Graphical version

London Metropolitan Archives

ANGERSTEIN FAMILY


IDENTITY STATEMENT

Reference code(s): GB 0074 F/ANG

Held at: London Metropolitan Archives

Title: ANGERSTEIN FAMILY

Date(s): 1692-1944

Level of description: Collection

Extent: 6.4 linear metres.

Name of creator(s): Angerstein | family | of Woodlands, Blackheath

CONTEXT

Administrative/Biographical history:

The most prominent member of the Angerstein family was John Julius Angerstein (c 1732-1823). John Julius was apparently from a Russian family, although his precise origins were unclear. A family story maintained that he was the son of Empress Anne and a merchant Andrew Poulett Thompson, and that the name Angerstein came from the doctor who delivered him. He came to England aged 15 and worked in the counting-house of Andrew Poulett Thompson. By 1770 Angerstein was established as a broker, with an office in Cornhill. He worked in a succession of partnerships until his retirement in 1810, by which time he was handling 200 accounts.

Angerstein was among those who subscribed to the 1771 fund to find premises for a new Lloyd's Coffee House and in 1773 negotiated with the Gresham committee for the lease of rooms in the Royal Exchange. He served on the Lloyd's Committee from 1786 to 1796, and in 1810 represented those doing business at Lloyd's at the select committee on marine insurance. Angerstein's interests extended beyond Lloyd's and he was chairman of 5 subscription funds, as well as having varied private philanthropic interests.

Angerstein lived at 103 Pall Mall and Woodlands, Blackheath, built for him in 1774. He accumulated a notable private art collection and was an active patron of contemporary artists and writers, particularly Sir Thomas Lawrence who painted his portrait. Angerstein died in 1823. 38 paintings from his collection, by artists including Titian, Claude, Raphael, Rembrandt, Rubens, Velazquez and Van Dyck, were acquired by the government and formed the basis of the National Gallery collection.

He was married twice, first to Anne Muilman who had two children, John and Juliana. Anne died in 1783 and John Julius married Eliza Payne, who died in 1800. John Angerstein devoted much time to developing the Woodlands estates, and was elected MP for Greenwich in 1835.

Information from: Sarah Palmer, 'Angerstein, John Julius (c 1732-1823)', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 2008.

CONTENT

Scope and content/abstract:

Records of the Angerstein family of Woodlands, Blackheath, and some papers of the Nettleshipp family (Mary Ann Nettleshipp was married to William Angerstein). The personal section consists mainly of settlement deeds and appointments, and other probate and trust matters. There is also some business correspondence, and a few birth, marriage and burial certificates and family pedigrees. In the estate section, the records are divided into three subjects. These are deeds; sale and purchase papers; and management or administration of the estates. The premises are located in Kent, Norfolk, Suffolk, Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire, Somerset, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, and Middlesex.

ACCESS AND USE

Language/scripts of material: English

System of arrangement:

The collection is divided into two main groups - personal records and estate records. Within these groups the records are divided between the Angerstein and Nettleshipp families.

Conditions governing access:

Available for general access.

Conditions governing reproduction:

Copyright to this collection rests with the depositor.

Physical characteristics:

Fit

Finding aids:

Please see online catalogues at: http://search.lma.gov.uk/opac_lma/index.htm

ARCHIVAL INFORMATION

Archival history:

Immediate source of acquisition:

Records deposited by the solicitors Farrer and Company in 1974 and 1975, with a further deposit in October 1998.

ALLIED MATERIALS

Related material:

Correspondence between John Julius Angerstein and the painter Sir Thomas Lawrence can be found among Lawrence's papers at the Royal Academy, Burlington House, Piccadilly, London W1.

Publication note:

C. Fry, 'The Angersteins of Woodlands', in J Bunston and C Fry, John Julius Angerstein and Woodlands, 1774-1974 (1974), 1-9 [exhibition catalogue, Woodlands Art Gallery, Blackheath, London, 13 Sept-5 Nov 1974]

C. Wright and C. E. Fayle, A history of Lloyd's from the founding of Lloyd's Coffee House to the present day (1928).

DESCRIPTION NOTES

Archivist's note:

Rules or conventions: Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.

Date(s) of descriptions: Records prepared May to September 2011.


INDEX ENTRIES
Subjects
Business records | Documents | Information sources
Estate management | Land management | Land economics | Agricultural economics
Family archives | Personal papers | Primary documents | Documents | Information sources
Family records | Personal papers | Primary documents | Documents | Information sources
Title deeds | Deeds | Documents | Information sources
Property

Personal names
Angerstein | family | of Woodlands | Blackheath

Corporate names

Places
Cheltenham | Gloucestershire | England | UK | Western Europe | Europe
Kent | England | UK | Western Europe | Europe
Lincolnshire | England | UK | Western Europe | Europe
Middlesex | England | UK | Western Europe | Europe
Norfolk | England | UK | Western Europe | Europe
Nottinghamshire | England | UK | Western Europe | Europe
Somerset | England | UK | Western Europe | Europe
Suffolk | England | UK | Western Europe | Europe