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Henry de Worms, 1st Baron Pirbright

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The Right Honourable
The Lord Pirbright
PC, DL, JP, FRS
Portrait by Sándor Liezen-Mayer, 1880s
Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies
In office
20 February 1888 – 1892
MonarchVictoria
Prime MinisterThe Marquess of Salisbury
Preceded byThe Earl of Onslow
Succeeded bySydney Buxton
Personal details
Born(1840-10-26)26 October 1840
London
Died9 January 1903(1903-01-09) (aged 62)
London
NationalityBritish
Political partyConservative
Spouse(s)(1) Fanny von Todesco
(2) Sarah Phillips (died 1914)
Alma materKing's College London

Henry de Worms, 1st Baron Pirbright PC, DL, JP, FRS (20 October 1840 – 9 January 1903), known before his elevation to the peerage in 1895 as Baron Henry de Worms, was a British Conservative politician.

Background and education

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Henry de Worms was born in London on 20 October 1840, the third son of Solomon Benedict de Worms (1801–1882). His father owned large plantations in Ceylon and was made a Hereditary Baron of the Austrian Empire by Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria. His mother was Henrietta Samuel (d.1845), daughter of Samuel Moses Samuel. His siblings were George de Worms, 2nd Baron de Worms (1829–1902), Anthony Mayer de Worms (1830–1864), and Ellen Henrietta de Worms (born 1836).

Both on his father′s side and on his mother′s side he belonged to wealthy mercantile families. His paternal grandmother was Schönche Jeannette Rothschild (1771–1859), thus his paternal great-grandfather was Mayer Amschel Rothschild (1744–1812), the founder of the Rothschild banking dynasty. As a result, his paternal great-granduncles were Amschel Mayer Rothschild (1773–1855), Salomon Mayer von Rothschild (1774–1855), Nathan Mayer Rothschild (1777–1836), Carl Mayer von Rothschild (1788–1855), and James Mayer de Rothschild (1792–1868). His uncles, who owned plantations in Ceylon with his father, were Maurice Benedict de Worms (1805–1867) and Gabriel Benedict de Worms (1802–1881).[1] His maternal grandfather was a West Indian merchant, whose fortune Lord Pirbright inherited indirectly through his uncle George Samuel.[2]

He was educated at King's College London.[3] He was called to the Bar, Inner Temple, in 1863, and became a fellow of King's College in the same year.[3]

Political career

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De Worms served as Conservative Member of Parliament for Greenwich from 1880 to 1885 and for Liverpool East Toxteth from 1885 to 1895 and held office under Lord Salisbury as Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Trade from 1886 to 1888 and as Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies from 1888 to 1892.

He was British Plenipotentiary and President of the Conference on Sugar Bounties in 1888,[4] and later served as a Commissioner for the Patriotic Fund.[5] He was appointed a Privy Counsellor in 1888 and raised to the peerage as Baron Pirbright, of Pirbright in the County of Surrey, in 1895.[6] He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1889.[citation needed]

His publications include England's Policy in the East, The Earth and its Mechanism, The Austro-Hungarian Empire and Memoirs of Count Beust.[3][5]

Lord Pirbright died at his residence in London on 9 January 1903, aged 62.[2]

Family

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Lord Pirbright's tomb at St Mark's Church, Wyke, Surrey

De Worms married first, in 1864, Franziska "Fanny" von Todesco (1846–1922), eldest daughter of Baron von Todesco [de], of Vienna. They had three daughters:[7]

He divorced his first wife in 1886, and married secondly in 1887 Sarah Phillips, daughter of Sir Benjamin Samuel Phillips, and sister of Sir George Faudel Phillips, 1st Baronet. Both her father and her brother served as Lord Mayors of London.[2]

Born Jewish, he was an active member of the Jewish community until he married a Christian woman. He then dissociated himself entirely from Judaism, and was buried at the Christian cemetery of St. Mark's in Wyke, Surrey.[1]

The barony became extinct on his death as he had no sons. His second wife Lady Pirbright died in November 1914.[citation needed]

References

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  1. ^ a b Epstein, Mortimer (1912). "De Worms, Henry" . In Lee, Sidney (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography (2nd supplement). London: Smith, Elder & Co.
  2. ^ a b c "Obituary - Lord Pirbright". The Times. No. 36974. London. 10 January 1903. p. 9.
  3. ^ a b c Henry Samuel Morais (1880). Eminent Israelites of the nineteenth century: A series of biographical sketches. Philadelphia: Edward Stern & Co. pp. 357–360. Retrieved 13 February 2011.
  4. ^ "No. 25853". The London Gazette. 6 September 1888. p. 4851.
  5. ^ a b Joseph Jacobs; Victor Rousseau Emanuel (1901–1906). "PIRBRIGHT, HENRY DE WORMS, BAR-ON". Jewish Encyclopedia. Retrieved 13 February 2011.
  6. ^ "No. 26680". The London Gazette. 15 November 1895. p. 6182.
  7. ^ Debrett′s Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage, 1903
  8. ^ Prince Rupert Loewenstein, "A Prince among Stones", Bloomsbury, London 2013, p.253
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Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Greenwich
1880 – 1885
With: Thomas Boord 		Succeeded by
New constituency Member of Parliament for Liverpool East Toxteth
1885 – 1895 		Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded by Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Trade
1885 – 1888 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies
1888 – 1892 		Succeeded by
Peerage of the United Kingdom
New creation Baron Pirbright
1895 – 1903 		Extinct
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