Alice Charlotte von Rothschild

Alice Charlotte von Rothschild (17 February 1847 – 3 May 1922), 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. Family life Alice von Rothschild's mother was the daughter of Nathan Mayer Rothschild of London and as a result, the family would have close connections to the English branch of the Rothschild family. Her brother Ferdinand, with whom she was believed to be very close, studied at Cambridge University and married an English cousin. Her mother died when she was twelve and her busy father travelled constantly. She lived with various relations during her childhood and was often alone. She moved to England when she was 19. Photographs of her as a girl and a young woman show her "with a broad brow, firm full lips and a strong chin, not conventionally pretty, but full of character". This sense of character is what makes Miss Alice so renowned for her formidable reputation. Girouard states that two events helped convert the young, girlish woman to her strong older self, the first being hostess for her brother Ferdinand, at Leighton House and then at Waddesdon Manor - and the second that the death of her father in 1874 made her a wealthy woman. Much to the family's surprise, she was left the original Rothschild family home in Frankfurt alongside a house and estate at the Grunburg, just outside. She lived in Piccadilly, London in a property adjacent to that of Ferdinand. When in 1874 he began the construction of Waddesdon Manor in Buckinghamshire England, Alice acquired a nearby property at Eythrope for herself. There, between 1876 and 1879, she had a park and garden created and a house built near the river called Eythrope Pavilion. Although, as Alice had suffered from rheumatic fever, she had been advised not to sleep near water as dampness would aggravate her health problem meaning her house was built for solely for daytime occupation. Therefore, at nights she returned to stay at Waddesdon Manor.