London and Scottish Assurance Corporation Ltd
The London and Scottish Assurance Corporation was founded in 1862 by Mr W P Clirehugh for the purpose of granting Insurances upon Lives and Survivorships and other contingencies for the purchase and sale of Endowments, Annuities and Reversionary Interests
Company History
London & Scottish fire policy header, 1946
London & Scottish perspex sign, 1950s & 60s
The London and Scottish was established by deed of settlement on August 4 1862 as the London and Lancashire Life Assurance Company and incorporated on June 15 1910 as the London and Lancashire Life and General Assurance Association Ltd.
In 1867, a sister company, the London and Lancashire Fire Insurance Company, was established offering fire insurance. The two companies shared premises in Liverpool. From 1910, the company started to transact fire, accident, employers' liability and general insurance.
In 1919, at the request of London and Lancashire Fire, the company changed its name to the London and Scottish Assurance Corporation Ltd. In 1923, the company became a subsidiary of the Northern Assurance Company Ltd, which itself became part of the Commercial Union Assurance Company Ltd in 1968.
From 1963, the company wholly re-insured its accident insurance account within the Northern & Employers Group and, in 1971, transferred its life business to Commercial Union. The company was dissolved on September 4 2007.
Key dates
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1862 | The company is established |
| 1867 | The London and Lancashire Fire Insurance Company, a sister company, is established |
| 1910 | The company is incorporated as the London and Lancashire Life and General Assurance Association Ltd |
| 1919 | Name changes to the London and Scottish Assurance Corporation |
| 1923 | The company becomes a subsidiary of the Northern Assurance Company |
| 1968 | The Northern becomes part of the Commercial Union Assurance Company |
| 1971 | The company transfers its life business to the Commercial Union |
| 2007 | The company is dissolved |
Subsidiaries and constituents*
| Year | Company name |
|---|---|
| 1864 - 1879 | London & Southwark Fire and Life Insurance Corporation (life business) |
| 1909 - 1911 | Omnium Insurance Corporation Ltd |
| 1909 - 1911 | Welsh Insurance Corporation Ltd |
| 1908 - 1912 | Glasgow Assurance Corporation (part of accident business) |
| 1876 - 1912 | Scottish Metropolitan Assurance Company Ltd |
| from 1955 - 1959 | American Marine and General Insurance |
* Please note the first date given is the date of the establishment of the company and the second date is the date the company was acquired or became a subsidiary. Where only one date is given the company was established as a subsidiary of the parent company. Where one date is preceded by a hyphen the date of the establishment of the company is not known.
Head office premises
| Year | Address |
|---|---|
| 1862 - | 73 - 74 King William Street, London |
| by 1870 - 1882 | 158 Leadenhall Street, London |
| 1882 - 1928 | 66 & 67 Cornhill, London |
| 1928 - 1958 | King William Street House, Arthur Street, London |
| 1939 - 1945 | The Dower House, Ewell Road, Cheam, Surrey (wartime evacuation) |
| 1958 - 1960 | Northern House, 29 Gresham Street, London |
| 1960 - 1968 | 1 Moorgate, London |
| 1968 - 1969 | 24 Cornhill, London |
| 1969 - | St Helen's, 1 Undershaft, London |
Staff and officials
Manager
| Year | Name |
|---|---|
| 1862 - 1908 | William Palin Clirehugh |
| 1909 - 1924 | William A Mackay (as general manager and secretary until 1913) |
| 1924 - 1938 | Frank B Cooke |
| 1938 - 1951 | R F James and S G Joyce (joint managers) |
| 1951 - 1956 | R F James |
| 1956 - 1959 | J Macdonald |
| 1959 - 1966 | T W Haynes |
| 1966 - 1968 | C E Keysell (after his retirement manager no longer mentioned) |
Secretary
| Year | Name |
|---|---|
| 1889 - 1908 | G W Mannering |
| 1908 - 1913 | William A Mackay |
| 1913 - 1925 | Louis I Jarvis |
| 1925 | F S Goggs |
| 1926 | Position vacant |
| 1927 - 1929 | E E Dent |
| 1929 - 1938 at least | A G H Emslie |
| by 1944 - 1959 | J E Snare |
| 1959 - 1963 | F B Joule |
| 1963 - 1968 | D A Mills |
| 1968 - 1971 | Horace Thomas Frost |
| 1971 - 1986 | D R Cobden |
| 1986 - | G T Spratt |
George C. Forster, London & Lancashire Life, Local Manager at Leeds, 1898
London & Lancashire Life cover page to Deed of Settlement, 1862
Directors (1870)
- F W Russell
- J H Mackenzie
- Abel Chapman
- C B Colchester
- Alderman Dakin
- Alderman Hale
- Lightly Simpson
- Thomas Stenhouse
Home branches and agencies
- Leeds (1868)
- London (by 1891)
- Liverpool (by 1870)
- Bristol (by 1881)
- Manchester (by 1881)
- Birmingham (by 1881)
- Newcastle-on-Tyne (by 1881)
- Merthyr, South Wales (by 1881)
- Edinburgh (by 1881)
- Glasgow (by 1881)
- Belfast (by 1881)
- Plymouth (1891)
Overseas branches and agencies
- Calcutta, India (by 1872)
- Bombay, India (by 1872)
- Madras, India (by 1872)
- Melbourne, Australia (by 1879)
- Dublin, Ireland (by 1881)
- Montreal, Canada (1884)
- Cape Town, South Africa (1894)
- Johannesburg, South Africa (1894)
- Genoa, Italy (1897)
- Alexandria, Egypt (1912)
- Cairo, Egypt (1912)
- New York, United States (1915)
- Buenos Aires, Argentina (1920)
- Paris, France (1923)
- Antwerp, Belgium (1923)
- Amsterdam, Holland (1923)
- Hamburg, Germany (1930)
- Aden (1930)
- Guayaquil, Ecuador (1930)
- Athens, Greece (1930)
- Kingston Jamaica (1930)
- Mauritius (1930)
- St Denis, Reunion (1930)
- Shanghai, China (1930)
- Manila, Philippine Islands (1931)
- Copenhagen, Denmark (1931)
- Nairobi, Kenya (1931)
- Portuguese East Africa (1931)
- Nyasaland (1931)
- Limassol, Cyprus (1938)
In the archive
The Aviva archive contains records relating to the running of the London and Scottish Assurance Corporation between 1861 and 1985. The collection includes board minutes, share registers, annual report and accounts, committee minutes, registers of transfers, deed of settlement and policy registers.
Other resources
Visit the Guildhall Library for more material relating to the London and Scottish Assurance Corporation.
