He had neither talent nor inclination for conversation on general subjects, and he knew little or nothing of what was passing out of banking hours.The banking-house, by then known as Esdaile & Hammet, went out of business at the beginning of 1837.

His earlier purchases were sparing and cheap, but, distrusting his own judgment, he engaged a professional assistant, accompanied by whom he attended all the great auctions in London.

Though prints formed the bulk of his collection, he also largely purchased, as opportunity offered, coins, china, books, and the general miscellanea of the sale-room.

Towards the last few years of his life, when his mind was breaking up, he abandoned his usual caution, and spent on a large and sometimes reckless scale, greatly to the advantage of his collection, which was considered one of the most valuable in England.

The chief attractions were the very complete set of Rembrandt etchings and Claude drawings, which Esdaile had bought on the dispersal of Sir Thomas Lawrence's collection, and a large selection from the best work of the early Italian engravers.

[3] Esdaile married Elizabeth, the only child of Edward Jeffries, treasurer of St. Thomas's Hospital, by whom he had two sons and four daughters.