Ephraim Lópes Pereira d'Aguilar (1739 in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

– 1802 in London) was the second Baron d'Aguilar, a Barony of the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a Polity, political entity in Western Europe, Western, Central Europe, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its Dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, dissolution i ...

Early life

He was a son of Donna Simha da Fonseca, who died 1755, and Baron Diego Pereira d'Aguilar, a Jewish businessman, community leader and philanthropist, originally a Portuguese

converso A ''converso'' (; ; feminine form ''conversa''), "convert", () was a Jew who converted to Catholicism in Spain or Portugal, particularly during the 14th and 15th centuries, or one of his or her descendants. To safeguard the Old Christian po ...

. In 1757, d'Aguilar was

naturalized Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-citizen of a country may acquire citizenship or nationality of that country. It may be done automatically by a statute, i.e., without any effort on the part of the in ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, where he had settled with his father.

Career

He succeeded to his father's title and fortune upon his death on 10 August 1759 in London, and for a time lived in luxurious style with twenty servants at the Broad Street Buildings. By the time of the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

, however, d'Aguilar had lost an American estate of 15,000 acres (61 km²). Subsequently, he became known as a miserly and eccentric person, giving up his mansion in Broad Street as well as his

country house An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a town house. This allowed them to spend time in the country and in the city—hence, for these peopl ...

s at Bethnal Green, Twickenham, and Sydenham. His establishment at Colebrook Row, Islington, was popularly styled "Starvation Farm", because of the scanty food provided for the cattle. He came a

freemason Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

in 1778.

Public offices

D'Aguilar held various positions in his community, and served as treasurer of the Portuguese Synagogue; the minutes of the proceedings of the

Mahamad Ma'amad or Mahamad ( he, מעמד) was Council of Elders (or "the board of directors") of the communities of Sephardi Jews ( Spanish-Portuguese Jews) corresponding to ''qahal'' of the Ashkenazi Jews. Ma'amad was described as extremely conservative ...

bear the signature of Ephraim d'Aguilar. He was elected warden in 1765, but declined to serve, and refused on technical grounds to pay the fine. D'Aguilar was given eight days to accept the position or to submit to the penalty. He evidently submitted, since on 5 March 1767 he married for the second time. He would not have been able to marry her had he been lying under the ban. d'Aguilar was again elected to office in 1770, and for some years thereafter remained a member of the

synagogue A synagogue, ', 'house of assembly', or ', "house of prayer"; Yiddish: ''shul'', Ladino: or ' (from synagogue); or ', "community". sometimes referred to as shul, and interchangeably used with the word temple, is a Jewish house of worshi ...

Personal life

On 8 December 1756, he married Simha "Sarah" Mendes da Costa (–1763), daughter of Moses Mendes da Costa and Catherine da Costa, who is reported to have brought him a fortune of £150,000. She was the mother of his two legitimate daughters. He also had a son. His children included: * Georgina Isabella d'Aguilar, who married Vice Admiral The Hon.

Keith Stewart Vice-Admiral Keith Stewart (1739 – 3 March 1795) was a Scottish Royal Navy officer and politician who sat in the House of Commons on two occasions. Having began his naval career in around 1753, Stewart was promoted to commander in 1761 an ...

(1739–1795), a son of

Alexander Stewart, 6th Earl of Galloway Alexander Stewart, 6th Earl of Galloway ( – 24 September 1773) was a Scottish aristocrat. Early life Alexander was the eldest son of Lady Catherine Montgomerie and James Stewart, 5th Earl of Galloway, a Commissioner of the Scottish Treasury an ...

and the former Lady Catherine Cochrane (the youngest daughter of

John Cochrane, 4th Earl of Dundonald John Cochrane, 4th Earl of Dundonald (4 July 1687 – 5 June 1720), was a Scottish aristocrat and politician. Early life Cochrane was born on 4 July 1687. He was the second son of John Cochrane, 2nd Earl of Dundonald and Lady Susan Hamilton. His e ...

). Following his death, she married secondly, in 1797, Lt.-Col. Richard Fitzgerald, who was killed in action at the

Battle of Waterloo The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815, near Waterloo, Belgium, Waterloo (at that time in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, now in Belgium). A French army under the command of Napoleon was defeated by two of the armie ...

. * Caroline d'Aguilar After the death of his first wife on 5 May 1763, d'Aguilar married Rebecca (née Lamego) da Costa on 5 March 1767. She was the daughter of Isaac Lamego, and widow of Benjamin Mendes da Costa, Chairman of the Committee of Diligence (and father of Benjamin Mendes da Costa, Australian merchant). When d'Aguilar took up his eccentric life, however, the couple separated. After twenty years, a partial reconciliation took place between the baron and his wife, but only for a short time. Rebecca died on 30 November 1795. Upon his death at Islington in 1802, d'Aguilar left a fortune valued at £200,000 hidden throughout the dwelling to his two daughters who survived him.

Descendants

Through his daughter Georgina, he was a grandfather of Leveson Douglas Stewart and James Alexander Stewart (1784–1843), who married

Mary Elizabeth Frederica Mackenzie Mary Elizabeth Frederica Mackenzie (27 March 1783 – 28 November 1862) was the eldest daughter and heiress of Francis Mackenzie, 1st Baron Seaforth. Also known as "Lady Hood Mackenzie", or by the sobriquet "The Hooded Lassie", she was married i ...

, former wife of Vice Admiral

Sir Samuel Hood Samuel Hood, 1st Viscount Hood (12 December 1724 – 27 January 1816) was an admiral in the Royal Navy. As a junior officer he saw action during the War of the Austrian Succession. While in temporary command of , he drove a French ship ashore i ...

, daughter of

Francis Mackenzie, 1st Baron Seaforth Lieutenant-General Francis Humberston Mackenzie, 1st Baron Seaforth, (9 June 1754 – 11 January 1815) was a British politician, soldier, and botanist. He was Chief of the Highland Clan Mackenzie, as which he raised the renowned 78th (Highla ...

and sister of Helen Anne Mackenzie (wife of

Joshua Henry Mackenzie, Lord Mackenzie The Hon. Joshua Henry Mackenzie, Lord Mackenzie (1774 – 1871) was a 19th-century Scottish lawyer who rose to be a Senator of the College of Justice. Early life He was born in 1774 the eldest son of the Edinburgh author Henry Mackenzie and his ...

). After their marriage, he assumed the additional surname of Mackenzie.

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Pereira, Ephraim 18th-century English Jews Portuguese Jews Barons of the Holy Roman Empire 1739 births 1802 deaths Misers Freemasons of the Premier Grand Lodge of England English people of Portuguese-Jewish descent English Sephardi Jews English people of Portuguese descent