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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

Zoology & botany

The English Rothschilds

Among the Rothschild family, an interest in the natural world has perhaps been most clearly manifested among the descendants of Natty, 1st Lord Rothschild (1840-1915). The collection of taxonomic specimens of his elder son, Lionel Walter (1868-1937) was the largest ever assembled by one individual.

It formed the raw material for the publication of over 800 scientific papers and the description of several hundred previously unknown species, many described in his own periodical 'Novitates Zoologicae', published for 45 years. Walter's Zoological Museum at Tring (now administered by the Natural History Museum) survives as a legacy of this remarkable collection.

Walter's younger brother, Charles (1877-1923) was a keen entomologist and lepidopterist. Among his achievements was the publication of a paper identifying the flea responsible for the spread of plague. This interest in parasites was passed on to his daughter, the late Dame Miriam Rothschild (1908-2005), who catalogued her father's collection of 10,000 fleas, given to the Natural History Museum in 1913, and became a leading authority in the field of bird parasites. Her work with Theresa Clay, 'Fleas, Flukes and Cuckoos', published in 1952, became a seminal text. Among her discoveries was the mechanism by which fleas jump.

Miriam's brother, Victor, 3rd Lord Rothschild (1910-1990) became a specialist in the scientific study of fertilization in plants and animals. Between 1938 and 1956, he published extensively on the subject, culminating in his book, 'Fertilization' (1956).

The French Rothschilds

Maurice Edmond Charles de Rothschild (1881-1957) was the second son of Edmond de Rothschild and was born at Boulogne-sur-Seine on 19 May 1881. He followed his father into membership of the Academy of Fine Arts, in recognition of his collecting tastes which he had honed during a short spell as a picture dealer. Together with Henri Neuville, Maurice organised a zoological expedition to Africa 1910-1911 and wrote scientific papers.

List of Rothschild fauna: 'Rothschildi' »

List of Rothschild flora: species and cultivars »

Walter's museum at Tring in the 1920s.

Walter's museum at Tring in the 1920s.

African butterflies described by Walter in Novitates Zoologicae in the 1890s.

African butterflies described by Walter in Novitates Zoologicae in the 1890s.