the world of private banking

256
THE WORLD OF PRIVAtE BANKING
The Bischoffsheims
Baroness de Hirsch’s close relatives in Britain, her uncle Henri (Henry)
Bischoffsheim, born in Amsterdam, and his wife, the Vienna-born Clarissa,
exhibited a similar pattern but with less extraordinary resources. Henri came to
London in 1849 to serve in the London branch of his father’s business, which had
been founded in 1836. It was under the management of his uncle, S.H. Goldschmidt,
who subsequently retired to Paris and became (1882) President of the Alliance
Israélite. Henri subsequently became an active partner, but in the 1870s, still in
his forties, he ceased to take a major part in the affairs of the firm, although still
attending his office for a few hours on most days of the week and giving advice,
though apparently initiating no transactions. By this time, Ernest Cassel was a
successful manager in the firm.
Henri occupied his semi-retirement with a glittering social life and with
philanthropy, in both of which his wife was his close partner. The couple were
notable donors to charity, especially to Jewish charity. His Jewish Chronicle
obituary commented: ‘That he accumulated a considerable fortune is a fact wellknown,
and even more notable is the generous use to which he put his wealth, of
which he devoted large sums to general and communal purposes.... No movement
of importance has gone forward in the community to which Mr Bischoffsheim
did not contribute munificently and readily’. 27 As well as giving, he was actively
involved in serving on the Committee of the Jews Free School, the Council of the
Anglo-Jewish Association and the Roumanian Committee and as a Trustee of the
Jewish Convalescent Home. He was one of the founders of the Imperial Cancer
Research Fund. He was the founder and sole owner of the Metropolitan Hospital
Ambulances which were erected in various parts of London to provide first aid
for injured people. He financed the building of the children’s wing of the Jewish
Convalescent Home, Hampstead, which was established by Baroness de Hirsch.
Together with his wife he founded the Daneswood Sanatorium at Woburn Sands,
Bedfordshire, for Jewish consumptives. When the Bischoffsheims held their
golden wedding anniversary in 1906 they celebrated by giving a total of £100,000
to charity. The largest sum, £40,000, was given to the Imperial Cancer Research
Association, £10,000 each to the Daneswood Sanatorium and to King Edward
VII’s Sanatorium; a further £10,000 went to various Jewish charities. Though the
public credit for these philanthropic activities often went to Mr Bischoffsheim
alone, the initiative often lay at least equally with his wife. She was independently
active as Vice-President of the Union of Jewish Women, a committee member of
the Jews Infant Schools and the Ladies West End Charity and of various hospitals,
dispensaries and help societies. In none of these activities was she merely an
ornamental ‘Lady Bountiful’, but was an active, serious, professional participant.
When Bishoffsheim died in 1908 he was described by the Jewish Chronicle,
with perhaps a touch of the exaggeration to be expected at such a moment, but
27
Jewish Chronicle, 13 Mar. 1908.