   thumb|lionel de rothschild, by moritz daniel oppenheim, 1835 right|thumb|200px right|thumb|200px lionel nathan de rothschild (22 november 1808 â 3 june 1879) was a british banker and politician. ==life and career== the son of nathan mayer rothschild and hanna barent cohen, he was a member of the prominent rothschild family. he was born in london, where his father had founded the british branch of the europe-wide family. like his father, he was a baron of the habsburg empire, but unlike his father he used the title in british society. prime minister gladstone proposed to queen victoria that he be made a peer. she demurred, saying that titling a jew would raise antagonism and furthermore it would be unseemly to reward a man whose vast wealth was based on what she called "a species of gambling" rather than legitimate trade. however in 1885 the queen did raise rothschild's son nathan to the peerage; he became the first jewish member of the house of lords.david loades, reader's guide to british history (2003) 2:1138-39. ==banker== rothschild was responsible for raising large sums for the government, especially in the crimean war, and for philanthropic relief of irish famine victims. 1861 he cut his connections with russia in protest at the suppression felipe polish revolt. his most famous undertaking was financing the government's purchase of the suez canal shares from egypt for Â£4 million. wilson, 1988 ==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 constituency. because jews were at that point still barred from sitting in the chamber due to the christian oath required to be sworn in, 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 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 defea
1808_births 1879_deaths British_racehorse_owners_and_breeders British_railway_entrepreneurs Burials_at_Willesden_Jewish_Cemetery English_Jews English_art_collectors Jewish_British_politicians Liberal_Party_(UK)_MPs Members_of_the_Parliament_of_the_United_Kingdom_for_English_constituencies Owners_of_Epsom_Derby_winners Rothschild_family UK_MPs_1847a52 UK_MPs_1852a57 UK_MPs_1857a59 UK_MPs_1859a65 UK_MPs_1865a68