Henry de Worms, 1st Baron Pirbright

Henry de Worms was born on 20 October 1840. His father, Solomon Benedict de Worms (1801–1882), owned large plantations in Ceylon and was made a Hereditary Baron of the Austrian Empire by Franz Joseph I of Austria (1830–1916). His mother was Henrietta Samuel. His siblings were Anthony Mayer de Worms (1830–1864), Ellen Henrietta de Worms (born 1836), and George de Worms, 2nd Baron de Worms (1829–1902).

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]

He was educated at King's College London.[2] He was called to the Bar, Inner Temple, in 1863, and became a fellow of King's College in the same year.[2]

de Worms served as Conservative Member of Parliament for Greenwich from 1880 to 1885 and for Liverpool East Toxteth from 1885 to 1895 and held office under Lord Salisbury as Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Trade from 1886 to 1888 and as Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies from 1888 to 1892. He was also the British Plenipotentiary and President of the Conference on Sugar Bounties in 1888,[3] and later served as a Commissioner for the Patriotic Fund.[4] 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.[5] He was also elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1889.

His publications include England's Policy in the East, The Earth and its Mechanism, The Austro-Hungarian Empire and Memoirs of Count Beust.[2][4]

Lord Pirbright died in January 1903, aged 62.

Lord Pirbright's tomb at St Mark's Church, Wyke, Surrey

In 1864, Lord Pirbright married Franziska ("Fanny", 1846–1922), eldest daughter of Baron von Todesco. They had three daughters:

• Alice Henrietta Antoinette (1865–1952)
• Dora Sophia Emily (1869–?)
• Constance Valérie Sophie (1875–1963). She was the grandmother of Rupert Loewenstein,[6] the longtime manager of the rock band The Rolling Stones.

In 1887, he married Sarah, daughter of Sir Benjamin Samuel Phillips. They had one daughter.

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 died in November 1914.

• thepeerage.com Henry de Worms, 1st and last Baron Pirbright
• leighrayment.com House of Commons: Gorbals to Guildford
• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Henry de Worms
• The Pirbright Tomb