Henry de Worms, 1st Baron PirbrightPC, 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.
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 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
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]
Hon. Alice Henrietta Antoinette Evelina de Worms (1865–1952); married 1st in 1886 John Henry Boyer Warner (d. 1891), of Quorn Hall, Loughborough and Kepwick Park, Northallerton; married 2nd in 1892 David McLaren Morrison; and left several daughters by her second husband.
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]