Welcome toThe Rothschild Archive'swebsite

Sources for business history: plans of New Court

Sources for art history: Catalogue of the pictures of Alfred de Rothschild 1901

Sources for yachting history: Plans for Nathaniel von Rothschild's yacht Veglia 1905

Sources for natural history: Walter 2nd Lord Rothschild and his zebra carriage: c.1910

Sources for global financial history: Map of lines of the Brazil Railway Company: c.1920

Sources for business history: index cards to bank files

Sources for social history: Rothschild Hospital Paris: 1920s

Sources for business history: detail of a Rothschild bond coupon

Sources for architectural history: Halton House: 1890s

Sources for the history of travel: Lionel de Rothschild's tours of Spain: 1909

Sources for local history: Tring Park: c.1900

Sources for Royal history: shooting party with Edward Prince of Wales: 1893

Sources for political history: Lionel de Rothschild: first Jewish MP: 1858

Sources for sporting history: St Amant winner of the Derby: 1904

Sources for local history: gardeners at Aston Clinton: 1899

Sources for Rothschild family history: Lionel de Rothschild's yacht Rhodora: 1927

Sources for London history: entrance to New Court: 1965

Sources for design history: plans for Lionel de Rothschild's Rolls-Royce: 1930

Sources for business history: Rothschild gold bars produced by the Royal Mint Refinery: 1930s

Sources for business history: letters of August Belmont Rothschild Agent in New York: 1860s

Rothschild Business microsite

The Rothschild Research Forum is a resource for those engaged in scholarly research into any of the many facets of Rothschild business and family history. The Forum contains different microsites, dedicated to a particular aspect of Rothschild history and research. The microsites contain guides to sources, transcripts, digital documents and more detailed information.

A research resource for Banking, finance and other business

Mayer Amschel Rothschild was born in 1744 in the Judengasse, in Frankfurt. His father had a business in goods-trading and currency exchange. He was a personal supplier of collectable coins to the Prince of Hesse. By the early years of the 19th century, Rothschild had consolidated his position, and in 1810, renamed his firm M A Rothschild und Söhne, establishing a partnership with his four sons still in Frankfurt, (his son Nathan Mayer Rothschild (1777-1836) having already established a business in Manchester and London).

Nathan Rothschild’s increasingly successful business provided a model for his brothers back in Frankfurt. In 1812, James Mayer Rothschild (1792-1868) established a banking house in Paris. Salomon Mayer Rothschild (1774-1855) settled in Vienna in 1820. Carl Mayer Rothschild (1788-1855) set up business in Naples in 1821, leaving Amschel Mayer (1773-1855), to head the Frankfurt bank. From these roots, the Rothschild banking business spread out across much of Europe becoming the most successful international bankers of the age.

Open to Research Forum members, researchers can now browse through the following sections of the Rothschild Business microsite:

Collections: Home - Introduction to the site

Business houses - An introduction to the history and surviving business records of the five business houses, with links to detailed lists of key sources:

  • M A von Rothschild & Söhne, Frankfurt
  • N M Rothschild & sons, London
  • de Rothschild Frères, Paris
  • S M von Rothschild Vienna
  • C M de Rothschild & Figli, Naples

Agents  - An introduction to the Rothschild network of agents, with descriptions of key sources for:

  • August Belmont, New York
  • Samuel Bleichröder, Berlin
  • The Davidsons, San Francisco and Mexico
  • Samuel Lambert, Antwerp and Brussels
  • Weisweiller and Bauer, Madrid

Worldwide  - Short summaries of Rothschild business activities across the world, arranged by country and place of business.

Activities - An introduction to the history of business activities:

  • Banking: Merchant banking, Private banking
  • Finance: Asset management, Bills of exchange, Equity, Gobal financial advice, Mergers & acquisitions, Insurance (The Alliance Assurance Company), Venture capital (The Exploration Company), Pensions, Investments
  • Government finance: Bonds, loans & sovereign lending, Privatisation
  • Commodities: Cotton, Indigo, Sugar, Tea & coffee, Tobacco
  • Communications & technology
  • Civil engineeering: Bridges, Tunnels
  • Hotels, tourism & leisure
  • Manufacturing: Cars, Iron & steel (Witkowitz (Vítkovice) Mines, Steel and Ironworks Corporation), Textiles
  • Media & publishing
  • Natural resources (mining & trade): Coal, Copper, Nickel, Oil, Platinum, Diamonds, Rubies, Quicksilver, Salt, Silver
  • Gold: Gold mining and bullion, The Royal Mint Refinery, The Gold Fixing
  • Power & utilities: Electricity, Hydroelectricity (BRINCO), Gas, Water 
  • Transport: Aircraft, Canals, waterways & harbours (The Suez Canal shares purchase), Road transport, Shipping
  • Railways: Kaiser-Ferdinand's Nordbahn, The Chemin de fer du Nord, Brazilian railways, Indian railways, The London Underground, The New York Subway, Mass transit railways
  • Wine: Château Lafite, Château Mouton and other global wine businesses

Guide  - Links to the full Guide to the Collections of The Rothschild Archive.

Existing Rothschild Research Forum members Go to The Rothschild Business microsite »

Apply for membership of the Rothschild Research Forum »

Gold bars from the Royal Mint Refinery

Gold bars from the Royal Mint Refinery

Detail from the cotton book of Nathan Mayer Rothschild 1804-1807

Detail from the cotton book of Nathan Mayer Rothschild 1804-1807