The Forgotten Majority: German Merchants in London, Naturalization, and Global Trade 1660-1815 (Studies in British and Imperial History (3))

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.

Margrit Schulte Beerbühl is Professor of Modern History of the University of Düsseldorf. Her publications include Spinning the Commercial Web (Frankfurt 2004, ed. with Jörg Voegele), Migration and Transfer from Germany to Britain (München 2007, ed. with Stefan Manz et al.),  and Transnational Networks: German Migrants in the British Empire, 1670-1914 (Leiden 2012, ed. with Stefan Manz et al.).