Manchester Fire and Life Assurance Company
The Manchester Fire and Life Assurance Company was established in 1824 as the Manchester Fire Assurance Company. The company was renamed the Manchester Assurance Company in 1846 and, after 1901, was known as the Manchester Fire and Life Assurance Company.
Company History
Manchester Fire Assurance Company policy header
Mr. Pearson, London Secretary, Manchester Fire Office
Established to offer fire and life insurance, the company sold its life business in 1846 to the Pelican Life Insurance Company, which later became part of the Phoenix Assurance Company Ltd.
The company started to transact accident business in 1899 but sold this part of the business two years later to the Lancashire & Yorkshire Accident Insurance Company Ltd. Lancashire & Yorkshire Accident was acquired in 1906 by the Scottish Union and National Insurance Company, which itself became a subsidiary of the Norwich Union Fire Insurance Society Ltd in 1959.
The company's remaining business was acquired by the Atlas Assurance Company Ltd in 1904.
Key dates
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1824 | The company is established |
| 1846 | Name changes to the Manchester Assurance Company |
| 1846 | The company sells its life business to the Pelican Life Insurance Company |
| 1901 | The company sells its accident business to the Lancashire & Yorkshire Accident Insurance Company |
| 1901 | Name changes to the Manchester Fire and Life Assurance Company |
| 1904 | The company sells its remaining business to the Atlas Assurance Company |
| 1906 | Lancashire & Yorkshire Accident is acquired by the Scottish Union and National Insurance Company |
| 1959 | Scottish Union and National is acquired by the Norwich Union Fire Insurance Society |
Subsidiaries and constituents*
| Year | Company name |
|---|---|
| 1824 - 1857 | Essex Economic Fire |
| 1878 - 1883 | Manchester & London Fire Insurance Company Ltd. |
| 1887 – 1896 | The Cambridge University & Town Fire Insurance Company Ltd |
| - 1899 | American Mutual of New York |
| - 1899 | Queensland Mutual of Brisbane |
| - 1899 | Commercial of Cape Town |
| 1898 - 1900 | Wool Industries Employers' Insurance Association of Dewsbury |
* 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
Manchester
| Year | Address |
|---|---|
| by 1846 - 1901 at least | 98 King Street |
London
| Year | Address |
|---|---|
| by 1846 at least | 6 Lawrence Lane, Cheapside |
| by 1855 - 1890 at least | 96 Cheapside |
Staff and officials
Secretary
| Year | Name |
|---|---|
| by 1846 - 1855 at least | Herbert Spring |
| by 1870 - 1880 at least | James B Northcott |
| by 1890 at least | J B Moffat (manager and secretary) |
Directors (1855)
- Edmund Buckley
- John Barratt
- Samuel Brooks
- George Faulkner
- Samuel Fletcher
- James C Harter
- James Heald
- George Lomas
- Samuel Pullein
- Absalom Watkin
- George Withington
- Peter Wood
Home Branches and agencies
- Liverpool (by 1870)
- Glasgow (by 1870)
- Birmingham (by 1879)
- Bristol (by 1879)
- Newcastle-on-tyne (by 1888)
- Leeds (by 1890)
- Cambridge (by 1900)
- Merthyr (by 1900)
- Nottingham (by 1900)
- Preston (by 1900)
- Wrexham (by 1900)
Overseas Branches and agencies
- San Francisco United States (by 1890)
- Dublin Ireland (by 1890)
- New York, United States (by 1900)
- Chicago, United States (by 1900)
- Toronto, Canada (by 1900)
- Melbourne, Australia (by 1900)
- Cape Town, South Africa (by 1900)
- Calcutta, India (by 1900)
- Buenos Aires, Argentina (by 1900)
In the archives
The Aviva archive contains fire policies relating to the Manchester Fire and Life Assurance Company from 1892.
Other resources
Visit the Guildhall Library for further material regarding the Manchester Fire and Life Assurance Company.
