When Duchess Anna of Courland became Tsarina (Empress) of Russia in 1730, German Baltic merchants were able to use their pre-existing connections with the Ducal family to further their trade interests [REF].
The Tsarina's death in 1740 ended the prominence of the firm and Shiffner moved back to London,[REF] where he established offices on Broad Street and later in Bishopsgate Without [REF].