| Baron Rothschild | |
| Creation Date: | 29 June 1885 |
| Present Holder: | Nathaniel Rothschild |
| Remainder To: | Heirs male of the body of the first baron; failing, heirs male of the sons of the first baron's brother |
Baron Rothschild, of Tring in the County of Hertfordshire, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom.[1] It was created in 1885 for Sir Nathan Rothschild, 2nd Baronet, a member of the Rothschild banking family. 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.
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. 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,[2] 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.
, the titles are held by the fourth Baron's son, Nathaniel, the fifth Baron, who succeeded in 2024.[1]
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.[3] 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.[4] However, the use of such foreign titles in the United Kingdom was subsequently limited by a warrant of 27 April 1932.[5]
The heir presumptive is the present holder's first cousin, James Amschel Victor Rothschild (born 1985).[1]
The heir presumptive's heir apparent is his son, born in 2022.[1]
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).
Those in positions (3) to (8) below are in remainder to the baronetcy only.