Nathan Rothschild, 1st Baron Rothschild
Nathan Mayer Rothschild, 1st Baron Rothschild (
8 November 1840â€"
31 March 1915) was a
British banker and
politician from the international
Rothschild financial dynasty.
Known as "Natty", he was the son of
Lionel de Rothschild (1808-1879) and
Charlotte Rothschild (née von Rothschild), grandson of
Nathan Mayer Rothschild after whom he was named, and the great-grandson of
Mayer Amschel Rothschild founder of the dynasty.
He was educated at
Trinity College, Cambridge, where he was a friend of the
Prince of Wales, but left without taking a degree.
On
16 April 1867 he married
Emma Louise von Rothschild (1844-1935), a cousin from the
Rothschild banking family of Germany in
Frankfurt. They had the following children:
*
Lionel Walter (1868-1937)
*
Charlotte (1873-1937)
*
Charles Rothschild (1877-1923)
In 1876 he succeeded to the
baronetcy created for his uncle
Anthony Nathan de Rothschild (1810-1876), who had died without a male heir.
In 1847, his uncle
Anthony Nathan de Rothschild (1810-1876) was created
1st Baronet de Rothschild, of Tring Park. Because Anthony had no male heirs, on his death the title went to nephew Nathan Mayer Rothschild who was subsequently elevated to the
House of Lords and created Baron Rothschild in 1885 with which title the baronetcy remains merged.
The peerage was inherited by his son Walter (
Lionel Walter Rothschild, 2nd Baron Rothschild).
He worked as a partner in the London branch of the family bank
NM Rothschild and Sons and became head of the bank after his father's death in 1879. During his tenure the bank maintained its pre-eminent position in private venture finance and in issuing loans to the governments of the USA, Russia and Austria. Following the Rothschild's funding of the
Suez Canal a close relationship was maintained with
Benjamin Disraeli and affairs in
Egypt.
Natty also funded
Cecil Rhodes in the development of the
British South Africa Company and the
De Beers diamond conglomerate. He administered Rhodes's estate after his death in 1902 and helped to set up the
Rhodes Scholarship scheme at
Oxford University.
*
History of the Jews in England*Joseph Valynseele & Henri-Claude Mars,
Le Sang des Rothschild, L'Intermédiaire des Chercheurs et Curieux, Paris.
*See also the list of references at
Rothschild banking family of England
