Provident Mutual Life Assurance Ltd
Provident Mutual was established in 1840 as the Provident Clerks’ Mutual Benefit Association, along with a sister company called the Provident Clerks’ Benevolent Fund. The two new companies were often known together as the Provident Clerks’ Mutual Benefit Association and Benevolent Fund.
Company History
Provident Mutual Life Assurance Association poster
Provident Mutual Life Assurance Association poster
Provident Mutual Life Assurance Association poster
Provident Mutual Life Assurance Association poster
Provident Clerks' Mutual Life Assurance Association report and accounts
The company was formed :
"for the purpose of affording to clerks and others the means of making a provision for themselves in old age, for their families at their decease, and an endowment for their children."
The association issued its first policy on March 17 1841 and, in 1846, set up the first UK group life assurance scheme by which Magniac, Jardine & Company undertook to pay the premiums for providing life assurance to their employees as a benefit of employment. In 1848, the company changed its name to the Provident Clerks' Mutual Life Assurance Association.
By 1859, Provident Clerks' was managing the staff life assurance scheme for the post office and, in 1860, began operating staff life assurance schemes with leading railway companies, starting with the Great Western Railways. The company pioneered a system to take weekly or monthly premiums from salaries or wages to allow all employees of participating companies to afford life cover.
On October 29 1874, the company was incorporated under the Companies Act (registered number 8870) and changed its name again on March 17 1903 to the Provident Clerks' and General Mutual Life Assurance Association. In 1917, the company changed its name once more to the Provident Mutual Life Assurance Association.
A merger with the General Accident Fire and Life Assurance Corporation Ltd was announced on September 28 1995 and, in November, business was transferred to the General Accident Linked Life Assurance Ltd. On January 1 1996, the company became known as Provident Mutual Life Assurance Ltd. Provident Mutual was dissolved on June 13 2003.
Key dates
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1840 | The company is established |
| 1841 | Issues its first policy |
| 1846 | Set up the first UK group life assurance scheme |
| 1848 | Name changes to the Provident Clerks' Mutual Life Assurance Association |
| 1874 | Incorporated under the Companies Act |
| 1917 | Name changes to the Provident Mutual Life Assurance Association |
| 1995 | Merges with the General Accident Fire and Life Assurance Corporation |
| 1996 | Name changes to Provident Mutual Life Assurance Ltd |
| 2003 | The company is dissolved |
Did you know...?
- In 1841, the board agreed that the motto of the association would be "Tuti qui providi" - Save and be safe - illustrated with a beehive and bees.
- In 1915, the Moorgate office was bombed during a Zeppelin raid.
- In 1933, the company entered a dispute over a claim made following the death of Lady Dorothy L Clayton in a flying accident at Brooklands, Surrey. Lady Clayton was an experienced pilot and it was while manoeuvring her Spartan Arrow plane in front of the newly built Brooklands Aero Club building that the throttle leaver apparently broke. Records suggest she either jumped out of the plane or was thrown out and hit her head on the hard runway surface. The injury proved fatal. The company refused to pay out on the claim because Lady Clayton's whole-life policy covered her specifically for flying to, from and during an expedition to Egypt during a twelve-month period. Her estate sued Provident Mutual claiming that, since the cover was for a year, she was insured for flying when she returned to the UK. The court found in favour of the company. Incidentally, Lady Clayton is believed to be the basis for the character Katherine Clifton in the film The English Patient.
Subsidiaries and constituents*
| Year | Company name |
|---|---|
| 1858 - 1862 | Consols Insurance Association |
| 1865 | The Provident Clerks' & General Guarantee Association Ltd |
| 1866 - 1874 | Citizen Assurance Corporation Ltd |
| 1876 | The Provident Clerks' & General Accident Insurance Company Ltd |
* 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 |
|---|---|
| 1840 - 1840 | 12 Wormwood Street, London |
| 1840 - 1845 | 60 King William Street, London |
| 1845 - 1854 | 42 Moorgate Street, London |
| 1854 - 1877 | 15 Moorgate Street, London |
| 1877 - 1895 | 27 Moorgate, London (same building but street renumbered) |
| 1895 - 1920 | 27-29 Moorgate, London |
| 1920 - 1922 | 222 Strand, London (temporary offices during office re-building) |
| 1922 - 1988 at least | 25-31 Moorgate, London |
| 1939 - 1945 | Alresford Place, Alresford, Hampshire (wartime evacuation) |
Staff and officials
Secretary (none appointed until 1845)
| Year | Name |
|---|---|
| 1845 | Edward Taylor |
| 1845 - 1849 | Dr Thomas Mullinder |
| 1849 - 1854 | Philip Henry Byrne |
| 1854 - 1886 | William Thomas Linford |
| 1886 - 1914 | Jonathan Edward Gwyer |
| 1914 - 1928 | Charles Ronald Vawdrey Coutts (also actuary and manager) |
| 1928 - 1938 | F L Klamborowski |
| 1938 - 1939 | Percy Hicks McCormack |
| 1939 - 1940 | F H Sherriff |
| 1940 - 1948 | C D Rich |
| 1948 - 1950 | F W Hill |
| 1950 - 1969 | E C Evans |
| 1969 - 1972 | P Norton |
| 1972 - 1974 | L J D Wheble |
| 1974 - 1978 at least | G W Stirling |
| by 1987 - | P Norton |
Actuary
| Year | Name |
|---|---|
| 1846 - 1855 at least | William Ratray (consulting actuary) |
| by 1870 - 1875 | R Tucker (consulting actuary) |
| 1875 -1886 | William Thomas Linford |
| by 1888 - 1914 | T E Young (consulting actuary) |
| 1914 - 1938 | Charles Ronald Vawdrey Coutts |
| 1938 - 1950 | Percy Hicks McCormack (joint actuary from 1928) |
| 1950 - 1955 | C D Rich |
| 1955 - 1968 | E C Evans (joint actuary also secretary) |
| 1955 - 1969 | C C Nightingale (joint actuary up to 1968) |
| 1969 - 1972 | R L Sutton (also general manager) |
| 1972 - 1978 at least | P Norton |
| by 1987 - | J D Neville |
Manager (post created 1918)
| Year | Name |
|---|---|
| 1918 - 1938 | Charles Ronald Vawdrey Coutts (also actuary) |
| 1938 - 1950 | Percy Hicks McCormack |
| 1950 - 1969 | J M Robertson (general manager; managing director from 1959) |
| 1969 - 1972 | R L Sutton (also actuary) |
| 1972 - 1995 at least | Brian Richardson |
Directors (1840)
- W W Boyle
- John Clarke
- R H Jones
- W Lawrence
- G Thomas
- G R Woodward
Home branches and agencies
Agencies
- Bath (by 1846)
- Bedford (by 1846)
- Birmingham (by 1846)
- Bodmin (by 1846)
- Boston (by 1846)
- Bristol (by 1846)
- Cambridge (by 1846)
- Chatham (by 1846)
- Christchurch (by 1846)
- Colchester (by 1846)
- Dursley (by 1846)
- Edinburgh (by 1846)
- Exeter (by 1846)
- Glasgow (by 1846)
- Gloucester (by 1846)
- Halifax (by 1846)
- Douglas, Isle of Man (by 1846)
- Leeds (by 1846)
- Liverpool (by 1846)
- Maidenhead (by 1846)
- Manchester (by 1846)
- Newport (Monmouth) (by 1846)
- Northampton (by 1846)
- Newport, Isle of Wight (by 1846)
- Norwich (by 1846)
- Nottingham (by 1846)
- Plymouth (by 1846)
- Reading (by 1846)
- Runcorn (by 1846)
- Sheffield (by 1846)
- Shrewsbury (by 1846)
- Skipton (by 1846)
- Stroud (by 1846)
- Southampton (by 1846)
- Truro (by 1846)
- Wisbeach (by 1846)
Branches
- Manchester (1874)
- Liverpool (1889)
- Leeds (1903)
- Bristol (1905)
- Nottingham (1922)
- Edinburgh (1923)
- Aberdeen (1923)
- Birmingham (1924)
- Carlisle (1924)
- Glasgow (1924)
- Newcastle (1930)
Published History
From Then... Till Now. Being a Short History of the Provident Mutual Life Assurance Association, 1840 - 1940 by F H Sherriff. Nissen & Arnold Ltd. London, 1940.
In the archives
The Aviva archive contains records relating to the running of Provident Mutual Life Assurance between 1871 and 1996. The collection includes policies, annual report and accounts, advertising, letters to shareholders, accounts, board of trade returns, actuary's reports, board minutes, subsidiary and committee minutes, valuation statements, agendas, life policy registers, rules and regulations, correspondence, photographs, branch reports, salary book, proposal forms, claim files, press cuttings, ledgers and staff magazines.
Other resources
Further records related to Provident Mutual can be accessed through the Guildhall Library.
