Baron Rothschild

Template:Short description Template:About Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox hereditary title

Baron Rothschild, of Tring in the County of Hertfordshire, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom.<ref name="burke">Template:Cite book</ref> It was created in 1885 for Sir Nathan Rothschild, 2nd Baronet, a member of the Rothschild banking family.<ref>Template:London Gazette</ref> He was the first Jewish member of the House of Lords not to have previously converted to Christianity. The current holder of the title is Nathaniel Rothschild, 5th Baron Rothschild, who inherited the barony in February 2024.

History

The Rothschild baronetcy, of Grosvenor Place, was created in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom in 1847 for Anthony de Rothschild, a banker and politician, with remainder to the male issue of his elder brother, Lionel de Rothschild, the first ever practicing Jewish Member of Parliament.<ref>Template:London Gazette</ref> Both Anthony and Lionel were sons of the influential financier Nathan Mayer Rothschild (1777–1836), founder of the English branch of the Rothschild family.

The first Baronet was succeeded according to the special remainder by his nephew, the aforementioned second Baronet,<ref name=baronetage>Template:Cite web</ref> who was created Baron Rothschild in 1885. Although other ethnic Jews such as Sampson Eardley and Benjamin Disraeli had already received peerages, both were brought up as Christians from childhood, and Eardley's Irish peerage did not entitle him to a seat in the House of Lords. Rothschild was thus the first practicing Jew to sit in the House of Lords.

He was succeeded by his eldest son, Walter, the second Baron. He was a banker and politician but is best remembered for his interest in zoology. He died without male issue and his brother had predeceased him, so upon his death, the titles passed to his nephew Victor, the third Baron. He was the only son of the Hon. Charles Rothschild.

Template:As of, the titles are held by the fourth Baron's son, Nathaniel, the fifth Baron, who succeeded in 2024.<ref name="burke"/>

Austrian title

In 1822, the hereditary title of Freiherr (baron) of the Austrian Empire was granted in the Austrian nobility by Emperor Francis I of Austria to the five sons of Mayer Amschel Rothschild.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> In 1838, Queen Victoria authorized the use of this Austrian baronial title in the United Kingdom by Lionel de Rothschild and certain other members of the Rothschild family.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:London Gazette</ref> However, the use of such foreign titles in the United Kingdom was subsequently limited by a warrant of 27 April 1932.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Rothschild baronets, of Grosvenor Place (1847)

Sir Anthony Nathan de Rothschild, 1st Baronet (1810–1876)
Sir Nathan Mayer Rothschild, 2nd Baronet (1840–1915) (created Baron Rothschild in 1885)

Baron Rothschild (1885)

Nathan Mayer Rothschild, 1st Baron Rothschild (1840–1915)
Lionel Walter Rothschild, 2nd Baron Rothschild (1868–1937)
Nathaniel Mayer Victor Rothschild, 3rd Baron Rothschild (1910–1990)
Nathaniel Charles Jacob Rothschild, 4th Baron Rothschild (1936–2024)
Nathaniel Philip Victor James Rothschild, 5th Baron Rothschild (born 1971)

The 5th Baron has a son with his wife, whose name and age the couple have not publicly revealed.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The son will be the heir apparent if born in wedlock. If not, the heir presumptive will be the present holder's first cousin, James Rothschild (born 1985), who in turn has a son Chasen, born in 2022.<ref name="burke"/>

There are no other living male-line descendants of the first Baron. If the line of the first Baron fails, the barony will become extinct, but the baronetcy will fall to a descendant of the first Baron's younger brother, Leopold de Rothschild (1845–1917). That descendant is currently his great-grandson Nicholas David Rothschild (born 1951).