The Scottish National Insurance Company
The Scottish National Insurance Company was established on March 19 1841 as the National Fire Insurance Company of Scotland. The company was incorporated on August 1 1859 and was renamed The Scottish National Insurance Company.
Company History
Scottish National Insurance Company policy header
Scottish National Insurance Company policy receipt
Scottish National Insurance Company prospectus
Scottish National InsuranceCompany leaflet
Scottish National Insurance Company prospectus
The company was initially established as a mutual fire insurer and began offering fire insurance in May 1841. The company's contract of co-partnery allowed for the undertaking of life assurance and, in May 1843, it began writing life risks and changed its name to The National Fire and Life Insurance Company of Scotland. In 1846, the company abandoned the mutual system of fire insurance as most Scottish offices at the time did not want to do business with a mutual company.
The company merged with the Scottish Union Insurance Company in 1877 and was dissolved the following year.
Key dates
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1841 | The company is established |
| 1843 | Name changes to The National Fire and Life Insurance Company of Scotland |
| 1859 | Name changes to The Scottish National Insurance Company |
| 1877 | The company merges with the Scottish Union Insurance Company |
| 1878 | The company is dissolved |
Subsidiaries and constituents*
| Year | Company name |
|---|---|
| 1845 - 1853 | United Deposit Company (life business only) |
* 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
Edinburgh
| Year | Address |
|---|---|
| 1841 - 1853 | 2 South St David Street |
| 1853 - 1877 | 22 St Andrew Square |
London
| Year | Address |
|---|---|
| 1851 - 1869 | 69 Lombard Street |
| 1869 - 1877 | 3 King William Street |
Staff and officials
Manager
| Year | Name |
|---|---|
| 1841 - 1853 | Mr Holmes Ivory |
| 1841 - 1842 | Mr Kenneth McKenzie (interim manager during illness of Mr Holmes Ivory) |
| 1853 - 1877 | John M M'Candlish |
Secretary
| Year | Name |
|---|---|
| 1841 - 1844 | Thomas Gray Scott |
| 1844 - 1846 | Patrick Brodie |
| 1846 - 1853 | John M'Candlish |
| 1853 - 1858 | James Howden |
| 1858 - 1871 | Walter Brown |
| 1871 - 1877 | Peterswald Pattison |
Directors (1841)
- Andrew Murray
- Richard Mackenzie
- Richard Hunter
- Robert Scott Moncrieff
- James Hay
- John Bowie
- John Inglis
- Charles Lawson
- James Ferguson
- Ralph Richardson
- Alexander Donald
- Alexander Jamieson
- James Cunningham
- Lewis A Wallace
- George MacLachlan
Home agencies
- Agencies throughout Scotland by 1843
- Hull (by 1844)
- Newcastle (by 1844)
- Liverpool (by 1844)
- Manchester (by 1844)
- Wakefield (by 1844)
- Leeds (by 1844)
- York (by 1844)
- Sheffield (by 1844)
- Birmingham (by 1844)
- Londonderry (by 1847)
- Tiverton (by 1847)
- Belfast (by 1847)
- London (by 1847)
Home branches
- Glasgow (1845)
- London (1851)
- Dundee (1852)
- Manchester (1863)
- Newcastle-upon-tyne (1874)
- Liverpool (1876)
Overseas agencies
- Cork, Ireland (by 1847)
- Limerick, Ireland (by 1847)
Overseas branches
Dublin, Ireland (1865)
In the archives
The Aviva archive contains records relating to the running of the Scottish National Insurance Company between 1841 and 1877. The collection includes board minutes, annual reports and accounts, prospectuses, policies and notebooks.
