Insurance Investment and the London Money Market of the 18th Century

Abstract

The 18th century witnessed a remarkable development in insurance facilities. The marine branch, it is true, had a long history, and the origin of fire insurance lies in the years after the catastrophe of 1666. But the growth of the former into one of the great financial activities of the City, and the multiplication of fire offices, is one of the outstanding features of the century. The formation of insurance offices first became prominent in the up-surge of company projects which characterised the 20 years before the Bubble. Most of these proved failures, but by 1760 there were some 14 societies, 12 of which were in London. Thereafter their numbers increased gradually, particularly in the provinces, until at the end of the century there was a total of 30. With the exception of one life and two marine insurance offices, these societies were entirely confined to dealing in fire risks. Less important, but much more widespread, were the small institutions concerned with contingencies which can loosely be designated risks of life. These ranged from the few offices which dealt in annuities, almost wholly in London, to the growing number of friendly societies to be found in most parts of the country. The immense growth of the latter was paralleled in the late 'sixties and early 'seventies of the century by an epidemic of contributorships in London.' It has been estimated that by 1800 one person in four in England was a member of a friendly society. Many of these 18th century insurance offices had a short life and the papers of most of them have long since disappeared. The records, unfortunately in most cases incomplete, of nine societies have, however, survived, and form the basis of this paper. They are the Hand-in-Hand (1696); the Amicable Society for a Perpetual Assurance (1706); the Sun Fire (1710); the Union Society (1715); the Westminster Fire Office (1717); the London Assurance (1720); the Royal Exchange (1720); the Equitable Life Assurance (1768); and the Phoenix Fire Office (1783). The smaller fire offices-the Westminster, the Hand-inHand, and the Union-together with the Amicable and the Equitable, were mutual societies; the remainder were proprietary companies organised for profit.2