Charles Rothschild
Encyclopedia
Nathaniel Charles Rothschild (9 May 1877 – 12 October 1923), known as "Charles", was an English
banker and entomologist and a member of the Rothschild family
.
Charles predeceased his older brother Walter Rothschild, 2nd Baron Rothschild
(1868–1937) who died without issue. The peerage therefore passed to Charles's son Nathaniel Mayer Victor Rothschild, 3rd Baron Rothschild.
He boarded at Harrow School
, which he found somewhat traumatizing for incidents of bullying on account of his religion. "If I ever have a son," he wrote to his wife, "he will be instructed in boxing and Jiu-Jitsu before he enters school, as Jew hunts such as I experienced are a very one-sided amusement and there is apt to be a lack of sympathy between the hunters and the hunted".
Charles Rothschild worked as a partner in the family bank NM Rothschild and Sons in London
. However, like his zoologist brother, he devoted much of his energies to entomology
and natural history collecting. His collection of flea
s is now in the Rothschild Collection at the British Museum
. He also discovered and named the plague
vector flea, Xenopsylla cheopis (Rothschild), also known as the oriental rat flea, at Shendi
, Sudan, on an expedition in 1901, publishing his finding in 1903.
Charles went to Rothschild's Bank every morning; despite all his interest in science and in natural history, he never missed a day. He was also very interested in the gold refinery operated by Rothschilds and invented all sorts of things for collecting gold, and working on gold from a scientific point of view.
Suffering from encephalitis
, in 1923 Charles Rothschild committed suicide
.
, near Ely, in 1899 and Woodwalton Fen, near Huntingdon, in 1910. During his lifetime he built and managed his estate at Ashton Wold
in Northamptonshire
to maximise its suitability for wildlife, especially butterflies. He was concerned about the loss of wildlife habitats, and in 1912 set up the Society for the Promotion of Nature Reserves, the forerunner of The Wildlife Trusts partnership
. In 1915 the Society produced a schedule of the best wildlife sites in the country, some of which were purchased as nature reserve
s.
(now the Romania
n city of Oradea
), the daughter of a retired army officer, Baron Alfred Edler von Wertheimstein.
Rozsika was one of seven children. She was a very beautiful woman with dark brown eyes. Each eye had a purple ring to it, and they could flicker strangely. She was a voracious reader. Every day she had a Hungarian newspaper, a German newspaper, an English newspaper, and quite often a French one, too, and she read all the political articles in these papers. Rozsika had been a champion lawn tennis player in Hungary.
After their marriage on 6 February 1907, they lived at Tring
and in London
. Charles, who worked in the family’s banking business was a dedicated naturalist
in his spare time: the young couple had met on a butterfly
-collecting trip in the Carpathian Mountains
. In the evening, the Rothschilds might go together to a concert or a dinner party, but Charles really preferred to sort out his butterflies. Charles's suicide in 1923 when he was 46 years old was a severe shock to his wife and four children. Rozsika von Wertheimstein died on 30 June 1940.
Children
They had four children:
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
banker and entomologist and a member of the Rothschild family
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...
.
Family
He was the son of Nathan Mayer Rothschild, 1st Baron Rothschild and Emma Rothschild (née von Rothschild).Charles predeceased his older brother Walter Rothschild, 2nd Baron Rothschild
Walter Rothschild, 2nd Baron Rothschild
Lionel Walter Rothschild, 2nd Baron Rothschild, Baron de Rothschild FRS , a scion of the Rothschild family, was a British banker, politician, and zoologist.-Biography:...
(1868–1937) who died without issue. The peerage therefore passed to Charles's son Nathaniel Mayer Victor Rothschild, 3rd Baron Rothschild.
He boarded at Harrow School
Harrow School
Harrow School, commonly known simply as "Harrow", is an English independent school for boys situated in the town of Harrow, in north-west London.. The school is of worldwide renown. There is some evidence that there has been a school on the site since 1243 but the Harrow School we know today was...
, which he found somewhat traumatizing for incidents of bullying on account of his religion. "If I ever have a son," he wrote to his wife, "he will be instructed in boxing and Jiu-Jitsu before he enters school, as Jew hunts such as I experienced are a very one-sided amusement and there is apt to be a lack of sympathy between the hunters and the hunted".
Charles Rothschild worked as a partner in the family bank NM Rothschild and Sons in 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...
. However, like his zoologist brother, he devoted much of his energies to entomology
Entomology
Entomology is the scientific study of insects, a branch of arthropodology...
and natural history collecting. His collection of flea
Flea
Flea is the common name for insects of the order Siphonaptera which are wingless insects with mouthparts adapted for piercing skin and sucking blood...
s is now in the Rothschild Collection at the British Museum
British Museum
The British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...
. He also discovered and named the plague
Pandemic
A pandemic is an epidemic of infectious disease that is spreading through human populations across a large region; for instance multiple continents, or even worldwide. A widespread endemic disease that is stable in terms of how many people are getting sick from it is not a pandemic...
vector flea, Xenopsylla cheopis (Rothschild), also known as the oriental rat flea, at Shendi
Shendi
Shendi or Shandi is a town in northern Sudan, situated on the east bank of the Nile 150 km northeast of Khartoum. Shandi is also about 45 km southwest of the ancient city of Meroe. Located in the River Nile wilayah, Shandi is the center of the Ja'aliin tribe and an important historic...
, Sudan, on an expedition in 1901, publishing his finding in 1903.
Charles went to Rothschild's Bank every morning; despite all his interest in science and in natural history, he never missed a day. He was also very interested in the gold refinery operated by Rothschilds and invented all sorts of things for collecting gold, and working on gold from a scientific point of view.
Suffering from encephalitis
Encephalitis
Encephalitis is an acute inflammation of the brain. Encephalitis with meningitis is known as meningoencephalitis. Symptoms include headache, fever, confusion, drowsiness, and fatigue...
, in 1923 Charles Rothschild committed suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
.
Nature conservation
Today Charles Rothschild is regarded as a pioneer of nature conservation in Britain, and is credited with establishing the UK's first nature reserve when he bought Wicken FenWicken Fen
Wicken Fen is a wetland nature reserve situated near the village of Wicken, Cambridgeshire, England.It is one of Britain's oldest nature reserves, and was the first reserve acquired by the National Trust, in 1899. The reserve includes fenland, farmland, marsh, and reedbeds...
, near Ely, in 1899 and Woodwalton Fen, near Huntingdon, in 1910. During his lifetime he built and managed his estate at Ashton Wold
Ashton, East Northamptonshire
Ashton is a village and civil parish about ¾ mile east of Oundle in the east of the English county of Northamptonshire forming part of the district of East Northamptonshire.-History:...
in Northamptonshire
Northamptonshire
Northamptonshire is a landlocked county in the English East Midlands, with a population of 629,676 as at the 2001 census. It has boundaries with the ceremonial counties of Warwickshire to the west, Leicestershire and Rutland to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshire to the south-east,...
to maximise its suitability for wildlife, especially butterflies. He was concerned about the loss of wildlife habitats, and in 1912 set up the Society for the Promotion of Nature Reserves, the forerunner of The Wildlife Trusts partnership
The Wildlife Trusts partnership
The Wildlife Trusts is an organisation made up of 47 local Wildlife Trusts in the United Kingdom plus the Isle of Man and Alderney.The Wildlife Trusts, between them, look after around 2,300 nature reserves covering more than 90,000 hectares...
. In 1915 the Society produced a schedule of the best wildlife sites in the country, some of which were purchased as nature reserve
Nature reserve
A nature reserve is a protected area of importance for wildlife, flora, fauna or features of geological or other special interest, which is reserved and managed for conservation and to provide special opportunities for study or research...
s.
Marriage
In 1907 Charles Rothschild married Rozsika Edle von Wertheimstein (1870 – 30 June 1940), a Hungarian baroness and descendent of an originally Jewish family, who were one of the wealthiest families in Europe and had made their fortune over a century before the Rothschilds. She was born in 1870 at Nagyvarad, HungaryHungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
(now the Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
n city of Oradea
Oradea
Oradea is the capital city of Bihor County, in the Crișana region of north-western Romania. The city has a population of 204,477, according to the 2009 estimates. The wider Oradea metropolitan area has a total population of 245,832.-Geography:...
), the daughter of a retired army officer, Baron Alfred Edler von Wertheimstein.
Rozsika was one of seven children. She was a very beautiful woman with dark brown eyes. Each eye had a purple ring to it, and they could flicker strangely. She was a voracious reader. Every day she had a Hungarian newspaper, a German newspaper, an English newspaper, and quite often a French one, too, and she read all the political articles in these papers. Rozsika had been a champion lawn tennis player in Hungary.
After their marriage on 6 February 1907, they lived 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...
and in 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...
. Charles, who worked in the family’s banking business was a dedicated naturalist
Naturalist
Naturalist may refer to:* Practitioner of natural history* Conservationist* Advocate of naturalism * Naturalist , autobiography-See also:* The American Naturalist, periodical* Naturalism...
in his spare time: the young couple had met on a butterfly
Butterfly
A butterfly is a mainly day-flying insect of the order Lepidoptera, which includes the butterflies and moths. Like other holometabolous insects, the butterfly's life cycle consists of four parts: egg, larva, pupa and adult. Most species are diurnal. Butterflies have large, often brightly coloured...
-collecting trip in the Carpathian Mountains
Carpathian Mountains
The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians are a range of mountains forming an arc roughly long across Central and Eastern Europe, making them the second-longest mountain range in Europe...
. In the evening, the Rothschilds might go together to a concert or a dinner party, but Charles really preferred to sort out his butterflies. Charles's suicide in 1923 when he was 46 years old was a severe shock to his wife and four children. Rozsika von Wertheimstein died on 30 June 1940.
Children
They had four children:
- Miriam Louisa Rothschild (1908–2005), a zoologist
- Elizabeth Charlotte Rothschild (1909–1988), known as "Liberty"
- Nathaniel Mayer Victor Rothschild (1910–1990), known as "Victor"
- Kathleen Annie Pannonica Rothschild (1913–1988), known as "Nica", (later Baroness Nica de KoenigswarterNica de KoenigswarterBaroness Pannonica de Koenigswarter was a British-born jazz patroness and writer. She was a scion of the prominent Rothschild international financial dynasty.-Personal:...
), a bebopBebopBebop differed drastically from the straightforward compositions of the swing era, and was instead characterized by fast tempos, asymmetrical phrasing, intricate melodies, and rhythm sections that expanded on their role as tempo-keepers...
jazzJazzJazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
enthusiast and patroness of Thelonious MonkThelonious MonkThelonious Sphere Monk was an American jazz pianist and composer considered "one of the giants of American music". Monk had a unique improvisational style and made numerous contributions to the standard jazz repertoire, including "Epistrophy", "'Round Midnight", "Blue Monk", "Straight, No Chaser"...
and Charlie ParkerCharlie ParkerCharles Parker, Jr. , famously called Bird or Yardbird, was an American jazz saxophonist and composer....