Lionel Nathan de Rothschild, OBE (25 January 1882 – 28 January 1942), also Major Lionel de Rothschild, was a British

banker A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets. Becaus ...

and

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

politician best remembered as the creator of

Exbury Gardens Exbury Gardens is a informal woodland garden in Hampshire, England with large collections of rhododendrons, azaleas and camellias, and is often considered the finest garden of its type in the United Kingdom. Exbury holds the national collectio ...

by the

New Forest The New Forest is one of the largest remaining tracts of unenclosed pasture land, heathland and forest in Southern England, covering southwest Hampshire and southeast Wiltshire. It was proclaimed a royal forest by William the Conqueror, fea ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English cities on its south coast, Southampton and Portsmouth, Hampshire ...

. He was the eldest son of

Leopold de Rothschild Leopold de Rothschild (22 November 1845 – 29 May 1917) was a British banker, thoroughbred race horse breeder, and a member of the prominent Rothschild family. Biography Early life Leopold de Rothschild was the third son and youngest of th ...

(1845–1917) and a part of the prominent

Rothschild banking family of England The Rothschild banking family of England was founded in (1798) by Nathan Mayer von Rothschild (1777–1836) who first settled in Manchester but then moved to London (at the time in the Kingdom of Great Britain). Nathan was sent there from his ...

. In 1910, he was elected to the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...

. In 1917, he co-founded the anti-Zionist

League of British Jews The League of British Jews was an Anglo-Jewish anti-Zionist organization that opposed the Balfour Declaration giving British support for the establishment of a Jewish homeland in Palestine. The League was founded in November 1917 by a group of prom ...

Early life and family

Lionel Nathan de Rothschild was the eldest of the three sons of

(1845–1917) and Marie Perugia (1862–1937). He was born in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

and educated at

Harrow School Harrow School () is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English Independent school (United Kingdom), independent boarding school for boys) in Harrow on the Hill, Greater London, England. The school was founded in 1572 by John Lyon (sc ...

and

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge or Oxford. ...

, where he graduated BA in 1903 and MA in 1908. On 25 January 1910 he was elected to the

for the constituency of

Aylesbury Aylesbury ( ) is the county town of Buckinghamshire, South East England. It is home to the Roald Dahl Children's Gallery, David Tugwell`s house on Watermead and the Waterside Theatre. It is in central Buckinghamshire, midway between High Wy ...

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-e ...

and was a Member of Parliament until 1923. In 1912 he married Marie Louise Eugénie Beer (1892–1975). They had the following children: * Rosemary Leonora Ruth (1913–2013), the first wife of Major Hon Denis Gomer Berry * Edmund Leopold (1916–2009) * Naomi Luisa Nina (1920-2007) * Leopold David (1927–2012)

World War I

At the outbreak of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, Lionel's younger brothers Evelyn and

Anthony Anthony or Antony is a masculine given name, derived from the '' Antonii'', a ''gens'' ( Roman family name) to which Mark Antony (''Marcus Antonius'') belonged. According to Plutarch, the Antonii gens were Heracleidae, being descendants of Anton, ...

both joined the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurkha ...

. However, as the eldest son he was needed as the heir to take over the family's

N M Rothschild & Sons Rothschild & Co is a multinational investment bank and financial services company, and the flagship of the Rothschild banking group controlled by the French and British branches of the Rothschild family. The banking business of the firm covers th ...

banking house. Much to his frustration, Lionel had no choice but to remain at home. When Britain entered the War in August 1914, Lionel had already been promoted from captain to major in the

Royal Buckinghamshire Yeomanry The Royal Buckinghamshire Yeomanry is an Operational Hygiene Squadron of the Royal Logistic Corps, originally formed as cavalry in 1794, and has also served in artillery and signals roles. The lineage is continued by 710 (Royal Buckinghamshire Hu ...

. As the Government recognized that many Jews yet had not been enlisted in military service, a ''Central Jewish Recruiting Committee'' was established in December 1915. Its office was located at the Rothschild's ''New Court'', which was colloquially known as "Rothschild’s Recruiting Office", while Lionel was appointed vice-chairman. Chairman was Edmund Sebag-Montefiore. In 1917 he co-founded and headed the anti-Zionist

. Lionel was made OBE in the Military Division in 1917. He was retired from the regiment in 1921.''‘There are three types of men’: Lionel de Rothschild and The Jewish War Services Committee, 1915–1919''
pp. 37-39. Justin Cavernelis-Frost, The Rothschild Archive. Both of his brothers were wounded in battle, and brother Evelyn died of combat injuries suffered at the 1917

Battle of Mughar Ridge The Battle of Mughar Ridge, officially known by the British as the action of El Mughar, took place on 13 November 1917 during the Pursuit phase of the Southern Palestine Offensive of the Sinai and Palestine Campaign in the First World War. Figh ...

Engagement in plants

His father, Leopold, died in early 1917 and Lionel and brother Anthony became the managing partners of N M Rothschild & Sons bank. However, Lionel de Rothschild had developed an interest in

horticulture Horticulture is the branch of agriculture that deals with the art, science, technology, and business of plant cultivation. It includes the cultivation of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, herbs, sprouts, mushrooms, algae, flowers, seaweeds and no ...

at a very young age and is said to have planted his first garden at the age of five. In 1919, he purchased the Mitford estate at Exbury in

, where he devoted a great deal of time and money to transform it into one of the finest gardens in all of England, with more than one million plants. In the 1920s, he built Exbury House around an existing structure in a neo-Georgian style. He constructed a private

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a p ...

to transport rocks to build the largest

rock garden A rock garden, also known as a rockery and formerly as a rockwork, is a garden, or more often a part of a garden, with a landscaping framework of rocks, stones, and gravel, with planting appropriate to this setting. Usually these are small ...

in the country. Lionel de Rothschild also co-sponsored plant-hunting expeditions to places as isolated as the

Himalayas The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over 10 ...

to collect seed for plant growth and experimentation. In all, he developed 1,204 new hybrids of

rhododendron ''Rhododendron'' (; from Ancient Greek ''rhódon'' "rose" and ''déndron'' "tree") is a very large genus of about 1,024 species of woody plants in the heath family (Ericaceae). They can be either evergreen or deciduous. Most species are nati ...

and

azalea Azaleas are flowering shrubs in the genus '' Rhododendron'', particularly the former sections '' Tsutsusi'' (evergreen) and '' Pentanthera'' (deciduous). Azaleas bloom in the spring (April and May in the temperate Northern Hemisphere, and Oct ...

that were recognized and sold around the world. Although he continued to work at the family bank, he is quoted as describing himself as "a banker by hobby — a gardener by profession".

Death

Lionel Nathan de Rothschild died in London, aged sixty, in 1942 and was buried in the

Willesden Jewish Cemetery The Willesden United Synagogue Cemetery, usually known as Willesden Jewish Cemetery, is a Jewish cemetery at Beaconsfield Road, Willesden, in the London Borough of Brent, England. It opened in 1873 on a site. It has been described as the ...

. His son Edmund took over management of the Exbury Gardens and would eventually create a charitable trust to manage the property. In 2001, the American Rhododendron Society recognised Lionel Nathan de Rothschild's significant contribution, posthumously bestowing on him a Pioneer Achievement Award.

References

* See the list of references at:

External links

*
''Letter from Major Lionel de Rothschild to Lord Curzon concerning: Draft mandate for the administration of Palestine: requests copies to be sent to the Executives of the League of British Jews.''
(catalogue only). The National Archives, UK
''Typed letter from Major Lionel de Rothschild to Wollaston of 7 April 1921 asking for share of every rhododendron seed and plant and magnolia seeds in return for subscription of £100 towards Expedition funds.''
5 July 1920 (catalogue only). The National Archives, UK {{DEFAULTSORT:Rothschild, Lionel Nathan 1882 births 1942 deaths People educated at Harrow School Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge English bankers English gardeners English people of German-Jewish descent

Lionel Nathan de Rothschild Lionel Nathan de Rothschild, OBE (25 January 1882 – 28 January 1942), also Major Lionel de Rothschild, was a British banker and Conservative politician best remembered as the creator of Exbury Gardens by the New Forest in Hampshire. He wa ...

English Jews Liberal Unionist Party MPs for English constituencies Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1910 UK MPs 1910–1918 UK MPs 1918–1922 UK MPs 1922–1923 Burials at Willesden Jewish Cemetery Officers of the Order of the British Empire Royal Buckinghamshire Yeomanry officers Politicians from London Jewish British politicians Victoria Medal of Honour (Horticulture) recipients N M Rothschild & Sons people 20th-century English businesspeople British Army personnel of World War I Anti-Zionist Jews