the Neo-Tudor structure seen today.
) had one child, a daughter, Hannah
, later Countess of Rosebery. She was his sole heiress, and through her, Mentmore Towers passed to the Earl of Rosebery
, who served as Prime Minister from 1894–1895.
Mayer Amschel de Rothschild died in 1874 and was buried in the Willesden Jewish Cemetery
in Beaconsfield Road, Willesden
, London
.
Rothschild family
The Rothschild family , known as The House of Rothschild, or more simply as the Rothschilds, is a Jewish-German family that established European banking and finance houses starting in the late 18th century...
was the fourth and youngest son of Nathan Mayer Rothschild
Nathan Mayer Rothschild
Nathan Mayer, Freiherr von Rothschild , known as Nathan Mayer Rothschild, was a London financier and one of the founders of the international Rothschild family banking dynasty...
(1777–1836). He was named Mayer Amschel Rothschild, for his grandfather
Mayer Amschel Rothschild
Mayer Amschel Rothschild was the founder of the Rothschild family international banking dynasty that became the most successful business family in history. In 2005, he was ranked 7th on the Forbes magazine list of "The Twenty Most Influential Businessmen Of All Time"...
, the patriarch of the Rothschild family.
Life
Known to his family as "Muffy", he was born in New Court, LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. After studying at the University of Leipzig
University of Leipzig
The University of Leipzig , located in Leipzig in the Free State of Saxony, Germany, is one of the oldest universities in the world and the second-oldest university in Germany...
and Heidelberg University
Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg
The Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg is a public research university located in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Founded in 1386, it is the oldest university in Germany and was the third university established in the Holy Roman Empire. Heidelberg has been a coeducational institution...
he became the first member of his family to receive an education at an English university, spending time at both Magdalene
Magdalene College, Cambridge
Magdalene College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England.The college was founded in 1428 as a Benedictine hostel, in time coming to be known as Buckingham College, before being refounded in 1542 as the College of St Mary Magdalene...
and Trinity College
Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Trinity has more members than any other college in Cambridge or Oxford, with around 700 undergraduates, 430 graduates, and over 170 Fellows...
, Cambridge. Although apprenticed in the family's various banking houses in Europe, he never became a major part of the banking empire. He became High Sheriff of Buckinghamshire
High Sheriff of Buckinghamshire
The High Sheriff of Buckinghamshire, in common with other counties, was originally the King's representative on taxation upholding the law in Saxon times...
in 1847 and was elected Liberal MP for Hythe
Hythe (UK Parliament constituency)
Hythe was a constituency centred on the town of Hythe in Kent. It returned two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons until 1832, when its representation was reduced to one member...
in 1859.
Mayer's mother Hannah (née Cohen
Cohen (surname)
Cohen is a Jewish surname of biblical origins . It is a very common Jewish surname, comparable to 'Smith' in an English-language context....
) began the Rothschild acquisitions in Buckinghamshire. Thinking her sons unhealthy, she began to purchase parcels of land around Aylesbury
Aylesbury
Aylesbury is the county town of Buckinghamshire in South East England. However the town also falls into a geographical region known as the South Midlands an area that ecompasses the north of the South East, and the southern extremities of the East Midlands...
in prime hunting country, where they could take outdoor exercise. By the middle of the 19th century, all three of her sons had large estates and mansions in the Vale of Aylesbury: Lionel de Rothschild
Lionel de Rothschild
Baron Lionel Nathan de Rothschild was a British banker and politician.-Biography:The son of Nathan Mayer Rothschild and Hanna Barent Cohen, he was a member of the prominent Rothschild family....
at Tring
Tring
Tring is a small market town and also a civil parish in the Chiltern Hills in Hertfordshire, England. Situated north-west of London and linked to London by the old Roman road of Akeman Street, by the modern A41, by the Grand Union Canal and by rail lines to Euston Station, Tring is now largely a...
; Anthony Nathan de Rothschild at Aston Clinton
Aston Clinton
Aston Clinton is a village and civil parish close to the main A41 road in Buckinghamshire, England between Tring and Aylesbury. The parish covers and is about east of Aylesbury. The village is at the foot of the chalk escarpment of the Chiltern Hills at the junction of the pre-historic track the...
; and Mayer at Mentmore
Mentmore
Mentmore is a village and civil parish in the Aylesbury Vale district of Buckinghamshire, England. It is about three miles east of Wingrave, three miles south east of Wing.The village toponym is derived from the Old English for "Menta's moor"...
. There he built Mentmore Towers
Mentmore Towers
Mentmore Towers is a 19th century English country house in the village of Mentmore in Buckinghamshire. The house was designed by Joseph Paxton and his son-in-law, George Henry Stokes, in the revival Elizabethan and Jacobean style of the late 16th century called Jacobethan, for the banker and...
, the most sumptuous of the English Rothschild houses at the time. Other cousins were to follow: Ferdinand James von Rothschild
Ferdinand James von Rothschild
Ferdinand James Anselm Freiherr von Rothschild was an English art collector, and a member of the prominent Rothschild family of bankers...
at Waddesdon
Waddesdon
Waddesdon is a village within the Aylesbury Vale district in Buckinghamshire, England, 6 miles from Aylesbury on the A41 road. The centre of a civil parish, including the hamlets of Eythrope, Wormstone and Woodham, Waddesdon was an agricultural settlement with milling, silk weaving and lace making...
, and Alfred de Rothschild
Alfred de Rothschild
Alfred Charles de Rothschild was the second son of Lionel de Rothschild and Baroness Charlotte von Rothschild of the prominent Rothschild family....
at Halton
Halton, Buckinghamshire
Halton is a small village and is also a civil parish within Aylesbury Vale district in Buckinghamshire, England about 2 miles from Wendover and 5 miles from Aylesbury. It lies just outside the Metropolitan Green Belt so it has not been protected from postwar housing development...
.
Mayer Rothschild was a keen horseback rider
Equestrianism
Equestrianism more often known as riding, horseback riding or horse riding refers to the skill of riding, driving, or vaulting with horses...
and hunter
Fox hunting
Fox hunting is an activity involving the tracking, chase, and sometimes killing of a fox, traditionally a red fox, by trained foxhounds or other scent hounds, and a group of followers led by a master of foxhounds, who follow the hounds on foot or on horseback.Fox hunting originated in its current...
in spite of his sixteen stone frame and was a fan of thoroughbred horse racing
Thoroughbred horse race
Thoroughbred horse racing is a worldwide sport and industry involving the racing of Thoroughbred horses. It is governed by different national bodies. There are two forms of the sport: Flat racing and National Hunt racing...
. He established a stud farm at Crafton, Buckinghamshire
Crafton, Buckinghamshire
Crafton is a hamlet in the civil parish of Mentmore, in Buckinghamshire, England.The hamlet's name is Anglo Saxon in origin, and means 'farm where saffron grows'. Queen Edith, the wife of king Edward the Confessor, had a hunting lodge in the small area between Mentmore and Crafton known as...
, and was a member of the Jockey Club
Jockey Club
The Jockey Club is the largest commercial organisation in British horseracing. Although no longer responsible for the governance and regulation of the sport, it owns 14 of Britain's famous racecourses, including Aintree, Cheltenham and Newmarket, amongst other concerns such as the National Stud and...
. In 1871, his horses won four of the five "classic" races: "Favonius" won the Epsom Derby
Epsom Derby
The Derby Stakes, popularly known as The Derby, internationally as the Epsom Derby, and under its present sponsor as the Investec Derby, is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies...
and "Hannah" won the Epsom Oaks
Epsom Oaks
The Oaks Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old thoroughbred fillies. It is run at Epsom Downs over a distance of 1 mile, 4 furlongs and 10 yards , and it is scheduled to take place each year in early June....
, the 1,000 Guineas and the St. Leger Stakes
St. Leger Stakes
The St. Leger Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain which is open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run at Doncaster over a distance of 1 mile, 6 furlongs and 132 yards , and it is scheduled to take place each year in September.Established in 1776, the St. Leger...
.
In 1873 Baron Mayer bought 90 acres (360,000 m²) of land at Ascott
Ascott, Buckinghamshire
Ascott is a hamlet and country house in the parish of Wing, Buckinghamshire, England. The hamlet lies completely within the boundary of the Ascott Estate; it is home to many of the estate and house staff....
two miles from Mentmore
Mentmore
Mentmore is a village and civil parish in the Aylesbury Vale district of Buckinghamshire, England. It is about three miles east of Wingrave, three miles south east of Wing.The village toponym is derived from the Old English for "Menta's moor"...
. This was given to his nephew Leopold de Rothschild
Leopold de Rothschild
Leopold de Rothschild CVO was a British banker, thoroughbred race horse breeder, and a member of the prominent Rothschild family.-Education and career:...
who enlarged the existing Ascott House
Ascott House
Ascott House, sometimes referred to as simply Ascott, is situated in the hamlet of Ascott near Wing in Buckinghamshire, England. It is set in a estate....
to the Neo-Tudor structure seen today.
Family
Mayer de Rothschild and his wife Juliana (née CohenCohen (surname)
Cohen is a Jewish surname of biblical origins . It is a very common Jewish surname, comparable to 'Smith' in an English-language context....
) had one child, a daughter, Hannah
Hannah Primrose, Countess of Rosebery
Hannah Primrose, Countess of Rosebery was the daughter of Mayer de Rothschild and his wife Juliana, née Cohen...
, later Countess of Rosebery. She was his sole heiress, and through her, Mentmore Towers passed to the Earl of Rosebery
Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery
Archibald Philip Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery, KG, PC was a British Liberal statesman and Prime Minister. Between the death of his father, in 1851, and the death of his grandfather, the 4th Earl, in 1868, he was known by the courtesy title of Lord Dalmeny.Rosebery was a Liberal Imperialist who...
, who served as Prime Minister from 1894–1895.
Mayer Amschel de Rothschild died in 1874 and was buried in the Willesden Jewish Cemetery
Willesden Jewish Cemetery
Willesden Jewish Cemetery is a cemetery for Jews in Beaconsfield Road, Willesden, London Borough of Brent. It opened in 1873 on a site. More properly, it is the Willesden United Synagogue Cemetery.-Notable burials:...
in Beaconsfield Road, Willesden
Willesden
Willesden is an area in North West London which forms part of the London Borough of Brent. It is situated 5 miles north west of Charing Cross...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
.
See also
- History of the Jews in EnglandHistory of the Jews in EnglandThe history of the Jews in England goes back to the reign of William I. The first written record of Jewish settlement in England dates from 1070, although Jews may have lived there since Roman times...
- Rothschild banking family of EnglandRothschild banking family of EnglandThe Rothschild banking family of England was founded in 1798 by Nathan Mayer von Rothschild who first settled in Manchester but then moved to London. Nathan was sent there from his home in Frankfurt by his father, Mayer Amschel Rothschild...
- Rothschild banking family of FranceRothschild banking family of FranceThe Rothschild banking family of France was founded in 1812 in Paris by James Mayer Rothschild . James was sent there from his home in Frankfurt, Germany by his father, Mayer Amschel Rothschild...
- Rothschild banking family of AustriaRothschild banking family of AustriaThe Rothschild banking family of Austria was founded by Salomon Mayer von Rothschild in 1820 in Vienna in what was then the Austrian Empire.-History:...
- Rothschild banking family of NaplesRothschild banking family of NaplesThe Rothschild banking family of Naples was founded by Calmann Mayer von Rothschild who was sent to the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies from Frankfurt am Main, Germany in 1821 by his father, Mayer Amschel Rothschild...
- Carl Mayer von RothschildCarl Mayer von RothschildCarl Mayer von Rothschild was a German-born banker in the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies and the founder of the Rothschild banking family of Naples....