Scottish Boiler and General Insurance Company Ltd
The Scottish Boiler and General Insurance Company was incorporated on September 16 1881 as The Scottish Boiler Insurance and Engine Inspection Company Ltd. In August 1913, the company became a subsidiary of the Yorkshire Insurance Company Ltd, which was acquired by the Accident Fire and Life Assurance Corporation Ltd in 1967.
Company History
Scottish Boiler and General Insurance Company headed notepaper
Scottish Boiler Insurance and Engine Inspection Company prospectus, c. 1883
Scottish Boiler and General Insurance Company prospectus, 1971
The company was established by John Drummond Young to
"insure boilers against explosion or collapse, the testing of new boilers by hydraulic pressure, the superintendence of the erection of new engines, and the repairs of those in use".
Its first claim was paid to Henry Kennedy of Barrowfield Pottery in 1882.
On March 1 1920, the company's name was changed to the Scottish Boiler and General Insurance Company Ltd and, by 1968, it was operating the group engineering business for the Yorkshire. It would later fulfil the same role for General Accident.
Key dates
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1881 | The company is established |
| 1913 | The company becomes a subsidiary of the Yorkshire Insurance Company |
| 1920 | Name changes to the Scottish Boiler and General Insurance Company |
| 1967 | The Yorkshire is acquired by the General Accident Fire Assurance Corporation |
Did you know...?
- In 1889, the company purchased the patent for the Lancashire fusible plug,
"without question the most efficient plug in the market for the prevention of collapse of furnace tubes from shortness of water".
- An article in Fair Play in 1889 described John Drummond Young as
"bearded like the pard and standing six foot two in his stockings".
- In 1893, John Drummond Young was the liquidator of the Mercantile Accident and Guarantee Insurance Company Ltd.
Subsidiaries and constituents*
| Year | Company name |
|---|---|
| - 1882 | The Yorkshire Boiler Insurance and Steam Users Company Ltd. (Scottish business) |
| 1862 - 1888 | Midland Steam Boiler Inspection and Assurance Company |
| 1879 - 1888 | English and Scottish Boiler Insurance Company Ltd. |
| 1890 -1892 | North British Boiler and Machinery Insurance Company Ltd. |
| 1898 - 1902 | London and Scottish Boiler 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 |
|---|---|
| 1881 - 1885 | 162 Buchanan Street, Glasgow |
| by 1886 - 1889 | 141 Buchanan Street, Glasgow |
| 1889 - 1897 at least | 13 Dundas Street, Glasgow |
| by 1901 - 1909 | 111 Union Street, Glasgow |
| 1909 - 1915 | 174 West George Street, Glasgow |
| 1915 - 1962 | 82 St Vincent Street, Glasgow |
| 1962 - 1976 | 22 Queen Street, Glasgow |
| 1976 - 1984 at least | Windsor House 250 St Vincent Street, Glasgow |
| by 1987 - 1989 at least | 100 West Nile Street, Glasgow |
Staff and officials
Managing Director
| Year | Name |
|---|---|
| 1881 - 1915 | John Drummond Young |
Manager
| Year | Name |
|---|---|
| 1915 - 1934 | T K Gardner (joint manager) |
| 1915 - 1935 | George Ness (joint manager until 1934, then general manager) |
| 1936 - 1955 | William Wallace Kerr (general manager) |
| 1955 - 1969 | R J S MacPherson |
| 1970 | No manager listed |
| by 1971 - 1972 | D A Blaikie |
| 1972 - 1984 | F M G Cadie |
| 1984 | J Gledhill |
| Position not listed after 1984 | |
Secretary
| Year | Name |
|---|---|
| 1881 - | W Boyd Anderson (interim secretary) |
| 1907 - 1934 | Captain T K Gardner (on active service between 1914 and 1917) |
| 1937 - 1942 at least | R H Pairman (interim secretary between 1914 and 1917 and from 1934 to 1937) |
| by 1944 - 1951 | Thomas B Fyfe |
| 1951 - 1961 | George Sellars |
| 1961 - 1967 | R F Mottershead |
| by 1968 - 1971 | A P Borwell |
| 1971 - 1984 | A J Marston |
| 1984 - 1989 at least | W L Carrick |
Chief Engineer
| Year | Name |
|---|---|
| 1881 - 1906 | R D Munro |
| 1906 - 1910 | Mr Campbell (joint chief engineer) |
| 1906 - 1936 | George Ness (joint chief engineer until 1910; also general manager) |
| 1936 at least | E Royal |
| Position not listed after 1936 | |
John Drummond Young
Scottish Boiler Proposal, c.1887
Directors (1881)
- William Clark
- James Beith
- Peter Wishart Hall
- Adam Morrison
- John Norman
- Graham Stevenson
- John Drummond Young
Home branches
- Manchester (1888)
- Birmingham (1889)
- London (1909)
- Bristol (1912)
- Newcastle-upon-tyne (1912)
- Cardiff (1917)
- Swansea (by 1929)
Home agencies
- London (by 1885)
- Cardiff (1888)
- Sunderland (1888)
- Newcastle (by 1890)
- Belfast (by 1890)
- Sheffield (by 1918)
Overseas branches and agencies
- Sydney (1919)
In the archives
The Aviva archive contains records relating to the running of the Scottish Boiler and General Insurance Company between 1881 and 1997. The collection includes agenda books, share consolidation lists, board minutes, share ledgers, memoranda and articles of association, promotional material, seal registers, annual reports and accounts, press cuttings, circulars, specimen policies, proposals, surveyors notebooks and registers of transfers.
