Bon Accord Life and Fire Assurance Guarantee Reversionary and Annuity Co.
Established in January 1845, the name originally proposed for Bon Accord Life and Fire was the Aberdeenshire Life Assurance Guarantee Reversionary and Annuity Association. This name was, however, not adopted to prevent a conflict with the Aberdeen Fire and Life Assurance Company.
Company History
Bon Accord Life and Fire
Assurance policy header
According to company records, the directors of the new company resolved to:
"Conduct the business of Life Assurance upon liberal and equitable principles, to grant Immediate, Deferred and Survivorship Annuities, and Endowments for Children; to purchase Reversionary and Life-rent Interests and to advance money on Annuity, Mortgage and other Securities; to guarantee the fidelity of proper parties in situation of trust; to effect Insurances against Fire."
In 1849, the company approached the Northern Assurance Company to suggest an amalgamation as
"the necessary Expenses of Management...have pressed with great severity upon what has been a limited Business".
The approach was successful and, in the same year, the company became a subsidiary of the Northern, which itself became a subsidiary of the Commercial Union Assurance Company Ltd in 1968.
Key dates
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1845 | The company is established |
| 1849 | The company becomes a subsidiary of the Northern Assurance Company |
| 1968 | The Northern becomes a subsidiary of the Commercial Union Assurance Company |
Did you know...?
- Bon Accord is the motto of the city of Aberdeen. The motto dates from the Wars of Scottish Independence when it was said to have been used as a password by Robert the Bruce during the siege of Aberdeen Castle in 1308.
- Alexander Christie was appointed as manager and secretary following a recommendation by his father, Robert Christie of Edinburgh. At the time, the younger Christie was only 23 and was working as a clerk in the head office of the Provincial Bank of Ireland in London.
Head office premises
| Year | Address |
|---|---|
| 1845 | 84 King Street, Aberdeen |
| 1845 - 1849 | 18 King Street, Aberdeen |
Staff and officials
Secretary
| Year | Name |
|---|---|
| 1845 | Messrs Yeats and Flockhart (interim) |
| 1845 - c1848 | Alexander Christie (also manager) |
| by 1849 | Andrew Masson |
Manager
| Year | Name |
|---|---|
| 1845 - 1849 | Alexander Christie |
Medical referee
| Year | Name |
|---|---|
| 1845 | Dr James Will |
Accountant and bookkeeper
| Year | Name |
|---|---|
| 1845 | Andrew Masson |
Clerk
| Year | Name |
|---|---|
| 1845 | Malcolm McKenzie |
Directors (1845)
- Alexander Thomson (Chairman)
- William Duthie
- George Elmsly
- James Forbes
- John Leslie
- George Thompson
- John Yeats
Home agencies
- London (by 1846) (under Messrs Thomas and Edward S Clarke)
- Edinburgh (by 1846) (under Robert Irvine)
- Glasgow (by 1846) (under George Brown)
- Peterhead (by 1846) (under William Lawrence & Company)
- Dundee (by 1846)
- Inverness (by 1846) (under Messrs J & W Chisholm)
In the archives
The Aviva archive contains records relating to the running of the Bon Accord Life and Fire Assurance Guarantee Reversionary and Annuity Company between 1845 and 1849. The collection includes board minutes, shareholder registers and fire policies.
