Treasure of the Month for December 2018
As we approach the festive season, we look back to the origins of the sending of cards as Christmas tradition, (started by one of the United Kingdom’s earliest archivists!), and feature a gallery of one hundred years of seasonal cards in the collection of The Rothschild Archive.
Posted on the 1st December 2018 | Read more…
Treasure of the Month for November 2018
One hundred years ago this month, the Armistice ended fighting on land, sea and air, marking a victory for the Allies and a defeat for Germany in the First World War. This month, Deputy Archivist Natalie Attwood, cataloguer of the photographic collections of Robert de Rothschild, takes a look at his military service on the battlefields of Belgium and France. During November, the New Court War memorial will be on display in the main reception, New Court.
Posted on the 1st November 2018 | Read more…
Treasure of the Month for October 2018
The Rothschild business houses are renowned for their integrity. This month we look back nearly 200 years to correspondence between the extraordinary ‘Sir Gregor MacGregor’ and the London house of Rothschild, and the refusal by Nathan Mayer Rothschild to be taken in by what has been called one of the most brazen confidence tricks in history. Gregor MacGregor was a Scottish soldier, adventurer and swindler who attempted from 1821 to 1837 to draw British and French investors and settlers to ‘Poyais’, a fictional Central American territory that he claimed to rule.
Posted on the 1st October 2018 | Read more…
Treasure of the Month for September 2018
This month the Archive looks to sunny climes in Cannes, at the Villa Rothschild, with a report from The Graphic, 1892.
Posted on the 1st September 2018 | Read more…
Economic History Conference celebrating the 90th Anniversary of the Bank of Greece
Economic History Conference, The birth of inter-war central banks:
building a new monetary order
2 & 3 November 2018, Athens
This year marks the 90th anniversary of the operation of the Bank of Greece. To celebrate the event, the Bank is organising an international economic history conference, to be held in Athens on November 2-3, 2018. The conference is titled The birth of inter-war central banks: building a new monetary order and shall focus on central banking in the inter-war years, particularly the string of new banks that were established in the 1920s and 1930s.
Posted on the 7th August 2018 | Read more…
Treasure of the Month for August 2018
This month The Rothschild Archive welcomes a very fine portrait of a ‘Princess’ to its London Reading Room. The Reading Room can lay claim to some remarkable works of art, each depicting a member of the family who has had an affinity with preserving Rothschild history. The works on show include portraits by Philip de Laszlo, Sergei Pavlenko, Bern Schwartz and now Bertha Clara von Rothschild by Ellis William Roberts, purchased at auction in Paris and gifted to the Archive by Baron Eric de Rothschild, Chairman of The Rothschild Archive Trust.
Posted on the 1st August 2018 | Read more…
EABH Conference, 26 October 2018, London, United Kingdom
The European Association for Banking History (EABH) is pleased to invite submissions for its next conference: Institutional Investors: The history of professional fund management
Posted on the 6th July 2018 | Read more…
Treasure of the Month for July 2018
This month we look back upon the fine tradition of training and apprenticeship at the Rothschild businesses. On 4 June 1831, James de Rothschild (1792-1868), founder of the French business, wrote to his brother Nathan (1777-1836) in London. The letter concerned the arrival in Paris of Nathan’s son Nathaniel (1812-1870), who was to begin an apprenticeship with de Rothschild Frères in the rue Laffitte that was to shape the rest of his life.
Posted on the 2nd July 2018 | Read more…
Treasure of the Month for June 2018
One hundred and fifty years ago this June, an event took place at the Buckinghamshire estate of Anthony de Rothschild, a bold experiment in rural community regenerationcelebrating traditional artisan crafts and local industry. Read more about the Halton and Aston Clinton Industrial Exhibition of 1868.
Posted on the 1st June 2018 | Read more…
Treasure of the Month for May 2018
As sunnier weather approaches, we explore a former Rothschild property in west London which has recently undergone a major restoration project and plans to open its doors once again this summer. In 1835, Gunnersbury Park was purchased by Nathan Mayer Rothschild (1777-1836) as his country estate. The original sales particulars which survive in the Archive describe in detail the handsome property that Nathan acquired. Gunnersbury Park became much loved by the family, and was to remain in Rothschild ownership for nearly a hundred years.
Posted on the 1st May 2018 | Read more…
Treasure of the Month for April 2018
Through their philanthropy and patronage, the Rothschild family supported many causes. These included social enterprises such as schools, hospitals and other charities, but their interests were broad ranging, and they gave their support to the great heroic endeavours of their time. In November 1914, Marie, Mrs Leopold de Rothschild (1862-1937) received this heartfelt thank-you letter from the polar explorer Ernest Shackleton (1874-1922).
Posted on the 1st April 2018 | Read more…
Treasure of the Month for March 2018
Subscription ledger for the Prussian loan, 1818: The Rothschild Archive holds the evidence of a banking history dating from the early 19th century, documenting the innovations and evolution of the business of international finance. March 2018 marks 200 years since the House of Rothschild issued the Prussian loan of 1818, business considered a watershed in the history of the European capital market.
Posted on the 1st March 2018 | Read more…
EABH announces New Scholars Fast-Track Workshop: 13 June 2018, Torino
The Financial History Review invites submissions of research papers from advanced PhD students and recent postdoctoral researchers (with less than five years from completing their PhD) in banking, financial and monetary history for a New Scholars Fast-Track Workshop, 13 June 2018, Torino, Italy.
Posted on the 2nd February 2018 | Read more…
Treasure of the Month for February 2018
By 1821, the Rothschilds had established their banking houses in Frankfurt, London, Paris, Vienna and Naples. It was crucial that the family should have a representative in each of the places where they were doing business, and the Rothschilds established a network of agencies, carefully chosen from among their family, friends and intimates. This gave the Rothschilds access to the most up-to-date business, political and social intelligence. One hundred and seventy years ago this February, Mr Benjamin Davidson arrived in Valparaíso, Chile, en route to San Francisco, presenting a ‘Letter of Introduction’ from the London Rothschild bank.
Posted on the 1st February 2018 | Read more…
Treasure of the Month for January 2018
The Rothschild Archive is not just about paper. We hold thousands of photographs, ranging from formal images created by the business to intimate family snapshots. January's treasure is a photograph from a large family collection recently deposited with the Archive. Cataloguing and sorting this collection presented us with some challenges, and this month we ponder some thought-provoking issues about how we preserve memories and history.
Posted on the 1st January 2018 | Read more…