Encyclopedia Titanica

Martin Rothschild

Mr Martin Rothschild was born in Manhattan, New York on 12 December 1865.

He was the son of Sampson Jacob Rothschild (1818-1899), a merchant, and Mary Greissman (b. 1824), both Prussian-born Jewish immigrants. His father had come to the USA around 1846, settling in Monroe, Alabama and was married to his wife sometime after 1850. 

Martin was the youngest of five known children, his siblings being: Jacob Henry (1851-1913), Simon (1854-1908), Samuel (b. 1857) and Hannah (1860-1911, later Mrs William Henry Theobald). Through his brother Jacob he was the uncle of the poet and satirist Dorothy Parker, née Rothschild (1893-1967).

The Rothschild family had moved to Manhattan, New York around 1858 and Martin first appears on the 1870 census living with his family, his father being described as the operator of a fancy goods store and with his two elder sons in his employ. By the time of the 1880 census Martin was described as a stock clerk; he later operated his own clothing manufacturing company and amassed his fortune.

He was married on 6 February 1895 to Elizabeth Jane Anne Barrett (b. 1858). The pair were an unlikely couple; he was a wealthy Jewish man and she was his employee, a slightly older seamstress of devout Irish Roman Catholic background. 

The couple, who were childless, lived at 753 West End Avenue, New York but travelled extensively and were away for up to six months at a time.

Rothschild's 1900 passport describes him as standing at 5' 8", bald with brown eyes, a high forehead, a round face, small mouth, average nose and fair complexion. 

Following a trip to Europe Mr and Mrs Rothschild boarded the Titanic at Cherbourg as first class passengers (ticket number PC 17603 which cost £59, 8s) and apparently occupied a cabin on C-deck.

After the collision steward Frederick Dent Ray saw Mr Rothschild coming out of his stateroom on C deck. "I spoke to him and asked him where his wife was. He said she had gone off in a boat. I said, 'This is rather serious.' He said, 'I don't think there's any occasion for it.'" Then the two men casually walked up to A deck where Ray went to a lifeboat.

Martin Rothschild perished in the disaster and his body, if recovered, was never identified. His wife and her pet dog were among the rescued.

Rothschild is commemorated in the Barrett family mausoleum in St Mary's Cemetery in Watkins Glen, New York.

  
Memorial to Martin Rothschild inside the Barrett mausoleum, St Mary's Cemetery, Watkins Glen, NY
(Courtesy of John Pulos, USA)

References and Sources

Contract Ticket List, White Star Line 1912 (National Archives, New York; NRAN-21-SDNYCIVCAS-55[279])
Marriages, births, deaths and injuries that have occurred on board during the voyage (PRO London, BT 100/259-260)
United States Senate (62nd Congress), Subcommittee Hearings of the Committee on Commerce, Titanic Disaster, Washington 1912
Search archive online

Credits

Gavin Bell, UK
Margot Badenhausen, USA
John Pulos, USA

Comment and discuss

  1. Arun Vajpey

    I find it surprising that there is so little mention of Martin and Elizabeth Rothschild in any Titanic literature or for that matter here on ET forums. Depending on which book you read, most of the other rich people like the Astors, Thayers, Wideners, Ryersons, Carters, Guggenheim etc are covered in some detail but there is very little mention about the Rothschilds. About the only thing that finds a mention is that Elizabeth Rothschild managed to smuggle her pet dog on board Lifeboat #6. Was it because of the Jewish (him) and Catholic (her) union that both groups ignored them or something?... Read full post

  2. Kas01

    I'd strongly doubt it was due to anti-Semitism. Ben Guggenheim and the Strauses were both Jewish, and there's no shortage of literature, mythologizing or otherwise, about either Guggenheim or the Strauses. It may simply have been due to class differences between the two (Elizabeth Rothschild being from a working-class Irish family and marrying her employer). As for who they may have socialized with, I believe people from either the Rochester or Binghamton area would have been likely candidates, considering Martin was buried in Watkins Glen. Further south may have been a stretch but Scranton... Read full post

  3. Arun Vajpey

    I was also thinking on the same lines. Majority of the really rich people on the Titanic were Americans and in those times there was a strong Jewish representation among them, as you... Read full post

  4. Kas01

    Pretty sure Mrs. Weisz was Catholic. I don't know when Notre Dame des Neiges opened for non-Catholic burials but I'm assuming it was some time before her death in October of '53. There wasn't as much of an age or social difference though outside of the interfaith marriage.

  5. Arun Vajpey

    The Rothschilds travelled a lot and their steward Frederick Dent Ray reportedly knew them from the Olympic. Ray, who survived, reportedly met Martin Rothschild near the latter's cabin after he had safely seen his wife off in Lifeboat #6. Ray and Rothschild went up to the boat deck, the steward going to help with starboard lifeboats #9 and #11 and in the process presumably getting separated form Rothschild. I don't think any survivor recalled seeing Martin Rothschild on deck during the last 50 minutes of sinking.

  6. Arun Vajpey

    Now that is interesting, especially (unless I am mistaken) the Frauenthals were also Jewish. Dr Henry Frauenthal and his wife - possibly also the brother Isaac Frauenthal - had travelled on... Read full post

  7. Steven Christian

    I find it surprising that there is so little mention of Martin and Elizabeth Rothschild in any Titanic literature or for that matter here on ET forums. Depending on which book you read, most of the other rich people like the Astors, Thayers, Wideners, Ryersons, Carters, Guggenheim etc are covered in some detail but there is very little mention about the Rothschilds. About the only thing that finds a mention is that Elizabeth Rothschild managed to smuggle her pet dog on board Lifeboat #6. Was it because of the Jewish (him) and Catholic (her)... Read full post

  8. Arun Vajpey

    Could be. Perhaps they were too self-conscious themselves of Elizabeth Rothschild's working class background and avoided the Astors, Thayers, Carters etc in case someone passed a derogatory remark? Mind you, I'd rather socilaise with Elizabeth Rothschild any day rather than Madeline Astor. BTW, I doubt if Martin Rothschild attended any church. ;)

  9. Steven Christian

    I have no way of knowing of course but I get the feeling Elizabeth Rothschilds would probably have had no problem hanging out with Molly Brown. Both coming up thru the ranks so to speak. But when Titanic sunk she had been married to Martin R. for 17 years so maybe she fully integrated into that part of society and was comfortable with it. I don't know.

  10. Arun Vajpey

    You could be right. Mind you, there were plenty of unconventional alliances on the Titanic: JJ Astor with a wife younger than one of his sons, Guggenheim's mistress and of course, the Rothschilds. By 1912 Elizabeth Rothschild was... Read full post

  11. Kas01

    Last I checked, only Vincent counted unless COL Astor had a patent for an ultrasound machine that we don't know about. As far as New York City is concerned, though, and yes, I know it's impolitic, you really can't get anywhere worthwhile in NYC if you're an anti-Semite, or at the very least quite damn good at hiding it. That's true now, and it was no less true in mid-April of 1912.

  12. Arun Vajpey

    Is there any reliable record of how much the Rothschilds were worth at the time of the Titanic disaster? Also, how did they rank in terms of social status with the Astors, Wideners, Thayers, Ryersons, Carters etc?

  13. Brian Ahern

    I've never seen any numbers provided regarding their worth. They ranked far below the other families you mentioned, I think largely for the reasons you put forward earlier in this thread. The others you mention were all more or less born into 'Society'; the Rothschilds were not. I've never seen them listed in any social... Read full post

  14. Arun Vajpey

    Thanks. But as the 20th century progressed, the name Rothschild became one of those associated with great wealth. Certainly by the 1960s it was so.

  15. Brian Ahern

    It already was by 1912. Rothschild branches in multiple European countries had received noble titles. But Martin and Elizabeth Rothschild were no relation to that family. A biography of Dorothy Parker that discusses the couple mentions that they enjoyed being mistaken for two of those Rothschilds. I don't know if this is true (some other details of them were got wrong in the bio), but if... Read full post

Showing 15 posts of 18 total. View all.

Reply Watch Thread

Titanic Passenger Summary

Name: Mr Martin Rothschild
Age: 46 years 4 months and 3 days (Male)
Nationality: American
Religion: Jewish
Marital Status: Married to Elizabeth Jane Anne Barrett
Last Residence: at 753 West End AvenueNew York City, New York, United States
Embarked: Cherbourg on Wednesday 10th April 1912
Ticket No. 17603, £59 8s
Died in the Titanic disaster (15th April 1912)
Body Not Identified

Linked Biography

Page Options

Watch this page

Improve this Biography

If you have any corrections or something to add please  get in touch