This is Waddeson Manor, located in Buckinghamshire, England. It has been owned by the National Trust since 1957, but before that was the home to members of the English branch of the Rothschild family, having been built in the 19th century by Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild. It is the home of 15,000 pieces of art owned by the Rothschilds (I think still owned by the family) and the wine collection of the late Jacob Rothschild, whose obituary is in today’s New York Times.

The Rothschild family, descendants of Meir Amschel Rothschild, who was a money lender in early 19th century Frankfurt, may be the world’s most financially successful family ever, antisemitism be damned. I would like to know more about them than I do. Years ago,I read a book called The Rothschilds by, I think, Frederic Morton, a well known book that I recall concentrated on the early years of the family. I am more interested in the present.

There were things in the Times obituary that fascinated me. Jacob (For some reason, I want to call him Jack) “played an energetic but some what secretive role, in Israel, where he led the Yad Handicap Foundation (don’t know what that is) and “sponsored” the “construction of Israel’s Parliament, Supreme Court and National Library.” Well, that is something, isn’t it? And….who knew?

Remember, this is just the English branch of the family. Other than Waddeson Manor, where else did Rothschilds live in England? Here are some of their homes:

But Jack (my new, but deceased friend) had different tastes. Here is the environmentally friendly house, Flint House, he built in 2015:

How times and tastes change.

Other things about the Rothschild family that I would like to know include information about gender and religion.

The Times article said that the Rothschild business were passed on to male family members only, that daughters and their husbands were not involved. But I am sure the daughters were not put out onto the street. What are their stories?

And what about religion? Jack’s wife was Serena Dunn, certainly not Jewish, but a member of an established British upper class family and well known thoroughbred breeder. They have four children. Are the children Jewish? How do they view themselves? What does/would the Chief Rabbi of the United Kingdom conclude?

For that matter, Jack’s mother wasn’t Jewish either. And she and Jack’s father Victor divorced, and I think his mother had two very non-Jewish husbands after the divorce.

Now, I understand there may have been conversions. Maybe that was a requirement of becoming a Rothschild. I don’t know. But the idea of a Rothschild as a stalwart of the Church of England doesn’t quite make sense.

So there is a lot to learn, isn’t there?

You may be wondering “How long has he been interested in the Rothschilds?” Let’s see. It’s 9:50 a.m. now. I’d say…..since about 8:45.