A biography of John Julius Angerstein (1735-1823). Born in Russia, Angerstein moved to England under the patronage of merchant Andrew Thomson, said to be his father. Introduced to Lloyd's, Angerstein primarily worked in the marine insurance industry both as a broker and underwriter. He was member of the Committees of both Lloyd's and the Lloyd's Register of Shipping, serving as Chairman of Lloyd's between 1790-1796. Angerstein's family and business relationships connected him with several London merchant communities and as a Lloyd's broker and underwriter his growing wealth enabled him to amass a fine collection of paintings. On his death, many of these would be purchased to form the nucleus of the National Gallery's collection. The author notes that while there is no surviving comment by Angerstein on the question of slavery, Angerstein is likely to have insured ships in the West Indian slave trade and was a trustee for the creditors of two sugar estates in Grenada. Angerstein supported a number of charitable endeavours including The Patriotic Fund and with William Wilberforce was a member of the General Committe of the Society for Bettering the Condition and Increasing the Comforts of the Poor. He was an early supporter of Jenner's vaccination against smallpox. Angerstein lived in Greenwich, leasing an estate from Sir Gregory Page on which he built Woodlands, his home. The book has a number of photographic plates of art works in his collection, of Angerstein and his family and his homes. There are detailed notes and a bibliography.