Leopold de Rothschild (22 November 1845 – 29 May 1917) was a British banker,

thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed. Thoroughbreds are ...

race horse Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic pr ...

breeder, and a member of the prominent

Rothschild family The Rothschild family ( , ) is a wealthy Ashkenazi Jewish family originally from Frankfurt that rose to prominence with Mayer Amschel Rothschild (1744–1812), a court factor to the German Landgraves of Hesse-Kassel in the Free City of Fr ...

Biography

Early life

Leopold de Rothschild was the third son and youngest of the five children of

Lionel de Rothschild Baron Lionel Nathan de Rothschild (22 November 1808 – 3 June 1879) was a British Jewish banker, politician and philanthropist who was a member of the prominent Rothschild banking family of England. He became the first practising Jew to sit ...

(1808–1879) and

Charlotte von Rothschild ''Freifrau'' Charlotte von Rothschild (13 June 1819 – 13 March 1884) was a German-born British socialite. She was a member of the Rothschild banking family of Naples. Family Rothschild was born into the well known Jewish banking family, the ...

(1819–1884). He was educated at

King's College School King's College School, also known as Wimbledon, KCS, King's and KCS Wimbledon, is a public school in Wimbledon, southwest London, England. The school was founded in 1829 by King George IV, as the junior department of King's College London an ...

then went on to

Trinity College Trinity College may refer to: Australia * Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales * Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

Banking career

He entered

N M Rothschild & Sons Rothschild & Co is a multinational investment bank and financial services company, and the flagship of the Rothschild banking group controlled by the French and British branches of the Rothschild family. The banking business of the firm covers th ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, the family's banking business. On the death of his uncle

Baron Mayer de Rothschild Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than a lord or knigh ...

in 1874, he became head of the family's banking business in London and took over most of his uncle's public offices. He also inherited

Ascott House Ascott House, sometimes referred to as simply Ascott, is a Grade II* listed building in the hamlet of Ascott near Wing in Buckinghamshire, England. It is set in a 32-acre / 13 hectare estate. Ascott House was originally a farm house, built in ...

in Ascott, Buckinghamshire.

Public service

Rothschild was a DL and JP for the county of Buckinghamshire. He was invested as a Commander of the

Royal Victorian Order The Royal Victorian Order (french: Ordre royal de Victoria) is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the British monarch, Canadian monarch, Australian monarch, o ...

(CVO) by King

Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until Death and state funeral of Edward VII, his death in 1910. The second chil ...

Buckingham Palace Buckingham Palace () is a London royal residence and the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and royal hospitality. It ...

on 11 August 1902. He was President of the British Order of Mercy, which was awarded his wife in 1911. He was also active in the Anglo-

Jew Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""T ...

ish community, serving as vice-president of the

Anglo-Jewish Association The Anglo-Jewish Association (AJA) is a British organisation. It was formed in 1871 for the 'promotion of social, moral, and intellectual progress among the Jews; and the obtaining of protection for those who may suffer in consequence of being Jew ...

, chairman of the Jewish Emigration Society, and a treasurer of the London Jewish Board of Deputies.

Thoroughbred breeding

An avid sportsman, he established Southcourt Stud in Southcote, Bedfordshire. He assembled a stable of some of the best thoroughbreds in Europe, his horses winning a number of prestigious races including The Derby, St. Leger Stakes and the

2,000 Guineas The 2000 Guineas Stakes is a Group 1 flat race in Great Britain open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run on the Rowley Mile at Newmarket over a distance of 1 mile (1,609 metres) and scheduled to take place each year ...

. In the Epsom Derby of 1879 and 1904, his own horses got the cup.

Personal life

In 1881, he married Marie Perugia (1862–1937). She was the daughter of the

Trieste Trieste ( , ; sl, Trst ; german: Triest ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital city, and largest city, of the autonomous region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, one of two autonomous regions which are not subdivided into pr ...

merchant Achille Perugia. Her sister Louise married Arthur Sassoon. A close friend, H.R.H.

Edward Edward is an English given name. It is derived from the Anglo-Saxon name ''Ēadweard'', composed of the elements '' ēad'' "wealth, fortune; prosperous" and '' weard'' "guardian, protector”. History The name Edward was very popular in Anglo-Sax ...

Prince of Wales Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rule ...

attended the wedding at London's Central Synagogue. The marriage produced three sons: * Lionel Nathan (1882–1942) * Evelyn Achille (1886–1917) * Anthony Gustav (1887–1961) They resided at

Gunnersbury Park Gunnersbury Park is a park in the London Borough of Hounslow between Acton, Brentford, Chiswick and Ealing, West London, England. Purchased for the nation from the Rothschild family, it was opened to the public by Neville Chamberlain, then Min ...

, an estate that at one time had been the residence of Princess Amelia, daughter of George II. The mansion today houses the Gunnersbury Park Museum. An art collector, he owned a number of important paintings by artists such as

Jan Davidszoon de Heem Jan Davidsz. de Heem or in-full ''Jan Davidszoon de Heem'', also called ''Johannes de Heem'' or ''Johannes van Antwerpen'' or ''Jan Davidsz de Hem'' (c. 17 April 1606 in Utrecht – before 26 April 1684 in Antwerp), was a still life painter wh ...

. In 1912, William Tebbit attempted to assassinate him, firing five shots from a revolver at his vehicle and riddling it with bullets. Following his death on 29 May 1917, he was interred in the family plot in the

Willesden Jewish Cemetery The Willesden United Synagogue Cemetery, usually known as Willesden Jewish Cemetery, is a Jewish cemetery at Beaconsfield Road, Willesden, in the London Borough of Brent, England. It opened in 1873 on a site. It has been described as the ...

in the

North London North London is the northern part of London, England, north of the River Thames. It extends from Clerkenwell and Finsbury, on the edge of the City of London financial district, to Greater London's boundary with Hertfordshire. The term ''nor ...

suburb of

Willesden Willesden () is an area of northwest London, situated 5 miles (8 km) northwest of Charing Cross. It is historically a parish in the county of Middlesex that was incorporated as the Municipal Borough of Willesden in 1933, and has forme ...

Ealing Football Club (RU)

Leopold de Rothschild was the first president of Ealing Football Club (RU) and held this office from 1896 to 1914.www.respiceprospice.co.uk
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References

* See the list of references at: Rothschild banking family of England {{DEFAULTSORT:Rothschild, Leopold de 1845 births 1917 deaths English art collectors English bankers English racehorse owners and breeders Owners of Epsom Derby winners People educated at King's College School, London Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge English Jews Leopold Commanders of the Royal Victorian Order Leopold de Rothschild Burials at Willesden Jewish Cemetery Members of the Board of Deputies of British Jews N M Rothschild & Sons people 19th-century English businesspeople