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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

Custodial history of the collections

Despite the depredations of time and occasional bouts of over-enthusiastic destruction, a high proportion of the records of the London and Paris business houses have survived; however, business papers of the Naples, Frankfurt and Vienna business houses, and many private family papers have been lost.

Business records of M A Rothschild & Söhne, Frankfurt

Very few papers of the Frankfurt house survive. With the closure of the Frankfurt house in 1901, most records of the business were destroyed, although some documents relating to the liquidation of the business, and documentation relating to the Rothschild family trust in Frankfurt were sent to London. 

Business records of N M Rothschild & Sons, London 

A high proportion of the records of N M Rothschild & Sons have survived across nearly two centuries of continuing business, in good physical condition and carefully preserved order, looked after by generations of clerks in the Archives Department of the London Bank. It was Victor, 3rd Lord Rothschild, who, in 1978, with the encouragement of the historian J. H. Plumb, then Master of Christ's College, Cambridge, took the first steps towards putting the records of the London business in order so as to make them available to the research community. An Archivist was appointed and work began on sorting the records and systematising procedures for access. In 1999, the Board of Directors of N M Rothschild & Sons Limited, under the Chairmanship of Sir Evelyn de Rothschild (1931-2022), formally gifted the contents of the Archive Department of the London business to a newly established body of Trustees. Since 1999, the scope and scale of the Archive have gradually broadened as donations and deposits of further papers concerning the activities and history of the Rothschild family have been received.

Business records of de Rothschild Frères, Paris

For many years up until the Second World War, the archives of the Paris house survived remarkably intact, held in the bank's premsies in the rue Laffitte, Paris. In 1972, the French Rothschild family deposited the archives of de Rothschild Frères with the Archives Nationales de France in Paris. These papers were subsequently transferred to the Archives Nationales du Monde du Travail in Roubaix, France. The papers remain held on deposit at the Archives Nationales du Monde du Travail in Roubaix, France.

Business records of of S M von Rothschild, Vienna

The Viennese bank founded by Salomon von Rothschild in the 1820s was eventually taken over by the firm S. Nicolai during the Second World War. Regrettably, most papers of the business have not survived. However, The Rothschild Archive holds a small but significant collection of papers of the Viennese Bank which were seized during the war and later restituted to the Rothschild family. Please see the 'The Return of the Austrian Rothschild Archive' in The Rothschild Archive Annual Review 2001-2002 for more information about the history of these records. There are also some papers concerning the Viennese house which are held with the collections of de Rothschild Frères at the Archives Nationales du Monde du Travail, Roubaix, France. 

Business records of C M de Rothschild & Figli, Naples

The Naples house closed in 1863; the records of the Naples house were held by the Frankfurt partners and were destroyed after the closure of that branch in 1901, although some correspondence from Carl, Adolphe and C M de Rothschild & Figli to the London bank survives in the records of the London house.

Rothschild family papers

The Rothschild Archive also holds collections of personal papers and material relating to the many and varied private interests of members of the Rothschild family. Private papers survive in varying degrees; many family members left instructions that personal correspondence and papers be destroyed after their death, and many of the estate papers of the great Rothschild estates have been lost. Further tranches of material were destoyed during the Second World War.

The Archive has created a Guide to its holdings. For full information about the history of the collections and detailed catalogue information, Go to The Guide to the collections of The Rothschild Archive »

Brochure for the Royal Mint Refinery 1957

Brochure for the Royal Mint Refinery 1957

Nathaniel 1st Lord Rothschild (1840-1915)

Nathaniel 1st Lord Rothschild (1840-1915)