London and Lancashire Fire Insurance Company Was Com T Le El

LONDON AND LANCASH IRE FIRE INSU RANCE COM PANY .

In tr oducto r y.

IFTY ea r s ! y ago The phrase arrests us . Fifty year s as a period of time is but a

fragment . But how much of develop ment and change in the world’ s moulding and evolution does it r epr e sent ! It takes us back to the early sixties — the glorious days of Lord Russell and of Lord Palmerston— the

al V . centr period of the august ictorian era At home , l fol owing upon the disastrous war in the Crimea , and the stormy days of the Indian Mutiny , a period of welcome peace had supervened . On the Continent , a war was r il raging between France and Aust ia , wh st across the

Atlantic our kinsmen in America , with whom the interests al of Lancashire , and Liverpool in particular, have ways

been so closely associated , were pitted against each other

n in a deplorable campaign , now dubbed, in mellowi g ! magnanimity , the recent unpleasantness .

These days— the early si! ties - hold their full l measure of memorab e incident , both at home and abroad . These were the days when the Great Eastern made ﬁ her rst trip from Liverpool across the Atlantic , occupying

eleven days to accomplish the voyage .

- These were the days of blockade running , when time after time privateers in the service of the Confederate

Army , laden with arms and ammunition , eluded the

vigilance of the Northern warships , and deposited their in valuable freights Chesapeake Bay, returning to this c ountry , most frequently to Liverpool , with cargoes of

cotton for the Lancashire spinners .

It was at this time that the Alabama , commanded

’ by Captain Semmes , and built , by the bye , at Laird s

yard, in Birkenhead, was , after a desperate chase across off al v the Atlantic , sunk Cherbourg by the Feder Na y . ! Stirring times, indeed l l Many of our readers wi l reca l , moreover , the distress a n d misery which visited thousands of our own people especially those in Lancashire— during the subsequent

Cotton famine . ﬁ As soon as peace had been rmly established at home ,

England settled down to a term of prosperity , and this was speedily reﬂected in the development of the industrial and agricultural resources of the country .

Trade grew enormously, both in the Metropolis and elsewhere , and the commerce of London , Liverpool and other centres increased by leaps and bounds . Property appreciated in value , whilst business and residential houses sprang up with remarkable rapidity ! in short , the prospects of success which awaited commercial enterpr ise appeared at this period brighter than they had been for many years .

It was in these days and under these conditions , that W a company of merchants , ith commendable foresight and business acumen , recognised the opportunity pre sented for the development of Fire Insurance , restricted fﬁ at that time to comparatively few O ces .

! Fifty years yes, a short space of time , but long enough to enable men to make history ! and , with pardonable pride , the London and Lancashire Fire

Insurance Company may claim , as the outcome of its ’ ﬁ — in fty years work, to stand to day the front rank of

’ the world s commercial organisations . His tor ica l.

ROM a study of the earliest records of the

Company, we learn that the idea of forming the London and Lancashire ! was ﬁrst 1 861 conceived in the month of August , . The proj ector of the scheme was a London

. l merchant , Mr Alexander Hami ton Gunn , who appears to have had some little experience in

Company promoting . Mr . Gunn was assisted in the W completion of his work by a Mr . Henry E . arren , an agreement being made between these two gentlemen Wa under which Mr . rren was to assume the Secretar yship of the Company as soon as it had been ﬂoated .

The Company was provisionally registered on S a 1 2 th 1 861 aturd y, the October , , the original Deed of Settlement stating that the registration was made in the name of The London and Lancashire Fire and Life

8 Assurance Company, and that such name had since been changed to The London and Lancashire Fire

Insurance Company .

The ﬁrst public announcements respecting the Com n pany bear the dates of Wed esday and Thursday, the

2 r d a n d 2 th 1 861 3 4 October, , on which days a prospectus of The London and Lancashire Fire Insurance Com pany appeared in the Liverpool newspapers and a lso in ! e the London Times , which referred to the matt r in the following terms

A prospectus has been issued of a new Fire ll Insurance Company, to be ca ed the London ’ wi l 1 000 000 and Lancashire, th a Capita of J5 , ,

in Shares of £2 5 each . The Board of Directors

c e is very respectably constituted, and in lud s

several Liverpool merchants . As the Company

do not propose any novelties of management , it is to be presumed they rely for business in a r great degree on thei Lancashire connexions . At

the same time , they are said to have a prospect

of valuable support in the City of London .

We learn that the Company was launched with a ll ! Capital of One Mi ion Pounds , with power to increase , wa s div and that the Capital ided into shares , of 2 l 76 5 each , of which it was proposed to cal up on 1 1 1 05 0d . the basis of a deposit of £ per share , £ . on

1 5 0d . 2 0 . allotment , and a further sum of £ at three ’ months notice . The London establishment was at EC No . 7 9 , Lombard Street , , and the business of what was then the Liverpool Branch was initially transacted from three rooms on the ﬁrst ﬂoor of Middleton

Buildings , Water Street .

’ The Company s ﬁrst Solicitors were Messrs . Paine and

Layton , in London , and Messrs . Fletcher and Hull , in

Liverpool .

But perhaps the most engaging feature of the pros pectus is the survey taken by the Company ’ s proj ectors ﬁ of the nancial conditions obtaining at that date . It is clear that the motif in the minds of the promoters was to afford the commercial community of Liverpool the same facilities for protection against ﬁr e as were available for the Metropolis .

On referring to the London and Lancashire ’ s ﬁrst ﬁn d ill Minute Book, we therein a handsomely uminated title page , intimating that the book was presented to the

Company by the promoter , Mr . Gunn .

The ﬁrst Meeting of the Directors was held on the I st 1 861 fﬁ 3 October , , at the London O ce of the Company ,

1 0 in Lombard Street , and was presided over by Mr . Francis l l - M. P Wil iam Russel , . On that occasion , the all important question of securing a capable Manager was discussed ! in fact , whilst the Meeting was in progress , Mr . William Palin Clir ehugh (then Manager of the Queen In surance Company, Liverpool) , who happened to be up in London at the time , was summoned before the Board, and preliminary pou rpa r ler s for the transfer of his services to the London and Lancashire were opened up . The Meeting was noteworthy in another respect , for ﬁ the Board considered , at this , their rst sitting , the advisability of entering into an agreement with the “ Queen to take over the business of that Company . The Queen ! had been established three years previously, and had held its third Annual Meeting , in ’ Liverpool , a week before the London and Lancashire s ﬁ ’ rst Board Meeting . The Queen s Fire premiums were close upon and the acquisition of this

! portfolio by the newly-formed London and Lancashire was regarded as an end much to be desired . In i a little wh le, the negotiations reached an advanced l stage ! indeed, such was the probabi ity of the deal becoming an accomplished fact that announcements were made in the public press of the impending amalgamation ! of the Queen with the London and Lancashire , whilst a provisional agreement between the two Com 6 a nies 1 8 2 . p was actually signed in February,

I I Before the month had drawn to a close , however , the “ ’ ! die was cast , at a Meeting of the Queen s share n holders , against the proposed absorption . The decisio

z was succinctly recorded by the Post Maga ine , on the

I st 1 862 March , , in a paragraph reading as follows

The arrangement for the amalgamation of the Queen with the London and Lancashire is

off w , against the ishes of a maj ority of the

shareholders . The Queen Deed required that three-fourths of the votes would only carr y the

question , and on going to the ballot , the num ll — 1 bers po ed were For the amalgamation , 44

2 1 1 . against it , The union was therefore ! lost .

Thus fate decreed that the transaction should not be carried through , and the Queen was left to be wooed and won nearly thirty years later by another suitor . ﬁ Nevertheless , it is signi cant that , so early in its career , the London a n d Lancashire should have displayed that spirit of enterprise which has characterised its policy

r throughout its histo y .

At a Meeting of the London Board on the 2 3 r d October

1 861 ﬁ , a date was xed for the closing of the Share List , and, accordingly, the following announcement appeared

! in the London Times of the z ud November

I Z Notice is hereby given that the Share List of this

on 1 2 th Company will close Tuesday , the

November , after which the allotment will take

place . The Dir ectors consider that a deposit of 1 1 I OS . 0d w l £ per share and £ . on allotment il be sufﬁcient for the present pur poses of the

Company, and no further call will be made

’ without three months notice being given .

By order of the Board , ENRY RREN H E . WA ,

r o te m Secretary, p

7 9 , Lombard Street ,

“ t 1 61 1 5 8 . Thursday , 3 October,

1 th 1 861 On the s November , , the London Board formally elected the ﬁrst Chairman and Deputy- Chairman o f the Company , these honours being conferred upon

l . . Mr . Russel and Mr Alderman Dakin respectively

1 861 During the closing months of , both the London and Liverpool Boards were occupied in making the necessary arrangements for commencing business . At a 6th Meeting of the Liverpool Board , held on the November ,

1 861 ﬁ S . , in the of ces of the local olicitors , Messrs

Fletcher and Hull , the Directors gave it as their opinion that the Company should embark upon both Fire and

Life Insurance business ! doubtless , in doing so , they were in ﬂuenced by the prospect of the Queen — with

1 3 its Life portfolio of more than in premiums ! j oining forces with the London and Lancashire .

Following this expression of V iew by the Liverpool

r d Board, the London Directors also resolved , on the 3 1 861 December , , that a Life Company should be con stituted , with a Capital of in shares of 1 0 I o £ each , ! per share to be paid, it being antici pated that in this new Company the Life business and ! assets of the Queen would be vested .

1 0th 1 861 On the December , , it was decided to W dispense with the services of Mr . arren , who , by the arrangement already referred to with Mr . Gunn , had

r been acting temporarily as Secreta y, and it was shortly w after this that the connection of Mr . Gunn himself ith the London and Lancashire was determined .

A deﬁnite stage in the Company’ s existence was I st r r 1 862 reached on the Feb ua y, , when the London and Lancashire Fire Insurance Company was com t le el . p y registered Press notices appeared, intimating that the Company would forthwith make arrangements for commencing business .

2 1 5 t The London Board Meeting of the February , ’ 1 862 , was an important one the veto of the Queen s S hareholders to the proposed amalgamation was reported , ﬁ f and , at the same time , it was resolved to de nitely o fer

1 4 the management of the London and Lancashire to

Clir ehu h - Mr . g . The Deputy Chairman , Mr . Alderman

di3 o sa l Dakin , also placed at the p of the Company e som rooms belonging to him in No . 7 3 , King William fﬁ Street , to serve as temporary o ces for the immediate ! requirements of the Company , and it was decided to f accept the o fer and remove from No . 7 9 , Lombard

Street .

At the Board Meeting a week later , it was reported

lir h that Mr . C ehug had intimated his acceptance of the post of Manager , and material progress now commenced W ﬁ to be made . ith reference to the London Of ces , the accommodation at No . 7 3 , King William Street was evidently found to be inadequate , for the Board turned 6 its eyes toward more commodious premises at No . 4 ,

Moorgate Street . Not being able to secure these rooms , however , the Directors eventually resolved to take in W the building adj oining No . 7 3 , King illiam Street . ’ Accordingly, in a few weeks time , a lease of both Nos .

7 3 and 7 4 was obtained, and the Company entered into occupation of these premises .

With regard to the Liverpool establishment , both Directors and Solicitors appear to have been anxious ﬁ that business should be de nitely commenced, and ﬁ diligent search was made for suitable of ces . In some correspondence which took place at this time between

1 5 Mr l r . C i ehu h g and Messrs . Fletcher Hull , Mr Hull

r d 1 862 wrote from Liverpool , on the 3 March , , I have fi ffi . taken o ces in Middleton Buildings, rst floor

l u l still Midd eton B i dings, Water Street , Liverpool , stand ! they form part of the ofﬁ ces now occupied by the Cunard Steamship Company .

i In these days of palatial bus ness es tablishments , ll the following extract from a letter written by Mr . Hu

lir ehu h r oth 1 862 . C to Mr g , dated March , , will not be perused without some interest and amusement : I have arranged to take the three rooms on ﬁrst ﬂoo r of

Middleton Buildings . I have got Mr . Muir of Cook Street to chalk out on the ﬂoor his ideas of laying out W the rooms , and he wants your orders on ednesday morning ! and , in the meantime , I have told him to get ! the place cleaned down .

ﬁ As a nal step , the Company was extensively l advertised in the London dai y and weekly papers , and a further prospectus was issued .

The earliest ofﬁcial Meeting of the Liverpool a 6th 1 862 Directorate took pl ce on the March , , on which occasion the ﬁrst Chairman and Deputy

Chairman were elected , these honours falling

1 6

FR A N C I S B R A U N

respectively upon Mr . Francis Braun and Mr. John l Edward Nay or .

1 862 a ll Before the end of March , preliminary arrangements for commencing business , both in London l and Liverpoo , had been completed . An Accountant l and two or three c erks were appointed to assist Mr . Clir ehu h g in London, whilst the Liverpool Secretaryship f a l was o fered to Mr . James Edw rd Ga e, of the Phoenix , who (so the ofﬁcial Minute reads) was selected from a number of applicants on account of his extensive ! ul knowledge of Fire risks . Mr . Gale d y accepted the post , and assumed the duties of the position at the

l . beginning of Apri , having two clerks to help him In the same month an application for a situation as Cashier and Book-keeper was considered by the Liverpool i Board, but , w th praiseworthy caution , they decided not to make such an appointment until the busin ess ! increases .

2 th 1 862 ﬁ The 5 March , , saw the issue of the rst policy ! of the London and Lancashire , which was taken out ’ — o ne r by Mr . J . R . Cooper of the Company s o iginal Shareholders— and covered the contents of his iron l r . monge y premises in London Road, Liverpoo Although n l this policy is not, in poi t of fact, the ear iest one now l in existence , it is the o dest insurance with the London ! a l it and L ncashire , for the policy which rep aced

I 7 — La d da 1 866 e . issued at y y Quarter , is still in forc The 0 earliest policy now valid , however , is that numbered 3 9 ,

’ — ﬁ issued to Mr . John Nicholas Sale the Company s rst Representative in the Manchester District —o n the 3oth

1 6 8 2 . April ,

s Immediately after commencing business , Repre ent

atives were appointed throughout the country , at

such centres as Manchester , Preston , Halifax , Bradford

- on - and Newcastle Tyne . These Agencies were all fﬁ established , of course , through the Liverpool O ce , whilst the London management exploited the South

of England . Scotland and Ireland were invaded

’ before the close of the year , and the Company s operations in some of the more important cities and towns of the United Kingdom very soon assumed such proportions as to j ustify the inauguration of Branch

establishments .

fi It is a signi cant fact , and typical of the enterprise of the “ London and Lancashire that it launched out into fi l fi the foreign e d during the rst year of its existence . Most Offices have made it a practice to operate at home for some years before venturing upon underwriting abroad , but the London and Lancashire had only been transacting business a few weeks n h en the Directors resolved to embark upon insurance in

France , Holland , Germany , Jamaica , India , Australia and elsewhere .

1 8 The earlier prospectuses of the London a nd Lancashire had stated that the Company would be managed on the mutual principle , by making the

- ﬁ a n Policy holders participators in the pro ts , after

bu t adequate appropriation for the purposes of reserve , the Directors apparently decided, almost immediately i upon commenc ng operations , to abandon this idea .

The London and Lancashire has always been a ’ loyal supporter of the Fire Offices Committee — a n organ isa tion almost unique for its continuity and widespread in flu en ce — and we fin d an entry in the Minutes of the

Meeting of the London Directors , held three weeks after ﬁ o the rst policy had been issued, recording the decisi n

a s of the Board to act one of the Tariff Companies .

2 th 1 862 wa s On the 9 May , , a circular issued making public the decision arrived at by the Directors on the

r d 1 861 3 December , , in regard to the formation of a

Life Company . This circular intimated that , in the

Opinion of the Board , the time was now ripe for its

a establishment , and that it would be formed under _ separate Deed, and would possess independent Capital . “ Consequently , a few days later , the London and

Lancashire Life Assurance Company was registered .

Even if the London and Lancashire had not

’ ’ ‘ ﬁ r a zson d etr e earlier j usti ed its , it certainly did so in

I 9 the 1 862 ﬁ month of August, , when it paid its rst

lo s l an . s , the c aim t being a London haberdasher The cause of the ﬁr e was attr ibuted to an unprotected ! a s g light in shop , and the amount paid in settlement

S was sixteen shillings and ixpence .

This small cla im was soon followed by two losses 2 8 of somewhat more importance , one for £ 4 on a Marseilles Suga r Reﬁnery the London and Lancashire ’ s ﬁrst Foreign loss— and the other for

reinsured) on a Liverpool Oil Mill .

An unusual Minute appears in the Company ’ s records

S 1 862 . under date of eptember, It was in this year , as

o s me will remember, that the Second Great Exhibition

was held in Kensington , from May to November, and

the Directors of the London and Lancashire, with a view to affording the staff an opportunity of attending ’ the ! ll E hibition, resolved to a ow the clerks two days ! lea . ve , and each

A new prospectus , advertising the combined organ “ isa tion , under the name of the London and Lancashire !

Fire and Life Insurance Companies, was issued in 1 862 September, , from which the following extract is ta ken “

The two Companies are established under different

Deeds, and with separate Capital the a dva n

2 0

1 86 l . in , March , 3 , the London Directors se ected Mr — P . S . , Colman who had been for the preceding twelve — S - years with the Globe in London to be ub Manager ,

1 68 a position he retained until 8 .

Mr . Colman was subsequently appointed Local ﬁ Manager in Birmingham , which post he lled until he

1 withdr ew from business life in 894 . Having lived to ’

see the dawn of the Company s Jubilee, he passed away

1 1 2 . so recently as March , 9

In the Minutes of the London Board Meeting of the 2 6th 1 86 January, 3 , it was reported that an application

for shares had been received from a Mr . Edward Hodgson l Harrison , of Liverpool . These shares were duly al otted

to Mr . Harrison , who was elected a Director in the l fol owing year and , later on , this esteemed gentleman whom many of us affectionately remember— o ccupied successively the positions of Deputy-Chairman and

Chairman of the Company .

Before the Company had been operating twelve wa s months , it found that the Liverpool Ofﬁces in

Middleton Buildings , Water Street , were not in a fﬁ su ciently central locality, and it was resolved to take ’ i more suitable premises in Brown s Bu ldings , close to the

Liverpool Exchange .

2 2 We now come to another important stage in the

! history of the London and Lancashire . Having 1 862 commenced business in March , , the Directors issued ﬁ some twelve months later , their rst Report , for the nine r st 1 86 ﬁ 2 . months ending the 3 December, For the rst three months dur ing which the Company had been

working , the premiums were over for the second

three months , they were nearly and for the last three months , they exceeded The total premiums for the nine months amounted to whilst the losses were or about 1 6% of

s It the premium was , doubtless , gratifying to the

ﬁn d Shareholders to that , at this early stage , the

- ﬂed ed Directors , with the usual optimism of new g

Companies , were bold enough to declare a dividend of

1 1 86 On the 3th April , 4 , the second Annual Meeting

was held , when it was reported that the premiums

1 86 ﬁ written during 3 were or , in round gures , an increase of 1 55 % over those reported twelve months previously .

In the Minutes of a Board Meeting held in London th 1 86 ul on the 5 December , 4, the sincere congrat ations f of the Directors were o fered to their colleague , Mr .

Alderman Warren Stormes Hale , on his elevation to the distinguished position of Lord Mayor of the City of

- . London , and also to their fellow director, Mr Alderman f fﬁ . Dakin , upon his election to the o ce of Sheri f

2 3 The ﬁrst two Annual Meetings of the London and

Lancashire were held in London , and the third, which 8th 1 86 took place on the April , 5 , in Liverpool , at the

S . Law Association Rooms , Cook treet On that occasion , the Annual Report indicated that the premium income for the year 1 864 had reached the sum of The gratiﬁcation of the Directors was aptly expressed in the l fol owing extract , taken from the Report presented to the third Annual Meeting

nﬁ The Directors believe that they can , with co dence , state that there is no instance in which the growth of a Fire Insurance Company has been so rapid as is evin ced in the progress of the ’ London and Lancashire . More premature optimism— for the losses had increased l in stil greater proportion , with the result that , whereas , 1 86 for the year 3 , the loss ratio had been only it i had r sen , in the following year, to

1 86 The experience of 4 was repeated the next year , for although the premiums for 1 865 exceeded the sum of the losses sustained were or nearly

As a result , the Directors felt it necessary ’ to institute a thorough examination of the Company s books , to ascertain the classes of risk from which the claims had chieﬂy arisen , and it was found that more than 80% of the losses had occurred in connection with insurances of an ordinary character . There was some satisfaction , therefore , to be derived from the

2 4 fact that , in the opinion of the Directors , the adverse n experience was not due to reckless u derwriting , but that— as the ofﬁ cial Board Minute renders it the past has been a year quite exceptional in its v character for hea y losses , and on good risks , and one that , from time to time , Fire Insurance Companies are ! liable to .

al r In the third Annu Report al eady referred to , there appeared a statement that , in view of the rapidly

n increasi g business of the Company, the Directors had decided to secure more adequate office accommoda tion in London , and that they had taken in hand the construction of new premises at the corner of Bishops f L ea denha ll EC . gate and Streets , The London sta f duly took possession of these offices in the early part of 1 866 . Consequent upon the serious condition of the Com ’ fi pany s nances , by reason of the heavy losses sustained 1 86 during 5 , the Liverpool Board recorded a decision on th 1 866 the 4 February, , which demonstrated to the

Shareholders the resolve of the Directors to minimise , as di far as lay in their power, the expen ture incurred in the dm ll a inistration of the Company, and we quote in fu the Resolution which was passed on tha t occasion The Liverpool portion of the Board unanimously 1 866 resolve not to accept any fees for the year , and they trust that their London colleagues will

see the necessity of doing the same .

2 5 It is an old adage — and a true one — that it never ! rains but it pours , and this was illustrated in the

1 866 following year , , a period which included some of the darkest days in the annals of the London and

Lancashire .

th 1 866 ﬁr e On the 2 6 November , , a calamitous broke out in the city of Yokohama , Japan . It com m en ced in a cook shop in the quarter known as the

J apanese Town , and spread with fearful rapidity through the closely- packed wooden houses which crowded that w district . The sparks , aided by a strong wind , ere blown into the American Consulate , situate at one end

- a n - ﬁ of the Bund , and within half hour of the rst outbreak

ﬁr e of the , many of the buildings in the European Settle ments were in ﬂames . The whole of the J apanese Town

ﬁr was swept away . The e continued throughout the 2 6th night of the November , and it was not until three days afterwards that it burnt itself out .

The damage occasioned by the co n ﬂa gr a tion wa s estimated at All the important British

Fire Companies were involved , and the London and

Lancashire sustained losses which , after deducting reinsurances , amounted to about This was a grave matter for the Company , supervening as it did upon a period of other trying “ ’ experiences , and the London and Lancashire s ﬁ a , t a n nces were in consequence , lef in precarious condition .

2 6

DU N C A N GR A H A M

conﬂa r a tion Indeed , the g inﬂicted such a blow

as to necessitate exceptional measures , if the London

and Lancashire were to be kept alive . The situation was carefully weighed by the Directors at the

1 86 wa beginning of the year 7 , when it s proposed that , in order to meet their liabilities , the Board should mortgage their London property , and should also make l a cal upon the Shareholders . The Liverpool Directors were , however , strenuously Opposed to the latter

a suggestion , and expressed themselves s convinced that such a step , if taken then , would imperil the very existence of the Company .

It is at this period that we are ﬁrst introduced to a gentleman who was subsequently to preside over the destinies of the London and Lancashire for some considerable time . From an entry in the ﬁ rst Minute Book of the Board , it appears that , ’ ri ff at this c tical j uncture in the Company s a airs ,

Mr . Duncan Graham , of Liverpool , in his capacity as a

Shareholder , j ourneyed up to London shortly before the ﬁ fth Annual Meeting , and sought an interview with the ﬁ l London Directors, at which the nancia question was exhaustively discussed . There is no doubt it was in

ﬁ deter min consequence of this interview, and of the xed ation of the Liverpool Directors not to make a call upon the Shareholders, that other means were found whereby the claims arising out of the Yokohama ﬁr e could be met .

2 7 It is singular that , even whilst the Company was under ﬁ fﬁ the cloud of nancial di culty, a silver lining had D appeared . At the time that the irectors were considering

ways and means by which to meet their responsibilities , the general position was happily being relieved by an improvement in the loss experience , and this is reﬂected in the following excerpt from the ﬁfth Annual Report

In common with the maj ority of Ofﬁces transacting

foreign business , the Directors regret to state that the ‘ London and Lancashire ’ were losers by ﬁ the great r e at Yokohama . The amount of the ’ Company s loss , included in the Accounts for 1 866 il , w l be rather under They have ,

however , the satisfaction of being able to report

that , during the period already past of the present

year , the losses are not only considerably less than they were for the corresponding period of

the past two years, but are below the normal

percentage .

1 8th r Following the Annual Meeting ( Ap il , an i Extraord nary General Meeting was held, at which powers were obtained to borrow money to the extent of

- -u one half of the paid p Capital of the Company, and in this way the crisis was passed .

By that time the Company ’ s business in the city of Liverpool had progressed to such a degree as to

2 8 necessitate the removal of the Liverpool Ofﬁces to premises in what was then the New Exchange .

The Liverpool Exchange Buildings— which are still

— in use were erected on the site of the old Exchange , in t h 1 86 e year 4 . The London and Lancashire entered its new ofﬁ ces in these Buildings towards the close of

1 866 .

ﬁ Almost immediately after the fth Annual Meeting, a requisition , signed by a number of the Liverpool

Shareholders , was handed in to the Liverpool Board , and duly forwarded by them to the Directors in London . This memorial had as its obj ect a revision in the conduct

’ s of the Company affairs , the most important of the suggestions being that , in future , the management of the Company should be in Liverpool , and that the London and Lancashire Life Assurance Company, fﬁ whose Head O ce was in London , should merely act a s Agents , in that City , for the London and Lancashire ’ fﬁ Fire Insurance Company, taking over the latter s O ces in London upon terms to be mutually agreed upon .

The requisition of the Liverpool Shareholders received very deliberate consideration , during the summer of

1 86 7 , at the hands of the Directors , and, eventually, a t an Extraordinary General Meeting of the Share

in S holders, held Liverpool on the 3oth eptember,

1 86 7 , sanction was obtained for making such alterations

2 9 in the Company ’ s Deed of Settlement as were necessary to carry out the r e- organisation of the Company on the

lines indicated .

I st 1 86 As from the October , 7 , therefore , the Head Ofﬁce of the London and Lancashire was removed to th ’ Liverpool , and e whole of the Company s assets was handed over to the care of the Liverpool Board, who thus assumed supreme control of the business and ﬁ nances of the Company .

lir e . C hu h In consequence of these changes , Mr g ,

who had , up to that time , been the Manager of the Fire

r e Company , relinquished his connection therewith ,

fﬁ . maining with the Life O ce , and Mr Gale became the Manager of the London and Lancashire Fire Insurance

Company .

be inopportune at this point words in respect of the city with which the a a London and L nc shire became , from that time , so intimately connected .

30 Liverpool— o n e of the most important seaport cities

— in the British Empire , and , indeed , of the world was once merely a collection of rude dwellings , situate upon ﬁ the margin of the River Mersey . Slowly at rst , but

- with ever accelerating rapidity , it has developed into a city of great commercial signiﬁcance .

— or a The Town of Liverpool , as it appe rs to have been

L r ool— ﬁ originally called , y p received its rst Charter at h 1 2 0 the ands of King John , in the year 7 , and was made a free borough in 1 2 2 9 by Henry III . These distinctions do not appear , however , to have been accompanied by any

ﬁ ﬁn d practical bene ts , for we that the town remained in comparative obscurity for the next four hundred years or more .

the At end of the thirteenth century, the population

8 0 was about 4 at the close of the sixteenth century , it y was Towards the end of the seventeenth centur , however , Liverpool became the home of many London merchants , who had abandoned their operations in the Metropolis in consequence of the disastrous effects of the

Plague and the Great Fire of London . The stimulus thus given to the town was soon evidenced in mercantile i prosper ty, and , from that time , Liverpool has never looked back . At the close of the eighteenth century, the number of its inhabitants was by the end of the nine teen th - da century, it had risen to to v it is

- about three q uarters of a million .

3 1 The town soon became the formidable ri val of other

ul . British ports , more partic arly in regard to foreign trade During the eighteenth century the development of the coal resources of Lancashire , together with the inventions of the spinning-j enny and of the power-loom— which turned the County Palatine into one of the mammoth workshops of the world— gave a remarkable ﬁllip to the trade of

r Liverpool . With the advent of the nineteenth centu y, there came also the invention of steam , the railway a ll locomotive and the steamship , of which contributed to the progress of the town . Liverpool , moreover , W di became the gateway of the est , and the port of scharge for the maj or portion of the cotton trade of the world in fact , it was the channel through which the textile manufactures of Lancashire were distributed to every corner of the globe . The place gained in importance ,

year by year dock after dock was constructed, ﬂeets of — liners made Liverpool their harbour and to day , the maritime and commercial ramiﬁcations of the city are

- world wide .

l Architectural y, too , Liverpool occupies a leading position amongst the cities of the world . Among the

r best examples are the Live pool Exchange , which cost the Walker Art Gallery ! the Liver pool

University the palatial Cotton Exchange , costing ’

. ma niﬁ more than and St George s Hall , a g of cent specimen Corinthian architecture , considered by ﬁ di connoisseurs to be one of the nest buil ngs in Europe .

’ i 1 86 The results of the Company s operations dur ng 7 , although more favourable than those of the preceding twelve months , were still not satisfactory, the losses showing a ratio of 7 4% to the net premiums beyond which , there had also to be faced the liability 1 866 arising out of the losses in Yokohama in . It was, therefore , deemed advisable by the Directors at the sixth Annual Meeting , to make a call upon the Share holders o f £1 per share— realising — which sum

off 1 8 2 . was , however , written in 7 Under the circum it 1 86 stances , is not to be wondered at that , for 7 and the four following years , the Company did not pay any dividend .

From the moment when the management was trans ferred to the Liverpool Directorate , fortune began to

’ smile upon the Company s underwriting transactions .

1 868 The loss ratio was reduced to in , and to 1 86 47 % in 9 , whilst considerable saving was effected in the expenditure .

1 86 Towards the end of the year 9 , the Head Ofﬁ ce of the Company was removed from the Exchange Buildings

1 1 to more adequate premises at No . , Dale Street the principal Insurance thoroughfare of Liverpool— in which ofﬁces the business of the Company was trans

acted for the ensuing twenty years .

34 Important changes in the Directorial personnel took 1 8 2 place at the beginning of 7 , when , after almost ten years of conscientious fulﬁlment of his duties— ﬁr st as

Chairman of the Liverpool Board , and , later, as

— Mr Chairman of the Company . Braun relinquished his

n post . We are fortunate in bei g able to introduce into the present volume a portrait of Mr . Braun, whose work and inﬂuence in the interests of Liverpool are still remembered .

The same Board which accepted , with the deepest regret , the resignation of Mr . Braun , elected his successor .

8 r 1 8 2 fﬁ rm On the th Janua y , 7 , the o ce of Chai an of the London and Lancashire was conferred upon Mr . Duncan Graham , who , by his notable i business ab lity, was eminently suited to occupy such a ’ position, and whose administration of the Company s affairs during the following twenty-nine years more than ﬁ justi ed the choice made by his colleagues .

ﬁ 1 8 2 Before the close of the rst six months of 7 , the

Directors appointed Mr . George Henry Float , who had ’ ﬁ acted as the Manager s con dential clerk for some years ,

- to the Assistant Secretaryship of the Company, a position that gentleman ﬁlled until his retirement at the end

1 8 of 8 9 .

1 8 2 ﬁ In the August of 7 , the Directors , nding it desirable to devote more time to the increasing business of the Company , resolved that , for the future , the Board k hl ul . Meetings sho d be held wee ly , instead of mont y

35 “ i ’ Meanwhile , the London and Lancash re s connec a d l 1 8 2 — the ﬁ tions had ste i y grown , and during 7 rst ’ a — year of Mr . Duncan Grah m s regime the Company

registered a gross income of over whilst , for

the subsequent twelve months , the premiums exceeded ll a quarter of a mi ion . Moreover, the payment of a vi di dend to the Shareholders was resumed , 5% being the 1 8 2 1 8 rate for 7 , and 7 % for 7 3 . Another landmark in the Company’ s history was

1 8 . . reached at the close of the year 7 4 Mr Gale , 1 86 who had been appointed Manager in 7 , when the fﬁ Head O ce was transferred to Liverpool , ceased to f hold that position , the post being o fered to and

accepted by Mr . Charles George Fothergill . This was the ’ great stroke of fortune which affected the Compa ny s l whole futur e history . Mr . Fothergil was not the founder

of the Company , but he founded its success . He had

started his Insurance career with the Westminster, and for thirteen years subsequently had been in the “ service of the Royal ! ﬁrst as Assistant Secretary in

Liverpool , then in a similar capacity in London,

n 1 868 - retur ni g to Liverpool in as the Sub Manager, under

La r n Mc e . the late Mr . John H .

! z r l The Post Maga ine , alluding to his manage ia 1 2 th 1 8 appointment in its issue of the December , 7 4, said : ll Mr . Fothergi brings to his new post a thorough t knowledge of his business , and the selec ion

C HA R L E S G E O R G E FO T H E R G I LL

Insurance Company , but the proj ect was not carried

through . Seventeen years later , as the outcome of

the establishment of the Company in the United States, ! ﬁ the London and Lancashire , made its rst move in the direction of absorbing other Companies— a n achieve

ment that has , by the way , been repeated on more ! — 1 8 than thirty occasions for, in June , 7 9 , the Safeguard “ of New York and the Hoboken of Hoboken were i secured, the Adriatic of New York be ng also absorbed i in the following August . These three Amer can acquisitions resulted in the Company’ s premium income being augmented by close upon

— o u 1 2 th 1 8 A few months later the November, 7 9 arrangements were concluded with the London and S outhwark Insurance Corporation , Ltd . , by which the London and Lancashire took over the bulk of its Fire business , representing a premium income of

Following upon this purchase , the Company found

1 8 it necessary , before the close of 7 9 , in view of the

expansion of its Metropolitan connections , to seek more ﬁ c adequate of ce ac ommodation , and it is a coincidence that, with the removal of the London Branch to the premises formerly occupied by the London and a l E Southw rk in 7 3 and 4, . C . 7 King Wi liam Street , , the London and Lancashire found themselves once

38 more in premises they had tenanted, but to a much more limited extent , many years previously . The London business of the Company is still carried on il S in King W l iam treet .

Simultaneously, an arrangement was made by which the London and Lancashire Life Assurance Company relinquished the Agency of the Fire Com pany, and the businesses of the two organisations were henceforward conducted on entirely independent i l nes .

The histor y of the next decade is one of gradual improvement . Those years were not characterised by any such incidents as had marked the earlier stages ! in fact , apart from the absorption of three or four ffi i al comparatively small O ces , w th an aggregate annu premium of about they might be described

. as uneventful Despite the absence of incident , however,

Of the connections the Company expanded , slowly but

. r surely, year by year It is not su prising, therefore ,

ﬁn d 1 88 to that , at the end of 9 , the premium income had increased to whilst the dividend received by the Shareholders had steadily risen until it had reached the substantial rate of

During those days— the eighties— as a consequence of ffi f the expanding business , the Head O ce sta f had

39 grown to such an extent as to render it imperative that increased accommodation should be secured .

1 88 Towards the end of 9 , therefore , negotiations were entered into for the purchase of the extensive block at S Moor ﬁelds r the corner of Dale treet and , Live pool

— formerly known as the Royal Hotel and in March , 1 8 0 9 , the headquarters of the Company were moved to fﬁ those o ces . The premises occupy a prominent site at the j unction of two of Liverpool’ s busiest commercial

ri thoroughfares . The inte or is replete with every appliance and convenience for the efﬁcient despatch of - i an ever increas ng business .

Coincident with the removal of the Head Ofﬁces of i the Company to the r present situation , some noteworthy f changes in the management took place . Mr . Mo fat , the - a Sub Man ger, resigned, having accepted the Managership

ur of the Manchester Fire Ass ance Company .

Simultaneously , the Directors accepted the resignation

of Mr . Float, who thus retired on a pension ! and it was ﬁll — decided to the vacancy indeed , the two — b n vacancies y appoi ting Mr . Rutter , with the title of S Assistant ecretary .

1 8 0 Towards the close of the year 9 , an arrangement was concluded whereby the Company acquired the

ﬁ i ﬁ the Paci c Coast bus ness of another American Of ce, ! - Anglo Nevada . The additional premiums thus secured

40 amounted to about and, largely as a result of this acquisition , the premiums of the London and Lancashire for that year exceeded The dividend paid to the Shareholders for 1 890 was

b 1 8 1 . Su In 9 , Mr Rutter assumed the title of a l M nager of the Company , and Mr . J ames A lan was selected for the Assistant Secretaryship . Mr . Allan had received his train ing in the ofﬁces of the Guardian ! a ni r and the Commerci l U on, and , for three years p ior to his promotion to the Head Ofﬁce of the London and ! Lancashire , had occupied the position of Resident

r . ll Secreta y at its Dublin Branch . Mr A an has travelled ’ l extensively in the Company s interests, particu arly in

South Africa and Australia .

1 8 1 e viz . In 9 , three further busin sses were acquired,

v al . the London and Pro inci Fire Insurance Company, Ltd ,

fﬁ n of London , and two American O ces , the Souther

California and the Norwalk .

The year 1 89 2 witnessed further progress in extending ’ ! n r l the Company s i terests , th ee more dea s being

s successfully negotiated . The chief of the e involved the absor ption of the Fire business of the General Life A fﬁ and Fire ssurance Company, a London O ce 1 8 established as far back as 37 .

Three Colonial acquisitions were arran ged in the year 1 8 94 , the London and Lancashire purchasing the

4 1 business of the South African Insurance Company of Cape Town , and also the Fire connections of two ﬁ r Australian Of ces, the B itish and Colonial of

Sydn ey and the National of Australasia of Melbourne .

1 8 6 In 9 , the Company acquired the Mercantile of

Waterloo , Canada . In the following year the Fire “ Of businesses La Buenos Ayres , in the Western Hemi

n sphere , and the City Mutual of Sydney , in the Easter 1 8 8 Hemisphere , were taken over ! and in 9 , these absorptions were followed by the purchase of La

Plata , which gave the Company a strong footing in

Urugu ay . The close of 1 898 witnessed one of the signiﬁcant ill events in the history of the Company . Mr . Fotherg , who had been in chief control for nearly a quarter of a century— and whose Insurance career had extended over half a century— reached the stage when he felt that

' ' a nn o domzm a l and the consideration due to his he th, made it desirable , if not imperative , that he should seek l the cooler shade of an exceptiona ly merited retirement .

ri . Du ng his management, Mr Fothergill had , by his powers of organisation and administration, raised the London and Lancashire from a position of insecurity

— o n e — l might almost say, of j eopardy to a p ace in the ’ forefront of the world s Fire Companies . The event was chronicled in the Company’ s Annual 1 8 Report , issued in April , 99 , from which we take the following extract

FR E D E R IC ! WI LL IA M PAs co e RU TT E R

r st 1 8 8 The retirement , on the 3 December, 9 , of

Mr . Charles George Fothergill , from the post of Manager and Secretary of the Company has ﬁ already been noti ed . The Shareholders will fully appreciate the sincere regret of the l Directors that Mr . Fothergil should have felt

compelled by health considerations , to thus relinquish the ofﬁce which he has so honourably ﬁlled for a period of over twenty-four years to the

great advantage and prosperity of the Company .

Mr . Fothergill was Offered and accepted a seat upon

the Boards of Directors in Liverpool and London, and it is a gratiﬁcation to all concerned to know that he has the satisfaction of seeing the Company com memorate its Jubilee .

The Directors forthwith conferred upon Mr . Freder ick William Pascoe Rutter the responsible position

— thus vacated . Mr . Rutter now the General Manager and Secretary of the Company— enj oys the distinction of having spent the whole of his business career ﬁ in r in its service at the Head Of ce . Born Live pool l and educated at the Liverpool Co lege, he j oined the 1 8 Company as an apprentice in 7 3 , and , after twelve

’ years graduation in the various departments , was promoted to the position of Head of the Foreign Depart ﬁ 1 88 i ment , which post he lled from 5 unt l the close of 1 88 l 9 . During that period, he trave led extensively , and this intimate acquaintance with foreign affairs was

43 closely maintained dur ing his subsequent tenure of the ffi S S - o ces of Assistant ecretary and ub Manager .

. ﬁ At the time Mr Rutter became Chief Of cer , the Company transacted only Fire business ! its premium income was its Reserves Funds were and the dividend paid to the Shareholders was

- — To day , the premium income derived from the various

viz : Ma rin e~sta n ds departments , Fire, Accident and at

s and the Re erves at whilst, in this , the Fiftieth year of the Company, there will be al a tot distribution to the Shareholders of Fifty per cent .

- on the paid up Capital .

’ Consequent upon Mr . Rutter s appointment , Mr .

I st 1 8 Allan was , on the January , 99 , promoted to the

- Sub Managership , the Assistant Secretaryship being con l l . . ferred upon Mr . F . W . Mil s Like his Chief, Mr Mil s has received his entire training in the service of the London ! ﬁ i and Lancashire , in the rst instance at its Br stol i Branch , and subsequently at its Calcutta establ shment .

1 8 1 00 ﬁ In the years 99 and 9 , four American Of ces were induced to cast in their lot with the London and ﬁ Lancashire . The most signi cant of these was the ! Orient of Hartford , U . S . A . Established some thirty i l - three years previously, it had bu lt up a we l seasoned

. r Fire business At the time of its abso ption , it registered a premium income of and its acquisition considerably enhanced the already mater ial stake of the r S London and Lancashi e in the United tates .

J A M E S A L LA N F W- MI L L S

A MA C D E R M O T T W- E B L A ! E

his scrupulous regard for the interests of the

Shareholders , his ability and wise counsel in

presiding over the Meetings of the Shareholders , contributed conspicuously to the success which ! the Company has eventually achieved .

The sad event was also referred to in appropriate terms in the following extract from the Company ’ s

- 1 01 : twenty ninth Annual Report , dated April , 9

rs with the deepest regret that the Directors place on record the loss which they and the Shareholders have sustained by the death in

January last of the Chairman of the Company ,

Mr . Duncan Graham . Mr . Graham had been a 1 86 ﬁ fﬁ Director since 7 , and had lled the o ce of Chairman for the last twenty-nine consecutive

years . His conspicuous ability and unwearied efforts to enhance the reputation and prosperity ! - of the Company cannot be over estimated .

’ E . H . Harrison was Mr . Graham s successor in the Chairmanship of the Company, and Mr . G . H .

- Robertson then became Deputy Chairman .

1 01 In 9 , the Company was enterprising enough to acquire control of the Equitable Fire and Accident “

fﬁ . O ce , Ltd , of Manchester . The Equitable possessed a Fire portfolio of some from business largely

EDWAR D HO DG S O N HAR R tS ON . composed of ﬁr st-class industrial risks in the counties of d Lancashire and Yorkshire . Moreover, in ad ition to the

Fire business , the Equitable had an Accident con nection of close upon This , in the wisdom of ! the Directors of the London and Lancashire , it was

decided to retain , and as the Company had , two l years previous y , sought and obtained powers to transact

Accident Insurance , the portfolio which thus passed over to them from the Equitable formed the nucleus

of what is now an important department .

Before the close of that year ( 1 901 ) still another l amalgamation took p ace , the London and Lancashire securing the business of the Quebec Fire Assurance

l fﬁ as Company, a substantia Canadian O ce , established 1 81 8 far back as .

The year 1 901 marked an epoch in the annals of the ’ Company s progress . As will be seen from the tabulated in statistics in another part of this book, the Company ! 01 a 1 9 passed the a ye r premium standard .

For the next two or three years nothing very eventful

. 1 0 transpired One morning in February , 9 4, however, the world awakened to lea rn that a serious con ﬂa gr a tion i had v sited Baltimore , doing damage to property estimated at The London and ! a in Lanc shire, common with most British Companies, was

47 n l a ll a e e i terested , the osses it was c ed upon to p y in r sp ct of its liabilities amounting to

1 0 ll In August , 9 4, the Company purchased the goodwi Old- l fﬁ S of an estab ished Aberdeen O ce , the cottish ’ l s Employers Liabi ity and Accident As urance Company,

i le . all cl en te . Ltd , thereby materi y extending its Accident

No fu rther incident Of any great import occurred l 1 06 unti 9 . During that year , the London and Lanca shire acquired the Home connections of the l ! fﬁ Nationa Union , a Fire and Accident O ce having its hea dquarters at Bedford .

1 06 l an o In 9 , a so , addition was made to the pers nnel — of the management . Mr . A . Macdermott who had ’ hitherto been the Company s Chief Accountant— was fﬁ al made an Assistant Secretary . This O ci has since been appointed Accident Secretary .

The year 1 906 was specially memorable by reason of

ul VIZ two of the most awf cataclysms of modern times , the earthquakes which destroye d San Francisco and

Valparaiso .

The calamity at San Francisco was une! ampled in its ﬁ sever ity . The rst shock was felt at thirteen minutes

ﬁve 1 8 past on the morning of Wednesday the th April , 1 06 al 9 , and the tremors continued at interv s for the following three hours . Almost immediately after the

THE ’ CO MPA N YS B U ILD I NG HA , RT FO R D U - S- A. ,

ﬁ u ﬁr e rst dist rbance , there ensued a which , before long ,

con ﬂa r a tion assumed the proportions of a g , and burned for three days before it was eventually subdued . ill It w not be out of the way , at this point , to set out some statistics indicating the magnitude of this disaster , which far transcended the previous record con ﬂa gr a tion 1 8 1 of Chicago in 7 .

fir e The area covered by the was acres , or more u l than fo r square mi es , and the number of buildings destroyed was calculated to approximate r epr e senting damage to property of about The ffi 2 number of Insurance O ces involved was 33 , their combined loss being computed at Of this l amount , about one quarter, roughly speaking , fel upon the British Companies , whilst several of the American fi l Of ces were , as a resu t of the catastrophe , forced into liquidation .

In the case of the London and Lancashire , the claimants numbered and necessitated the con tin u ous employment for over four months of some 2 5 special adj uster s to arrange the settlements . As a matter of fact , the amount paid out by the Company — was the largest su m ever disbursed by a British ﬁr Insur ance Ofﬁ ce for a single e .

r The strength of an Insu ance Company depends , of course , upon its Reserves , and upon its consequent ability u to meet any losses which may occ r, and if proof had

49 ’ been needed of the Company s stability , no more conclusive testimony could have been furnished than the

. ease with which , on this occasion , it met its liabilities This was mainly due to the policy the Directors had pursued for many years of building up the

Reserve Funds . Indeed, as one reflects upon the past , it is impossible not to mentally contrast the alarm of the 1 866 Shareholders in , on hearing the Company had f fir e w su fered a loss of by the Yokohama , ith their comparative equanimity when , forty years later news was received that the London and Lancashire ’ s net loss by the San Francisco con fla gr a tion was Whilst the interested Companies were still busy with the claims arising out of the San Francisco disaster , the V l l city of alparaiso , in Chi i , was the scene of simi ar

r hilia ns seismal Visitation and subsequent ﬁ e . C are not unaccustomed to earthquakes , for some hundreds of more

r or less innocuous tremors occur annually in their count y .

As regards duration and disturbance , however , the two shocks suffered on this particular occasion were un pr e t i ceden ed in the r severity . ﬁ The rst shock , which commenced at four minutes ’ 1 6 u after seven o clock in the evening of the th Aug st , 1 06 9 , and continued for about sixty seconds , was followed shortly by a second tremor which lasted

- . ﬁft one for two minutes Fires ensued , no fewer than y occur rin outbreaks gj and, in consequence of the inj ury done by the earthquakes to the water mains of the

so fi l city , the res had to be a lowed to burn themselves five out . Outbreaks followed intermittently during the 1 6 days after the th August , and it is estimated that the amount of damage sustained by earthquakes and fires was over By far the greater portion of

n this was attributed to earthquake havoc , the destructio by ﬁr e only amounting to some two and a quarter millions sterling . The total loss sustained by the ﬁ Insurance Companies was , in round gures,

The Policyholders brought actions in the Chilian

’ the Courts against Insurance Companies , and , as a result of protracted litigation , compromises were ultimately ’ agreed upon , the London and Lancashire s loss working out at a little under

1 0 . The following year, 9 7 , was full of eventful episode ﬁ e Before the rst fortnight had pass d , a third destructive

1 earthquake occurred . On the 4th January , a serious Of shock was felt at Kingston the capital city Jamaica ,

dlstr i s ct . and in the surrounding By the earthquake , ﬁr e 00 and the which followed , 7 people lost their lives , and enormous damage was done to practically the whole of the business section of Kingston . The area affected by the ﬁr e comprised between 30 and 40 acres in extent , and the total damage caused has been estimated at More than a score of Fire Insurance Companies were

ﬁr e — Val involved in the , and as in the case of paraiso

5 1 considerable litigation ensued in regard to the question of liability . The Companies had in their policies a con dition stipulating that they were not to be considered liable for any loss by ﬁr e occasioned through earthquake u a ll conseq ently , they repudiated the claims preferred di ﬁr e against them , conten ng that the was the direct outcome of the seismic disturbance . Numerous suits were instituted by the Policyholders , and the London and Lancashire occupied a prominent place in the eve

ﬁ a s of the insuring public , for the Company gured Defendants in the historic case which was tried in Apr il ’ and May of the following year, in the Court of King s

Bench , London . This was an action brought by the

T tal — a - n ﬁr m oo Co . . Broadhurst Lee , Ltd well know of Manchester Export Merchants— for the payment of losses sustained by them at their Kingston stores . The r t ial , during which many Jamaican witnesses were - in examined , lasted twenty three days , and resulted a verdict for the Insurance Company . It should be mentioned that the policies which were the sub ject of this action had been issued at the Head Ofﬁce of the London and Lancashire -hence the hearin g of the case before an English j ury .

By far the greater number of policies un der which f claims were made , however, had been e fected in Jamaica , i ’ l through the various Compan es loca Representatives, and thus it happened that two test cases were heard in

al the Jamaican Law Courts, before loc j urors .

- Fire Companies of Marine portfolios . A r e organisation ’ D S a n d . of the tandard s irectorate took place, Mr

Rutter became the Chairman .

l Before the year had closed, a shadow fel across the ! h path of the London and Lancashire . On the 2 4t

— 1 0 . October, 9 7 , Mr Harrison who had occupied the position of Chairman of the Board since 1 9 01 — passed

ll . away, after a comparatively brief i ness A perfect ld l ! example of the o English gent eman , he combined a wide business experience with a most kind and genial

l c - . o temperament His loss was deep y felt by his directors , who ﬁttingly recorded their esteem at the Board Meeting 2 8th 1 0 i of the October, 9 7 , by the follow ng Minute

That , having learned with great grief and sorrow of

the death of their revered friend and colleague ,

Edward Hodgson Harrison , Esq . , who had been a Director of the Company for the unique

period of over 43 years , and who had for the l ast seven years occupied the Chair , this Meeting of the Board of Directors desires to place on record its deep appreciation of the unswerving

. support which Mr Harrison at all times , in

storm and sunshine, has rendered to this Com vi pany, ha ng by his honourable character and spotless rectitude upheld its high traditions , and having by his kindly and unselﬁsh nature

G EO RG E HU N T E R RO B E RTS O N

endeared himself, not only to his colleagues , but to every ofﬁcial and representative of the Com

pany with whom he came in contact .

th 1 0 On the 4 November, 9 7 , the Directors appointed

Mr . George Hunter Robertson to succeed Mr . Harrison as ﬁ Chairman of the Company . Mr . Robertson rst j oined “ 1 8 the Board of the London and Lancashire in 7 7 . He had for many years been on the Directorates of

several other important undertakings , and was one of the

best known men in business circles in Liverpool .

I st 1 0 On the September , 9 9 , arrangements were completed whereby the business of the Australian Alliance Assurance Company— a Colonial Ofﬁ ce established in 1 862 (the same year as the London and Lancashire with

headquarters at Melbourne, and Operating in Fire,

— Accident , Marine , and other classes of Insurance was acquired The premium income of the Australian Alliance at the time of its absorption was over This transaction has since been followed by the acquisition

“ of another Company at the Antipodes, the Derwent and Tamar of Hobart, Tasmania, and also of the

S . Federal of Cape Town, outh Africa

6th 1 0 On the 2 October, 9 9 , death removed from the

Directorate Mr . James Smith , who had been Deputy Chairman of the Company for the short term of two years . Mr . Smith had been a member of the Board

55 1 886 since . His personality and his philanthropic work f gained for him on all sides a fection and esteem .

8th 1 0 Under appointment dated November , 9 9 , Mr . John Henr y Clayton succeeded to the Deputy-Chairman

r 1 ship . M . Clayton had been on the Board since 897 . A prominent man in the cotton world he wa s President in 1 06 of the Liverpool Cotton Association 9 , when the

— present King and Queen then T . R . H . the Prince and

— Princess of Wales Opened the new Cotton Exchange . fﬁ Mr . Clayton is also a Director on the Head O ce Board of Lloyds Bank Limited ! and it will interest many to learn that he played for England in the ﬁrst International

al an Rugby Footb l Match between England and Scotl d ,

1 8 1 M n m in n . e s m which took place at Edi burgh , in 7 corpor a 5 6277 0 !

The above record had alr eady been set up in type when , to the profound grief of all connected with the

n Company, the Chairma , Mr . Robertson , was suddenly il — removed . Although a ing , he had with his customary scr upulous attention to duty— been at the Company’ s fﬁ O ce on a Thursday, and on the following Wednesday , th 1 1 2 , . the 7 February 9 , he passed away His loss , wa s li occurring at such a time , pecu arly tragic . His

J O H N HE N R Y C L AYT O N value to the Company was duly recorded in the followin g Minute

That this Meeting of the Board of Dir ectors records with the deepest sorrow the death of their valued r f iend and colleague , Mr . George Hunter

Robertson , who had been a Member of the Board

ri for a pe od of 35 years , and had successively

- occupied the positions of Deputy Chairman ,

1 0 . and, since 9 7 , Chairman of the Company

Mr . Robertson , throughout his entire i connection with the Company, had g ven it his

al r i loy and unswe v ng support , and the Board

his able and conscientious advice , and this Meeting desires to express its deep appreciation i of the services he has at all t mes rendered , emphasised as they were by his unfailing

un selﬁshn ess n dl a courtesy, , and ki y consider ! tion .

The lamented death of Mr . Robertson created a hi ﬁ vacancy in the Chairmanship , w ch was lled by the

1 th 1 1 2 . election of Mr . Clayton on the 9 February , 9 ll Mr . J ames Wi cox Alsop , who has been a Director since

1 8 2 n - 9 , was simulta eously chosen as the Deputy Chairman of the Company .

57 ! E post fa cto : et in futur o .

l UCH , then , is an out ine of the circum stances attending the birth of the London ! and Lancashire , and of the progress it has been the Company’ s fortune to record

- during the past half century.

The attainment of a Jubilee has, since the earliest

- period, served as an occasion for self examination . It marks a point of time : it sets in sharp contrast the achievements of the past and the hopes of the future in completing one era , it inaugurates another .

The Company was launched amidst the hopes and fears invariably attendant upon such undertakings . Its earlier career was , as will have been seen, a chequered a one, being m rked by many vicissitudes . At a certain phase of its existence, the London and Lancashire

58 passed through a ver y critical period but it has to-day attained a position so impregnable as to have surpassed the expectations of even the most sanguine of its founders .

’ Having taken a retrospect of the Company s history , one is tempted to look forward ! and, so far as can be predicted, the future appears bright with promise . The

London and Lancashire possesses a valuable heritage , by reason of its traditions , and of the position it occupies amongst the organisations of the world . But there are still greater heights to be scaled , and whilst the Company l may wel be proud of its past , there are no limitations to

! its future . Its watchword is Progress .

a ll And , in commending this little brochure , with its ﬁ imperfections , to the reader, we do so with the con dent aspiration that— in the words of Robert Browning

The best yet to be .

59 B D v d d . Loss la . t r st es E! enses. a n n e . en . p ce I e i i

TB o nu s .

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f Dir cto r s B o a r d o e .

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N B B E ES EN Y S N ES . J OH AR R , ! . H R HARRI O , !

W N G N ES . M B NG ES . S M . J I LLIA I HA , ! OH H H I O , !

W E V N H EYDER ES . M B ! . O WE G . . T . O LL , ES! . TH O , !

ES M . 05 . B DU ! W U S . ES . 1 C ORTH , ! . J ARTH R I TH , !

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Lon d on Dir ect o r s .

a zr m E ES Cﬁ a n J OH N A ST ! .

N B DY F E G IR N Y S . A . S S A THO C , CHA . G . OTH R I LL

R EDW D H B S! cL E D E SI . U . . M O S AR . C C , ! . D M E E U B U E . E S . LOR ARTH R TL R . C . OOR , ! E N E C . MORG A , S! .

Lo d o S r r — E B E n n ec eta y W. LA! .

— — MAC D R W. MI . A id r r A. E MOTT. Assistant Secr etary F. LLS cc ent Sec eta y

- — A Sub Manag er J AS . LLAN.

— W. T E G e ne r a l Ma na ge r a nd Secr eta r y F. P . RU T R.