Ferdinand James von Rothschild

Ferdinand James Anselm Freiherr von Rothschild (17 December 1839 – 17 December 1898) was an English politician and art collector, and a member of the prominent Rothschild family of bankers.

Although Ferdinand von Rothschild was born in Paris, France, he was from Vienna and a part of the Rothschild banking family of Austria. He was the second son of Baron Anselm von Rothschild (1803–1874) and Charlotte von Rothschild "née" Rothschild (1807–1859). He held the hereditary title "Freiherr" (Baron) in the Austrian nobility.

He was educated at Cambridge University, where he was a friend of the Prince of Wales. He became a British subject and moved from Vienna to London. In Britain he used the style Ferdinand de Rothschild.

On June 7, 1865 he married his cousin Evelina de Rothschild (1839-1866), the daughter of Lionel de Rothschild (1808-1879). On December 4, 1866 their son was stillborn and Evelina died later the same day. In her memory, Ferdinand built, equipped and endowed the Evelina Hospital for Sick Children in Southwark, south London.

From 1883 Ferdinand de Rothschild held the office of High Sheriff of Buckinghamshire and in 1885 was elected as Liberal MP for Aylesbury, a seat he held until his death.

In 1874 he bought an estate near the village of Waddesdon in Buckinghamshire and between 1874 and 1889 built Waddesdon Manor, designed by Gabriel-Hippolyte Destailleur in an eclectic style based on 16th century French châteaux.

Ferdinand von Rothschild died at Waddesdon Manor in 1898 and was buried next to his wife in their mausoleum in the West Ham cemetery. His collection of Renaissance objets d'arts from the house was bequeathed to the British Museum as "The Waddesdon Bequest". He willed the Manor to Alice Charlotte von Rothschild, his unmarried younger sister and thence to their nephew, James Armand de Rothschild, who in turn bequeathed it to the National Trust.

ources

* [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/24159 "Oxford Dictionary of National Biography" accessed 28 April 2006]
* Mrs James de Rothschild - "Rothschilds at Waddesdon Manor" (Collins, 1979) ISBN 0-00-216671-2

External links

* [http://www.waddesdon.org.uk/ Waddesdon Manor]
* [http://www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk/mme/g45.html The Waddesdon Bequest]