Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild, also known as Ferdinand James Anselm Freiherr von Rothschild, was a British banker, art collector and politician who was a member of the Rothschild family of bankers. He identified as a Liberal, later Liberal Unionist, and sat as a Member of Parliament in the House of Commons from 1885 to 1898. Ferdinand had a younger sister, Alice, who like her brother was a keen horticulturalist and collector. She inherited Ferdinand's property, Waddesdon Manor, in 1898 after he died and likewise continued the tradition of using the house as a place to keep his collections.
Ferdinand de Rothschild
Alice Charlotte von Rothschild
Alice Charlotte von Rothschild, otherwise referred to as 'Miss Alice', was a socialite and member of the Rothschild banking family of Austria. Born in Frankfurt, she was the eighth and youngest child of Anselm von Rothschild (1803–1874) and Charlotte Rothschild (1807–1859) and younger sister of the British politician, Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild. She was quite young when her family moved to Vienna, where her father took over the management of the family-owned S M von Rothschild bank.
The Grey Drawing Room at Waddesdon Manor, which Alice inherited after her brother's death.
Miss Alice felt the need to add to the gap in the collection when her brother died and bequeathed the majority of his renaissance collection to the British Museum. She therefore added major pieces of armour to the armoury corridor, just outside the Smoking Room.
