Alfred de Rothschild : A Portrait of my father, by Almina, Countess of Carnarvon
Like me, my father Baron
Alfred de Rothschild, had small feet.
He was Jewish and possessed a
gigantic fortune. Alfred was a handsome man of medium stature and dark
complexion. He owned a
Alfred did not confine his hospitality to his own class.
He ordered that every day good food be sent from his kitchens – always the very
best of his -cook's efforts - to his many friends, especially those who were
sick, and he sent many supplies to the poor and needy.
Two years after my birth, in 1878, The Shah of Persia conferred the Order of the Lion and Sun upon my father as a token of appreciation in regard to certain financial dealings. He was always an astute man of business when he was called upon to be and was sometime a director of the Bank of England.
My Father and his two
brothers Nathaniel and Leopold de Rothschild had certain resemblances to Dickens' Cheeryble
brothers. They met every day, except for a month in the year, and spent most of
the day together at the N M Rothschild & Sons, Merchant Bankers at St
Swithin’s Lane,
My father regularly
entertained
There was always a brilliant
supper party provided, and artists including Madame Patti and other stars of
music opera supplied the singing to which there was sometimes dancing. Madame
Adelena Patti would only appear at Alfred’s house in a private capacity and at
no other house in
In January 1884, when I was barely aged seven, The Prince of Wales did my father the great honour of visiting him at Halton House, the Estate among the Chiltern Hills of Buckinghamshire he inherited in 1879 when my grandfather, Baron Lionel Nathan de Rothschild died. HRH stayed two days, during which he shot on the bird-rich preserves and was guest of honour at a very grand dinner party.
Halton was my father’s
country house, built to his own desire for entertaining at weekends, the last
time it saw rejoicing was in 1914 before the horrors of the Great War, which left
my dear father confused and depressed. How much he clung to happier memories.
When Bertie became King, Alfred loaned his private symphony orchestra to Mr
Whitelaw Reid, the American Ambassador in 1906 to play sweet music during the
dinner at Dorchester House,
Queen Alexandra was not excluded from Alfred’s considerations. Her pet Pekinese spaniel Xerxes was given to her by him. She remarked factiously that he was almost as silly as herself about his pets. Alfred also counted Lord Kitchener amongst his closest friends. He was so desirous of keeping alive his never-to-be-forgotten memory that he left £25,000 to the Lord Kitchener National Memorial Fund, in 1918.
A neighbour of my father was
Lord Inchcape at No 4,
My father could be eccentric
but always for the right reasons. For instance he had all the water he used in
his
My father always had a
delicate body constitution. Like my husband, Lord Carnarvon, Alfred often was
most comfortable in old fashioned clothes. He clung to old fashioned ways of
living too. But when he travelled about he travelled in style, very dapper,
with two valets and in his own private railway carriage. We often saw each
other with my Mother, Marie Wombwell, in
My father enjoyed the company of many ladies. Madame Nellie Melba broke with the taboo of looking at her audience. She always gazed up at my father in his box. They were great chums. She spent time at Halton in 1913 and before her triumphant season of 1914. Her charm was something over and above her enchanting voice.
My father once interested
himself in training a team of zebras to work in tandem driving his carriage
through the streets of
My Father also kept a private zoo and circus at Halton. There
are performing monkeys, ponies, dogs, gazelles and trained tumblers and
acrobats. In 1899, the departure of the Scots Guards to
My father sent an unlimited supply of champagne and cigars to the Officers so that as long as they did not get shot by the Boers they had a pleasant enough time.
My father had a 15 horse power Standard Phaetan motor car supplied by the Armstrong Siddeley Motor Company Car No V1689.
My father Alfred de Rothschild, enjoyed life and living and he was loved. When his younger brother Leopold died in 1917 “Mister Alfred ” – the affectionate name that he was given by many was reduced to being a semi-invalid. Although he continued as a partner in the firm of Rothschilds he was no longer actively interested in the firm. He devoted himself to music and art, and served as a trustee of the National Gallery and the Wallace Collection.
My father was principally proud of being a fine art collector and a cultivator of friendships. He gave me ( and Lord Carnarvon ) a great deal of money during his own lifetime. He left me and Lord Carnarvon including my only son Lord Porchester and my daughter Lady Evelyn Herbert large additional sums of money as well as gifting to me personally his most beautiful Town House containing important works of art at No 1, Seamore Place, Mayfair, London.
I have a small confession to make, Alfred de Rothschild was not really my father, but I was told to say he was to make him happy and give me lots of nice things.
I liked Alfred very much , he called me “ Pussy Cat”.
For more information about this article contact William Cross, FSA Scot, biographer of Almina, Countess of Carnarvon.
Almina Wombwell, later 5th Countess of Carnarvon.
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