Constituency : Aylesbury 1885-98
Ferdinand took over at Aylesbury when his brother-in-law Nathan Rothschild went to the Lords. He was the last Liberal to be elected under the 1868 franchise.
Although born in Paris Nathan was the son of the Austrian Baron Anselm von Rothschild and inherited his title in 1874. He moved to London as a young man and became a British subject. When his wife died in 1866 he founded and endowed the Evelina Hospital for Sick Children in Southwark in her memory. He was Treasurer of the Jewish Board of Guardians in 1868 and 1875 and Warden of the Central Synagogue in 1870. He had a large estate in Buckinghamshire to which the Prince of Wales was a frequent visitor. The Queen visited in 1890. He built a lot of houses for his employees.
Ferdinand spoke on behalf of destitute immigrants in 1894.
Like the rest of his family Ferdinand went into the Liberal Unionists in 1886.
In 1894 Ferdinand visited Prussia and the Empress Frederick told her mother Queen Victoria that " he is an excellent gardener and a good botanist and has a good deal of artistic knowledge and taste".
Ferdinand was a keen art collector . He had a huge collection of Renaissance objets d'art which he willed to the British Museum ( of which he was a Trustee ) as the "Waddesdon Bequest". Nathan thought of him as effeminate and pretentious because he took no interest in the banking business.
He died on his 59th birthday in 1898.
That concludes our look at the by-election victors of 1880-85.
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