Baron Emile Beaumont D'Erlanger (4 June 1866 – 24 July 1939) was a French-born British merchant banker.

Life

He was the second eldest son of

Frédéric Emile d'Erlanger Frédéric and Frédérick are the French language, French versions of the common male given name Frederick (given name), Frederick. They may refer to: In artistry: * Frédéric Back, Canadian award-winning animator * Frédéric Bartholdi, French ...

, a banker working in Paris at the French branch of Emile Erlanger and Company and Marguerite Mathilde Slidell (1842–1927). ''(See: Erlanger family tree).'' His older brother, Baron Raphael Slidell d'Erlanger, who might have been more likely to follow his father into banking, was instead a scientist and professor at

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; ; ) is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fifth-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, and with a population of about 163,000, of which roughly a quarter consists of studen ...

. Emile followed the banking route and from his father he was entrusted with presidency of the railway and tramway companies including the New General Traction Company in England. In 1891, he became a naturalised British subject. From 1911, he was chairman of the Channel Tunnel Company (the predecessor of

EuroTunnel Getlink, formerly Groupe Eurotunnel, is a European public company based in Paris that manages and operates the infrastructure of the Channel Tunnel between France and the United Kingdom, operates the LeShuttle railway service, and earns reven ...

) and financed its design.Channel tunnel visions, 1850–1945: dreams and nightmares, Keith M. Wilson, Continuum International Publishing Group, 1994 The company also financed the building of railways in

Rhodesia Rhodesia ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Rhodesia from 1970, was an unrecognised state, unrecognised state in Southern Africa that existed from 1965 to 1979. Rhodesia served as the ''de facto'' Succession of states, successor state to the ...

Angola Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Central Africa, central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking world, Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) country in both total area and List of c ...

and the Congo.

Family

In Paris in 1895, he married Rose Marie Antoinette Katherine (Kate) Robert d'Aqueria de Rochegude (1874–1959). She was the daughter of a landowner and shipowner in

Le Havre Le Havre is a major port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy (administrative region), Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the Seine, river Seine on the English Channel, Channe ...

. They lived in

Falconwood Falconwood is an area of south east London within both the London Boroughs of Bexley and Greenwich. It is north east of Eltham and south west of Welling. According to the 2021 census, Falconwood, has a population of roughly 16,600 (Falconwood an ...

, Woolwich, near Shooters Hill, south-east London, and also at 139 Piccadilly, the former home of

Lord Byron George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824) was an English poet. He is one of the major figures of the Romantic movement, and is regarded as being among the greatest poets of the United Kingdom. Among his best-kno ...

. Later they moved to America and lived in Beverly Hills. His wife, the Baroness, was a patron of the arts, supporting artists such as

Cecil Beaton Sir Cecil Walter Hardy Beaton (14 January 1904 – 18 January 1980) was a British fashion, portrait and war photographer, diarist, painter, and interior designer, as well as costume designer and set designer for stage and screen. His accolades ...

Romaine Brooks Romaine Brooks (born Beatrice Romaine Goddard; May 1, 1874 – December 7, 1970) was an American painter who worked mostly in Paris and Capri. She specialized in portrait painting, portraiture and used a subdued tonal Palette (painting), palette ...

, and

Sergei Diaghilev Sergei Pavlovich Diaghilev ( ; rus, Серге́й Па́влович Дя́гилев, , sʲɪrˈɡʲej ˈpavləvʲɪdʑ ˈdʲæɡʲɪlʲɪf; 19 August 1929), also known as Serge Diaghilev, was a Russian art critic, patron, ballet impresario an ...

. The couple had five children, *Robert (called Robin) Emile Frédéric Regis d'Erlanger (1896–1934) * Mary Liliane Matilda, called Baba, Baroness d'Erlanger (1901–1945), *Maria Bianca Muriel Iris d'Erlanger, (1904–1905), * Gerard John Regis Leo Baron d'Erlanger (1905–1962), a director of the

British Overseas Airways Corporation British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) was the United Kingdom, British state-owned national airline created in 1939 by the merger of Imperial Airways and British Airways Ltd. It continued operating overseas services throughout World War II ...

(BOAC) and head of the

Air Transport Auxiliary The Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA) was a British civilian organisation set up at the start of the Second World War with headquarters at White Waltham Airfield in Berkshire. The ATA ferried new, repaired and damaged military aircraft between fac ...

during World War II; his daughter Mary "Minnie" Caroline d'Erlanger married

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, military officer, and writer who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 (Winston Churchill in the Second World War, ...

, the grandson of Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill *Bianca, Baroness d'Erlanger.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Erlanger, Emile Beaumont d' 1866 births 1939 deaths French bankers French people of Jewish descent French barons Austrian nobility Emile Beaumont French emigrants to the United Kingdom