Von Oven, Barnard. Ought Baron de Rothschild to Sit in Parliament? An Imaginary Conversation Between Judaeus & Amicus Nobilis.

(ANGLO-JUDAICA).

Effingham Wilson

London

1847

Baron Lionel Nathan de Rothschild (1808-79) was first elected to the British House of Commons as one of four MPs for the City of London constituency. Because Jews were at that point still barred from sitting in the chamber due to the Christian oath required to be sworn in, Prime Minister Lord John Russell introduced a Jewish Disabilities Bill to remove the problem with the oath. In 1848, the bill was approved by the House of Commons but was twice rejected by the House of Lords. After being rejected again by the Upper House in 1849, Rothschild resigned his seat and stood again, winning a by-election in order to strengthen his claim. In 1850, he entered the House of Commons to take his seat but refused to swear on a Christian Bible, asking to use only the Old Testament. This was permitted but when omitting the words “upon the true faith of a Christian” from the oath, he was required to leave. In 1851 a new Jewish Disabilities Bill was proposed and was again defeated in the House of Lords. In the 1852 general election Lord Rothschild was again elected, but the next year the bill was again defeated in the Upper House. Finally, in 1858, the House of Lords agreed to a proposal to allow each house to decide its own oath. On 26th July 1858 de Rothschild took the oath with covered head, substituting “so help me, [using a Hebrew word for] God” for the ordinary form of oath, and thereupon took his seat as the first Jewish member of the British Parliament.