Teresa Georgina "Tess" Rothschild, Baroness Rothschild, (''née'' Mayor; 10 September 1915 – 29 May 1996) was a British counter-intelligence officer and magistrate. She was the second wife of Victor Rothschild, 3rd Baron Rothschild.

Early life

She was born Teresa Georgina Mayor in London on 10 September 1915, the daughter of Robert John Grote Mayor (1869–1947), a civil servant working for the

Board of Education A board of education, school committee or school board is the board of directors or board of trustees of a school, local school district or an equivalent institution. The elected council determines the educational policy in a small regional are ...

, and his wife, (Katherine) Beatrice Mayor, ''née'' Meinertzhagen (1885–1971), a poet and playwright. Her paternal grandfather was Joseph Bickersteth Mayor, brother of

John E. B. Mayor John Eyton Bickersteth Mayor (28 January 1825 – 1 December 1910) was an English classical scholar, writer and vegetarianism activist. Life Mayor was born at Baddegama, British Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) the son of Rev. John Major and Charlotte ...

and nephew of Henry Bickersteth, 1st Baron Langdale and Rev. Edward Bickersteth. Her father was the brother of English novelist F. M. Mayor and a great-nephew of the historian George Grote, philosopher John Grote, and colonial administrator Arthur Grote. Her maternal grandmother, Katherine Beatrice Meinertzhagen, was the sister of soldier Richard Meinertzhagen and the niece of author

Beatrice Webb Martha Beatrice Webb, Baroness Passfield, (née Potter; 22 January 1858 – 30 April 1943) was an English sociologist, economist, socialist, labour historian and social reformer. It was Webb who coined the term ''collective bargaining''. She ...

. She was educated at Bedales School from 1929 to 1934, and was head girl, followed in 1935 by Newnham College, Cambridge, where she was "the most celebrated actress of her day".

Career

After Cambridge, she worked for the publisher

Jonathan Cape Jonathan Cape is a London publishing firm founded in 1921 by Herbert Jonathan Cape, who was head of the firm until his death in 1960. Cape and his business partner Wren Howard set up the publishing house in 1921. They established a reputation ...

. During the Second World War, she was recruited by MI5 to work as assistant to Victor Rothschild, 3rd Baron Rothschild, working in anti-sabotage operations. She became a magistrate, and was Chairman of the Bench, and was a lecturer at the

Cambridge Institute of Criminology The Institute of Criminology is the criminological research institute within the Faculty of Law at the University of Cambridge. The institute is one of the oldest criminological research institutes in Europe, and has exerted a strong influence ...

, and she sat on various Home Office boards investigating the subject of penal reform. She was a trustee of Cambridge's Arts Theatre.

Personal life

On 14 August 1946, she married Victor Rothschild, 3rd Baron Rothschild, her boss in MI5, and they had two sons (one died in infancy) and two daughters together. * Emma Georgina Rothschild (born 1948), married the economist Amartya Sen (born 1933) in 1991 * Benjamin Mayer Rothschild (born and died 1952) * Victoria Katherine Rothschild (born 1953), lecturer at Queen Mary, University of London, and the second wife of the writer Simon Gray (1936–2008) *

Amschel Mayor James Rothschild Amschel Mayor James Rothschild (18 April 1955 – 8 July 1996) was a British businessman who was the executive chairman of Rothschild Asset Management of the Rothschild banking family of England. Early years and kinships Rothschild was born in ...

(1955–1996), married to Anita Patience Guinness, worked for N.M. Rothschild & Sons, and killed himself in 1996

Later life

Rothschild died on 29 May 1996 in London, and was survived by her two daughters, both of whom pursued academic careers, and a son, who entered the Rothschild banking business.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rothschild, Teresa Georgina 1915 births 1996 deaths Teresa People educated at Bedales School Alumni of Newnham College, Cambridge Academics of the University of Cambridge MI5 personnel Secret Intelligence Service personnel English justices of the peace British baronesses Members of the Order of the British Empire