Isaac Seligman (1834-1928)

He was born into poverty in the small village of Baiersdorf in Bavaria, Germany, living in a house "that sagged and leaned disconsolately against the next building". In 1841, once his elder brother, Joseph, had enough money he brought Isaac, their father, and siblings to New York. Isaac and his brother, Leopold, were later sent to London where they headed up Seligman Brothers, the bank founded by Joseph. In 1869, he married Lina Messel and they had 7-children. In 1899, he acquired the lease (from the Crown) to 17 Kensington Palace Gardens, afterwards occupied by his son, Sir Charles, and his wife, Eva. Their country home was Shoyswell Manor near Etchingham, Sussex.