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ABSTRACT
Although the present-day Anglo-Jewish community has been slow to address environmental issues, Charles Rothschild, an early twentieth-century banker and entomologist, made substantial contributions to nature conservation. Being deeply concerned that human activities threatened the extinction of many species of plants, insects, birds and animals, Rothschild founded three nature reserves and introduced environmental management on his own estate in Northamptonshire. He was also the prime mover behind the Society for the Promotion of Nature Reserves (founded 1912), which became the principal organization for preserving sites of scientific interest and was the forerunner of the Wildlife Trusts. Rothschild steered the Society during its first four years, but was forced to accept a more passive role following his mental breakdown in 1916. The final section of the paper addresses the question whether Rothschild’s Jewish heritage influenced his work as a conservationist.
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank Andrea Preston for granting me permission to quote from documents in the archive of the Society for the Promotion of Nature Reserves held by the Wildlife Trusts, Newark, U.K. Letters deposited in the Natural History Museum are quoted courtesy of the Library and Archives, Natural History Museum, London. I am indebted to Glenda Abramson, Barbara Cantor, Kristin Johnson, Michael Jolles, Tim Sands, and two anonymous referees for their helpful comments on earlier versions of this paper.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.
Notes on contributor
Geoffrey Cantor is Professor Emeritus of the History of Science at the University of Leeds and Honorary Senior Research Associate at University College, London Much of his research has been directed to the historical inter-relations between science and religion. His publications in the area of Jewish Studies include Quakers, Jews, and Science (2005) and Jewish Tradition and the Challenge of Darwinism (2006), which he co-edited with Marc Swetlitz.
Notes
1 For example, Shomrei Adamah (f. 1988) in America and Life and Environment (f. 1975) in Israel. Currently the closest to a Jewish environmental organization in Britain is the Big Green Jewish website (www.jvs.org.uk/big-green-jewish), which is under the aegis of the Jewish Vegetarian Society in London.
2 The chemist and entomologist Raphael Meldola (1849–1915) was probably the first Anglo-Jewish proponent of nature conservation. He served as secretary of the Entomological Society (1876–1880) and was the first president of the Essex Field Club (f. 1880). Like many contemporary naturalists living in or near London, he undertook fieldwork in Epping Forest, an area of ancient woodland that became the responsibility of the City of London Corporation under the Epping Forest Act of 1878. Five years later Meldola wrote a forcefully argued article in the scientific journal Nature, in which he objected to the Corporation's plans to increase public access to the Forest and to permit the creation of a holiday resort, which, he claimed, would result in the destruction of the Forest's flora and fauna. Instead he recommended that the area should be conserved for the benefit not only of naturalists and but also of those who would benefit “intellectually, morally, and physically” from visiting this area of unspoilt countryside (Meldola Citation1882–Citation83). On Meldola see Marchant (Citation1916) and Gay (Citation2010).
3 Rothschild's letters to Hugh Birrell (cited in Rothschild Citation1979; Rothschild and Marren Citation1997) have not been located.
4 The Imperial Bureau of Entomology was created in 1913 to aid international efforts to control the spread of insects.
5 The term conservationist is problematic since in the American context conservation became allied with George Pinchot's views (subsequently adopted by President Roosevelt) that nature should be conserved in order to ensure the continued availability of resources, such as timber, for the American economy. By contrast John Muir used the term preservation(ist) to describe his view that the natural environment should be preserved for the spiritual regeneration of the community (Smith Citation2007). Rothschild did not adhere to either of these views but instead urged the conservation of natural environments because of their value to naturalists. In his writings he did not distinguish between “preservation” and “conservation.” As the word preservationist now seems rather archaic, I will use the term “conservationist” (and thus “conserve” and “conservation”) in accordance with one of the definitions given in the OED: “A proponent or advocate of conservation, esp. the conservation of the natural environment and wildlife.”
6 For example, Miriam does not mention his suicide in either Rothschild (Citation1979) or Rothschild and Marren (Citation1997). In her monograph she merely states that after feeling very unwell for a few days her father “suddenly […] killed himself” (Rothschild Citation1983, 146).
7 See, for example, Sands (Citation2012), Taylor (Citation2015), and Shaeil (Citation2010).
8 Letters from Herbert Goss (London Evening Standard, 23 April and 2 May), Fellow of the Entomological Society (London Evening Standard, 25 April), H. M. Finch (London Evening Standard, 26 April and 2 May), W. B. Redfern (London Evening Standard, 27 April), Percy C. Reid (London Evening Standard, 30 April), J. B. Meredith (London Evening Standard, 1 May), and W. Robinson (London Evening Standard, 29 May).
9 Times, 30 November 1907, 9 and 2 December 1907, 9. By this time the National Trust owned 28 properties covering some 2000 acres.
10 Some of the correspondence re Ray Island is available at http://www.wildlifetrusts.org/who-we-are/history/rothschild-reserves/ray-island-essex.
11 Northampton Mercury, 19 May 1899, 5; Stamford Mercury, 25 August 1899, 6.
12 Northampton Mercury, 4 March 1910, 9; Journal of the Northamptonshire Natural History Society 15 (1909–10): 187.
13 The early history of the SPNR is discussed in Rothschild and Marren (Citation1997, 13–51) and Sands (Citation2012, 1–17, 704–710).
14 Rothschild to William Ogilvie-Grant, 3 September 1912, Letterbook O–T (1900–1914): Letters of William Ogilvie-Grant and others (DF230/26), Archives of the Natural History Museum, London. Subsequent references to Letterbook O–T (1900–1914) refer to this source.
15 Rothschild to William Ogilvie-Grant, 12 April 1912, Letterbook O–T (1900–1914).
16 Enclosure with Rothschild to William Ogilvie-Grant, 12 April 1912, Letterbook O–T (1900–1914).
17 For the co-founders see Rothschild and Marren (Citation1997, 13–15).
18 SPNR Executive Committee minutes, 16 May 1912, Minute Book, Council and Executive Committee, May 1912–August 1940, [B/I/2; hereafter Minute Book], f. 1. The archives of the SPNR are held at the Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts, Newark, Nottinghamshire, and have been catalogued by the National Register of Archives (NRA 24457). Where relevant, references to this archive are given in […].
19 Blackmore (Citation1985) and Clarke (Citation2004). Early in its history the Selborne Society (which is named after the eminent naturalist Gilbert White of Selborne) was called the Selborne Society for the Preservation of Birds, Plants and Pleasant Places. Although it had earlier owned several other sites, its sole property is now Perivale Wood, which it has managed since 1902.
20 SPNR Executive Committee minutes, 26 July and 5 December 1912, Minute Book, ff. 2–3.
21 Mitchell, who was president of the zoological section of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, chose “The Preservation of Fauna” as the subject of his presidential address, which was widely reported in the press, for example, Times, 6 September 1912, 6; Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer, 6 September 1912, 8. The Committee of the British Association also framed a resolution in support of this subject.
22 Miriam attributed the authorship of this letter to her father; however, the minutes of the Executive Committee on 5 December 1912 cast some doubt on this claim. This announcement in the Times was immediately followed by a short report on the Selborne Society's recent activities.
23 Book of newspaper cuttings in SPNR archive [B/IV] includes many reports of the society's early activities.
24 SPNR Executive Committee minutes, 14 February 1913, Minute Book, f. 4.
25 The Rothschild Reserves Archive (000/2146) at the Rothschild Archive, London; http://www.wildlifetrusts.org/rothschildreserves/list, accessed 5 May 2016. In 1915 the number of sites totalled 282.
26 SPNR Council minutes, 28 April 1914, Minute Book, f. 14. A letter of Rothschild's on this subject appeared in the Times, 3 March 1914, 7. The Importation of Plumage (Protection) Bill was widely opposed by milliners and others who earned their livelihoods from trading in attractive birds’ feathers.
27 “List of Members and Associates,” March 1914. [London]: SPNR, [D/I/1]. See also Rothschild and Marren (Citation1997, 20).
28 Charles Rothschild to Charles Fagan, 18 February 1919, in Correspondence concerning the transfer of land in Woodwalton Fen to the Society and the management of the land as a nature reserve, April 1912–April 1924, [B/IV/Box 8/5.1; hereafter Woodwalton Fen Correspondence], letter 25.
29 See note 2.
30 SPNR Charter, [B/IV/Box 104/3].
31 Enclosure with Rothschild to William Ogilvie-Grant, 12 April 1912, Letterbook O–T (1900–1914).
32 SPNR Cash Book for General Account (July 1912–March 1922), [A/I/1].
33 See also letter from “The British Representative at the Berne Conference” [Charles Rothschild], Times, 2 January 1914, 8.
34 Economist, 24 April 1915, 805 and 1 May 1915, 854.
35 On 10 January 1916 Rothschild attended the first meeting of this committee.
36 Johnson (Citation2012, 176) gives the departure date as 2 January 1917.
37 Rozsika Rothschild to Charles Fagan, 19 April 1918 and 17 May 1918, Woodwalton Fen Correspondence, letters 6 and 9.
38 Draft first SPNR annual report (1918), [B/IV/Box 21/3].
39 London Daily News, 7 July 1902, 3; Shoreditch Observer, 14 December 1912, 2.
40 Rothschild and Marren (Citation1997, 22). See discussion of assimilationism in Endelman (Citation2015).
41 It may be significant that Rothschild's sole published reference to a text from Torah contained an error. In his 1916 presidential address to the Royal Entomological Society he referred to the “sixth verse of the twenty-second chapter of Deuteronomy” as “perhaps the earliest game law […] Here the warning is given that if you rob a nest with a view to taking the eggs or the young birds, the female should be allowed to go free.” However, the text is Deuteronomy, chapter 22, verses 6 and 7, not just verse 6 (Rothschild Citation1915–Citation16, cxxxiii).
42 In an interview with Kristin Johnson, Miriam claimed that her father was a socialist; private correspondence from Kristin Johnson, 8 March 2016.
43 Rothschild (Citation1983, 225). The letter, addressed to Hugh Birrell, has not been traced.
44 Rothschild and Marren (Citation1997, 40–216), Sands (Citation2012), and Barnes (Citation2015).