Mayer Amschel de Rothschild - Life

Life

Known to his family as "Muffy", he was born in New Court, London. After studying at the University of Leipzig and Heidelberg University he became the first member of his family to receive an education at an English university, spending time at both Magdalene and Trinity College, Cambridge. Although apprenticed in the family's various banking houses in Europe, he never became a major part of the banking empire. He became High Sheriff of Buckinghamshire in 1847 and was elected Liberal MP for Hythe in 1859.

Mayer's mother Hannah (née Cohen) began the Rothschild acquisitions in Buckinghamshire. Thinking her sons unhealthy, she began to purchase parcels of land around Aylesbury in prime hunting country, where they could take outdoor exercise. By the middle of the 19th century, all three of her sons had large estates and mansions in the Vale of Aylesbury: Lionel de Rothschild at Tring; Anthony Nathan de Rothschild at Aston Clinton; and Mayer at Mentmore. There he built Mentmore Towers, the most sumptuous of the English Rothschild houses at the time. Other cousins were to follow: Ferdinand James von Rothschild at Waddesdon, and Alfred de Rothschild at Halton.

Mayer Rothschild was a keen horseback rider and hunter in spite of his sixteen stone frame and was a fan of thoroughbred horse racing. He established a stud farm at Crafton, Buckinghamshire, and was a member of the Jockey Club. In 1871, his horses won four of the five "classic" races: Favonius won the Epsom Derby and "Hannah" won the Epsom Oaks, the 1,000 Guineas and the St. Leger Stakes.

In 1873 Baron Mayer bought 90 acres (360,000 m²) of land at Ascott two miles from Mentmore. This was given to his nephew Leopold de Rothschild who enlarged the existing Ascott House to the Neo-Tudor structure seen today.