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Genealogy of the Rothschild family

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The Rothschild family is a European family of German Jewish origin that established European banking and finance houses from the late eighteenth century.

The Rothschild family was founded by Mayer Amschel Rothschild, the "founding father of international finance". Wanting his sons to succeed on their own and to expand the family business across Europe, he had his eldest son remain in Frankfurt, while his four other sons were sent to different European cities with the mission of establishing a financial institution to invest in business and provide banking services. Endogamy within the family was an essential part of the Rothschild strategy in order to ensure control of their wealth remained in family hands. Through their collaborative efforts, the Rothschilds rose to prominence in a variety of banking endeavours including loans, government bonds and trading in bullion. Their financing afforded investment opportunities and during the 19th century they became major stakeholders in large-scale mining and rail transport ventures that were fundamental to the rapidly expanding industrial economies of Europe.

Five lines of the Austrian branch of the family were elevated into the Austrian nobility, being given hereditary baronies of the Habsburg Empire by Emperor Francis II in 1816. The British branch of the family was elevated into the British nobility by Queen Victoria in 1855.[1][2] Queen Victoria had initially disliked the proposal by Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone to raise Lionel de Rothschild to the peerage. However, in 1855, Victoria raised Lionel's son, Nathan Rothschild, 1st Baron Rothschild, to the peerage; he became the first Jewish member of the House of Lords.[3]

This article shows the family tree of some of the prominent branches of the Rothschild family.

The founder and his children

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Mayer Amschel Rothschild
Main article: Mayer Amschel Rothschild

Mayer Amschel Rothschild was born in 1744 in the ghetto in Frankfurt. At the age of 13, he went to Hanover to serve an apprenticeship with the bank of Simon Wolf Oppenheimer. At the age of 19, he returned to Frankfurt. There he joined his brother Calmann's money-changing business. He became a dealer in rare coins and won the patronage of Wilhelm IX of Hesse, gaining the title of "court factor". Rothschild's coin business expanded through the provision of banking services to Wilhelm IX. His bank became one of the biggest in Frankfurt.

He married Guttle Schnapper in 1770. With her, he had 10 children.

Rothschild banking family of Austria

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Salomon Mayer von Rothschild
Main article: Rothschild banking family of Austria

Salomon Mayer von Rothschild, the second son, went to Austria and established S M von Rothschild in Vienna. He married Caroline Stern, with whom he had two children (a daughter and a son).

Rothschild banking family of England

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Nathan Mayer Rothschild
Main article: Rothschild banking family of England

Nathan Mayer Rothschild, the third son, went to England and settled in Manchester but then moved to London. He first established a textile jobbing business in Manchester and from there went on to establish N M Rothschild & Sons in London. He married Hannah Barent Cohen in 1806, with whom he had seven children (three daughters and four sons).

Rothschild banking family of Naples

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Carl Mayer von Rothschild
Main article: Rothschild banking family of Naples

Carl Mayer von Rothschild, the fourth son, went to Naples and established C M de Rothschild & Figli. He married Adelheid Herz in 1818. With her, he had five children (a daughter and four sons), all of whom married within the family.

Rothschild banking family of France

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James Mayer de Rothschild
Main article: Rothschild banking family of France

James Mayer de Rothschild, the fifth son, went to France and established de Rothschild Frères in Paris. He married Betty Salomon de Rothschild, his own niece in 1824. With her, he had five children (a daughter and four sons), four of whom married within the family.

References

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  1. ^ The House of Rothschild: Money's prophets, 1798–1848, Volume 1, Niall Ferguson, 1999, introduction
  2. ^ The House of Rothschild: Money's prophets, 1798–1848, Volume 1, Niall Ferguson, 1999, page 481-85
  3. ^ Malmgreen, Gail (1986). Religion in the Lives of English Women, 1760-1930. Croom Helm. ISBN 978-0-7099-4612-0.
[edit]
  • Rothschild Archive
  • Family tree in the website of Edmond de Rothschild Group
  • Family tree in the website of Exbury Gardens (A famous garden in England belongs to Rothschild family)
  • Family tree in the website of The Rothschild Foster Human Rights Trust
  • Family tree of wine making branch of Rothschild in Family website
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