Louisa de Rothschild

Louisa, née Montefiore, Lady de Rothschild

Louisa de Rothschild (née Montefiore), Lady de Rothschild (28 May 1821 – 22 September 1910), was an Anglo-Jewish philanthropist, and founding member of the Union of Jewish Women.

## Family

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Born on 28 May 1821 in London, England,[1] Lady de Rothschild was the daughter of Abraham Joseph Eliaz Montefiore of Stamford Hill,[2] and his wife Henrietta Montefiore (née Rothschild), the daughter of Mayer Amschel Rothschild.[3] She had three full siblings and a half-sister.[1]

She married Sir Anthony de Rothschild, 1st Baronet of Tring Park in 1840,[4] the son of Nathan Mayer Rothschild and Hanna Barent Rothschild (née Cohen). They had two daughters: Constance and Annie Henrietta.[3]

Constance became Constance Flower, Lady Battersea on her marriage to Liberal politician and property developer Cyril Flower, 1st Baron Battersea and Overstrand.[5] They had no children, and in 1902, Lord Battersea was embroiled in a major homosexual scandal that was suppressed by the Balfour Government.[6]

Annie Henrietta married the politician Hon. Eliot Constantine Yorke (1843–1878), son of Charles Yorke, 4th Earl of Hardwicke.[1]

## Philanthropy

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Lady de Rothschild was influential and able to push conventions that traditionally bound Jewish women at the time.[7][8] She founded the first independent Jewish women's philanthropic associations in England, the Jewish Ladies' Benevolent Loan Society and the Ladies' Visiting Society in London in 1840.[9][10]

In 1885, Lady de Rothschild and Helen Lucas jointly paid for the cost of a nurse to work among the poor who were Jewish. Lucas would pay for two more in 1891 and 1892 and they were encouraged to use a traditional common sense approach to the help and sympathy they offered. Lucas believed that relief workers should give little priority to statistics or paperwork.[11]

## Death

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Lady de Rothschild died in 1910 at Aston Clinton House, Aylesbury, England. She was buried in the Willesden United Synagogue Cemetery in Brent, London.[1]

## References

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1. ^ a b c d Tananbaum, Susan L. (23 September 2004). "Rothschild, Louisa de, Lady de Rothschild (1821–1910), philanthropist". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/55212. Retrieved 18 April 2025. (Subscription, Wikipedia Library access or UK public library membership required.)
2. ^ Rothschild, Miriam (1983). Dear Lord Rothschild: Birds, Butterflies, and History. Balaban International Science Services. p. 391\. ISBN 978-0-86689-019-9.
3. ^ a b "Louise de Rothschild (née Montefiore) (1821-1910)". Rothschild Family Archive. Retrieved 18 April 2025.
4. ^ Strumingher, Laura S. (2006). The Life & Legacy of Baroness Betty de Rothschild. Peter Lang. pp. 59–. ISBN 978-0-8204-7885-2. "In 1842, at the age of 17, Charlotte followed what was becoming a family tradition by marrying a Rothschild. She married her … The next Rothschild to marry was Hannah's son Anthony, who wed his cousin Louisa Montefiore in 1840."
5. ^ "Constance (Connie) de Rothschild (1843-1931)". Rothschild Family Archive. 5 November 2019. Archived from the original on 5 November 2019. Retrieved 18 April 2025.
6. ^ Jordaan, Peter (22 September 2022). A Secret Between Gentlemen: Lord Battersea's Hidden Scandal and the Lives It Changed Forever. Alchemie Books. p. 217\. ISBN 978-0-6456178-1-8.
7. ^ Rubinstein, W.; Jolles, Michael A. (22 February 2011). The Palgrave Dictionary of Anglo-Jewish History. Palgrave Macmillan UK. pp. 1598–. ISBN 978-0-230-30466-6.
8. ^ The Jewish Quarterly. Vol. 22–24\. Jewish Literary Trust. 1974. "In Louisa. Lady de Rothschild (1821–1910), he found a woman of intellect and wide literary tastes. A genuine personal friendship developed between them. It was based upon his respect for her opinions and her admiration for his literary .."
9. ^ Linda L. Clark (17 April 2008). Women and Achievement in Nineteenth-Century Europe. Cambridge University Press. pp. 133–. ISBN 978-0-521-65098-4. "Lady Louise Rothschild created the first independent Jewish women's philanthropic associations in London in 1840, the Jewish Ladies' Benevolent Loan Society and the Ladies' Visiting Society. Betty de Rothschild became a leader of Jewish ..."
10. ^ "Lady Louise Rothschild". Jewish Women's Archive. Retrieved 14 May 2016.
11. ^ Tananbaum, Susan L. (23 September 2004) "Lucas [née Goldsmid], Helen (1835–1918), philanthropist and social worker". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. 2004. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/55195. Retrieved 17 December 2020. (Subscription, Wikipedia Library access or UK public library membership required.)

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