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. The Grey Drawing Room at Waddesdon Manor, which Alice inherited after her brother's death. 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. 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.

Collecting and innovating conservation 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. Like many other members of the Rothschild family, Alice Rothschild was a collector of art. While she acquired paintings, sculptures and objets d'art, Alice von Rothschild also had a unique collection of smoking pipes, including French, Spanish and Italian examples from the 17th century. The collection was donated to the town of Grasse, France on her death in 1922, where her winter property was based. The château in Grasse later became the hotel "Parc Palace", where the famous French actor Gérard Philipe was raised. Avenue Rothschild in Grasse is named in her honor.

Along these same lines, Miss Alice was also an avid and careful collector for Waddesdon Manor, and added elements to Ferdinand's previous collection in order to fill the gap left when he bequeathed much of his Renaissance artwork to the British Museum (now referred to as the Waddesdon Bequest). For instance, the helmet of the Emperor Charles V is a prominent contribution of Miss Alice's to the Armoury Corridor, upstairs in the Bachelor's Wing. She regarded herself as 'the protector' of Ferdinand's inheritance and is famous for establishing ‘Miss Alice’s Rules' – guidelines for the care and preservation of the collections which formed the foundation for conservation practices at the National Trust.

Death and legacy

Alice von Rothschild died on 3 May 1922 in Paris, at the age of 75. She bequeathed the Waddesdon estate to her nephew, James Armand de Rothschild.

An exhibition about the role of von Rothschild in the history of Waddesdon Manor was held there in 2022.