The "forgotten majority" of German merchants in London between the end
of the Hanseatic League and the end of the Napoleonic Wars became the
largest mercantile Christian immigrant group in the eighteenth century.
Using previously neglected and little used evidence, this book assesses
the causes of their migration, the establishment of their businesses in
the capital, and the global reach of the enterprises. As the acquisition
of British nationality was the admission ticket to Britain's commercial
empire, it investigates the commercial function of British
naturalization policy in the early modern period, while also considering
the risks of failure and chance for a new beginning in a foreign
environment. As more German merchants integrated into British commercial
society, they contributed to London becoming the leading place of
exchange between the European continent, Russia, and the New World.