"Rothschild heir" said to have died in a fire

[bx...@yahoo.com]

A member of the famous family, identified as "Will Rothschild", was said to have died in a fire Wednesday, November 27 in Hollywood Hills, California.

I can't find anyone named "Will Rothschild" in DPB Online.

Does anyone have any idea if this person was an actual member of the famous family, and if so, who they were?

Thanks.

Brooke

[Henry W]

There are many well-heeled branches of the Rothschild family.  The British branch is represented by the ROTHSCHILD barons descending from Nathan Mayer Rothschild (1777 - 1836) who founded this branch.  His four brothers founded other branches across Europe - I can well believe that "Will" here could belong to one of those branches, and so won't appear in British peerage works.

[bx...@yahoo.com]

There are only 2 branches of the family in the 21st century with Rothschilds in the male line-- the French and the English.  The other branches have long died out in the male line.

I've also checked the family tree at the Rothschild Archives site (https://www.rothschildarchive.org/genealogy/) and can't find anyone with that name.

Brooke

[https:/www.maltagenealogy.com/LeighRayment/]

I cannot locate him either, here is an article by Daily Mail; https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14138299/rothschild-family-millionaire-die-fire-hollywood-hills.html 

[bx...@yahoo.com]

Thanks for checking, maltagenealogy.  I thought maybe I had missed something.

The article, from the Daily Mail, says he supposedly was the English branch of the family, which is in DPB Online.  There are only 9 living male ROTHSCHILDs (some only in remainder to the baronetcy) in this branch of the family, none of them with even second or third names named "Will" or "William."

Maybe it was someone who said he was part of the family, but actually wasn't?

Brooke

[bx...@yahoo.com]

This is from the New York Post:  https://nypost.com/2024/11/29/us-news/reclusive-rothschild-family-member-dies-in-los-angeles-house-fire/

The man, "William ROTHSCHILD" , is described as being  "reclusive",  in his late 70's.  

The only ROTHSCHILDs who are remotely in this age range are the sons of Edmund DE ROTHSCHILD (1916-2009), Nicholas David (b. 1951) and David Lionel (b. 1955).  They are in remainder to the baronetcy only.

Brooke

[BREMENMURRAY]

The Los Angeles Times states he was a Rothschild "according to neighbours". 

[dpth...@gmail.com]

Mind you, I have no idea whether he is the person mentioned, but there is a man named William Brookfield who was married to a Rothschild, and is supposedly in the film industry, but he is only in his 60s.

[S. S.]

It could be someone just assumed the name of Rothschild and went about their life, without having any connection to the actual family.

S.S.

[bx...@yahoo.com]

I don't think this update, from the NY Post, will come as a surprise to many.

The supposed "Rothschild" was an imposter, born William Alfred Kauffman.  He changed his name to William  de Rothschild in 1985, but neither he  nor  his family (a brother who is quoted here) have any connection to the famous family.

https://nypost.com/2024/12/04/us-news/eccentric-killed-in-la-fire-was-imposter-of-rothschild-dynasty/

Brooke

[https:/www.maltagenealogy.com/LeighRayment/]

Thanks Brooke,  Alternatively I had assumed maybe through a female descent, he simply used Rothschild surname instead of his fathers.. But now we know the truth.