Lionel Nathan de Rothschild, born November 22, 1808 - June 3, 1879, was the son of Nathan Mayer Rothschild and Hanna Barent Cohen and a member of the prominent Rothschild family.
First Jewish member of Parliament
In 1847 Lionel de Rothschild was first elected to the British House of Commons as one of four MPs for the City of London. Jews were at that point still barred from sitting in the chamber due to the Christian oath required to be sworn in so Prime Minister Lord John Russell introduced a Jewish Disabilities Bill to remove the problem with the oath. In 1848, the bill was approved by the House of Commons but was twice rejected by the House of Lords. After being rejected again by the Upper House in 1849, Rothschild resigned his seat and stood again winning in a by-election in order to strengthen his claim.
In 1850, he entered the House of Commons to take his seat but refused to swear on a Christian Bible asking to use only the Old Testament. This was permitted but when omitting the words "upon the true faith of a Christian" from the oath he was required to leave.
In 1851 a new Jewish Disabilities Bill was defeated in the House of Lords. In the 1852 general election Rothschild was again elected but the next year the bill was again defeated in the upper house.
Finally, in 1858, the House of Lords agreed to a proposal to allow each house to decide its own oath. On July 26 1858 de Rothschild took the oath with covered head, substituting "so help me, (using a Hebrew word for) God" for the ordinary form of oath, and thereupon took his seat as the first Jewish member of Parliament.
Family
His son Nathan Mayer Rothschild, 1st Baron Rothschild was the first Jew to become a member of the House of Lords.
See also
