Arrangement of family papers

Individual family members

Collections of papers concerning individual family members have been grouped geographically (English, French, Frankfurt and Viennese family) and then arranged alphabetcially by the name of the family member to which they relate; papers of famnily members who were born in one country, but then through marriage or by choice, moved abroad will be found listed under the country of their adult residence. Entries for individual family members also include secondary material which has not necessarily been generated by that person but is listed here for convenience. Where significant amounts of material relating to an individual will also be found in a Named Collection, this is noted. Also described here are artefacts held by the Archive that relate to a particular individual.

The original order of many family collections has often been disturbed, both during the time when the collections were privately held, and when they were received into the Archive Department of the Rothschild bank, before the creation of The Rothschild Archive. Disturbance has often largely ignored the concept of provenance, as, in the case of family letters, and many of these were grouped together under the name of the person writing the letter; rather than by the name of the person receiving the letter.

Sundry family papers

Collections of papers relating to more than one Rothschild family member. This includes collections of family correspondence, official documents, Rothschild family pedigrees and photographs. Also included in this section of the Guide are papers concerning families related to the Rothschilds, and collections of press cuttings, books and pamphlets about the Rothschild family and business.

Named Collections

These are discrete large collections of family papers, usually relating to a number of family members, transferred from a particular place or person; they are named after the place from which they were transferred, or the person to which they relate.

Estates

The archive has comparatively few records relating to the estates and private houses of the Rothschild family. Papers here are listed alphabetcially by the name of the esate to which they refer. Also included here are secondary sources relating to Rothschild estates.

Papers of institutions

The Archive holds a very few papers (mainly secondary sources) relating to institutions, charities and other bodies with Rothschild connections. Whilst not in the strictest sense 'family papers', they are listed here for convenience.