Timeline - 1800s

1808

Norwich Union Life Insurance Society founded

A particularly severe winter resulting in loss of life prompted Thomas Bignold to establish the Norwich Union Life Insurance Society in 1808. Bignold had founded the Norwich Union Fire Insurance Office 11 years earlier. The two companies came together in 1925, when the Life Society bought the entire share capital of the Fire Society.

1809

North British and Mercantile established

The company was established as the North British Insurance Company following a meeting on 17 April 1809 at the Royal Exchange Coffee House, Edinburgh. The first major fire in the company’s history occurred a year later, during celebrations for King George III’s birthday. A stray firework ignited goods in a warehouse causing extensive damage. The cost to the company could have been far less had the firemen not been drunk, owing to the festivities. North British became a subsidiary of Commercial Union in 1959.

1810

First US office

Aviva can trace its roots in the United States to 1810, when the American of Philadelphia was established. The company collapsed with huge losses following the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. It was subsequently acquired by Commercial Union in the same year.

1810

Dawn of the Sun

The Sun Life Assurance Society was established in 1810. It was an off-shoot of the Sun Fire Office, an insurance company that had been founded 100 years earlier. Sun Life was acquired by the AXA Group in 1997. AXA's UK life business subsequently became part of the Friends Life Group in 2011, which was acquired by Aviva in 2015.

1817

Newcastle by gas light

The Newcastle upon Tyne Fire Office, established in 1783, introduced a system of gas lighting to the city of Newcastle in 1817. The company, which later became part of Commercial Union, ran the service until 1830, when it was sold to the Newcastle upon Tyne Subscription Gas Light Company.

1824

Expansion into Europe

The Group's first agency in mainland Europe was created when the Norwich Union Fire Society appointed Messrs Abel Dagge & Co as their representatives in Lisbon, Portugal.

1824

Sir Walter Scott

Sir Walter Scott was elected as an extraordinary director of the Edinburgh Life Assurance Company in December 1824, a year after its establishment. Scott took out a life assurance policy with the company for £2,000, which is still held by the Group Archive. His residence, Abbotsford, was insured with another of Aviva’s constituents, Scottish Union, where he was also governor.

1825

French connection

Aviva was first represented in France by the Norwich Union Fire Insurance Society. It opened a Bordeaux agency in September 1825. In May 1826, the company approved its first French policy for 200,000 francs on a wine warehouse. Aviva France can trace its origins to the establishment of L'Abeille Bourguignonne Société d'Assurances contre la grêle in 1856. This company was founded by farmers in Dijon to provide insurance against hailstorms destroying their crops.

1832

Friends’ Provident established

Friends’ Provident was formed in Yorkshire by members of a religious group known as the Society of Friends (Quakers). This followed the death of one of their brethren, a master at Ackworth School, near Pontefract. He had died without making financial provision for his family and it was decided that a life assurance association should be created to serve the community. The company became part of the Friends Life Group in 2011, which was acquired by Aviva in 2015.

1834

Our story in India begins

The Universal Life Assurance Society, later part of North British and Mercantile, was established to carry out life assurance in the UK and India. The Universal was one of several Aviva Group companies to conduct business in India until nationalisation in 1956. Aviva re-entered the Indian market in 2002 in a joint venture with Dabur, one of the country’s oldest and largest groups. In the same year, Aviva India became the first company to use the Group's new brand name.

1836

Northern Assurance founded

Aviva's first connections with many countries around the world were through the agents of Northern Assurance. Established in Aberdeen in 1836, it began overseas operations in 1851. In 1866, a devastating fire in Yokohama, Japan, cost the company £50,000 in claims. This wiped out all but £5,000 of the previous 30 years’ profit. Commercial Union acquired Northern Assurance in 1968.

1838

What the Dickens?

Sun Life turned down a request for life assurance from the author Charles Dickens in 1838. He noted the event in his diary: “went to Sun Office to insure my life, where the Board seemed disposed to think I work too much”.

1840

Provident Mutual founded

Established in 1840 as The Provident Clerks’ Mutual Life Assurance Association. The company’s motto was "Tuti qui providi" (save and be safe), illustrated by a beehive. This specialist life and pensions company was an important acquisition for General Accident in 1995.

1840

First fidelity insurance

Fidelity insurance was the earliest form of non- fire, life, or marine insurance successfully offered in the UK. It was introduced by the Guarantee Society, later part of General Accident, which was established in 1840 to protect employers from fraud or embezzlement by their staff.

1840

United Kingdom Provident Institution founded

The United Kingdom Provident Institution was established in 1840 as the United Kingdom Temperance and General Provident Institution. In 1986 it merged with Friends’ Provident, later part of Friends Life.

1846

First group life assurance

The first UK group life assurance scheme was established by Provident Mutual, later part of General Accident. Group schemes enabled employers to provide life assurance for their staff as a benefit of employment. Provident Mutual managed staff life assurance schemes for the Post Office and leading railway companies, as well as many others.

1848

First accident insurance

The Railway Passengers Assurance Company was established to insure travellers against the frequent railway accidents of the time. This was the first form of accident insurance, which could be purchased when buying a ticket, and the company claimed to be the "oldest accident office in the world". In 1849, the Accidental Death Insurance Company followed this pioneering lead and became the first insurer to offer cover against death and injury caused by accidents of all kinds. Both companies were later acquired by Commercial Union.

1848

Norwich Union murder

Isaac Jermy, who was president of the Norwich Union Life Office, was murdered by one of his tenants, James Rush. Jermy's son was also killed in the incident and a servant wounded. Norwich Union staff were given time off the following year to watch Rush’s hanging outside Norwich Castle.

1851

First Australian office

Our first links with Australia stem from the establishment of the New South Wales Marine Assurance Company. It was acquired by Commercial Union in 1881. For the next 150 years, Aviva Group companies were at the heart of the Australian insurance industry. The Group sold its Australian general insurance business in 2002 and its life and pensions business in 2009.

1852

Plate glass pioneer

The Plate Glass Universal Insurance Company, the first of its kind in the UK, was established in 1852. The company was acquired by Commercial Union in 1910. The insurance provided was mainly to protect shopkeepers from the expense of repairing large shop front windows, but extended to domestic windows and mirrors.

1855

First entry into China

Turner & Co were appointed as Northern Assurance’s agents in Shanghai on 3 May 1855. Several other of our constituent companies operated in China in the subsequent years. All were closed by 1951. The Group's current joint venture, Aviva-COFCO Life Insurance, opened for business in January 2003.

1856

Russian steps

William Miller & Co were appointed as Northern Assurance’s agents in St Petersburg in 1856. This was our first, but not only venture in the country. Business ceased following the 1917 Revolution and subsequent nationalisation. An office was re-established in Moscow in 2005 and, in March 2006, Aviva Russia was granted a licence to sell long-term savings and protection products. The business was disposed of in 2013.

1859

First New Zealand insurer

The New Zealand Insurance Company was established in Auckland in 1859 by a local lawyer, Thomas Russell. NZI, as it came to be known, was set up to transact fire and marine business. It was acquired by General Accident in 1989 and sold by Aviva in 2002.

1861

Commercial Union founded

In June 1861, a fire raged for two days in a London hemp warehouse. The scale of the disaster created panic among insurance companies and premiums were increased. Merchants affected by the price rise called for a public protest meeting and duly formed a committee. It was decided to create a new company, the Commercial Union Assurance Company, which was established in September that year. Commercial Union was one of the principal companies that merged to create Aviva.

1862

World record sum insured

The International Exhibition, or Great London Exposition, of 1862 was housed in a building insured by the Norwich Union Fire Society. The sum of £450,000 was a world record at the time. A further risk of £2,500 was later added to cover goods. Norwich Union was also closely involved in giving advice to the building contractors on fire safety.

1866

Amicable acquisition

The Norwich Union Life Society acquired the Amicable Society in 1866. The Amicable had been established in 1706 and laid claim to being the world’s oldest mutual life office.

1869

Foundation of London and Manchester

The company was established as the London and Manchester Industrial Assurance Company Ltd on 27 October 1869. It was acquired by Friends’ Provident in 1998, which later became part of the Friends Life Group.

1874

Tragedy aboard the Cospatrick

The Cospatrick was an emigrant ship bound from England to Auckland in New Zealand. On 17 November 1874, a fire on board led to the death of all but three of its 473 passengers and crew. The New Zealand Insurance Company and the South British Fire and Marine Insurance Company of New Zealand paid claims on what has been described as New Zealand’s worst civil disaster. Both companies were historical constituents of Aviva.

1877

Norwich Cathedral

Norwich Cathedral was first used as a Norwich Union trademark in the late nineteenth century. It has appeared in various forms over the years. The Cathedral’s spire can still be seen in Aviva’s logo today.

1877

Great Fire of Saint John, Canada

Fire destroyed a large part of the city of Saint John in New Brunswick, Canada. Commercial Union paid out nearly £72,000 in claims. Prompt settlement secured the company an excellent reputation in the country. Another of Aviva’s constituents, Northern Assurance, was also a prominent insurer of those affected by the disaster.

1880

First employers’ liability insurance

The Employers' Liability Assurance Corporation was the first to insure employers against claims by employees injured at work. It was established in 1880 in response to the Employers’ Liability Act. The company’s first chairman firmly believed that it was more than a money-making concern. He insisted that they made employers work to prevent accidents by refusing to insure those who did not take proper precautions. Employers' Liability was acquired by Northern Assurance in 1960.

1885

Staff lunches

Employers’ Liability claimed to be the first company in the UK to provide subsidised lunches for its staff. It provided lunch in the board luncheon room five days a week at a cost of 5d per head.

1885

General Accident formed

The General Accident and Employers' Liability Assurance Association was established on 16 December 1885. It was founded by a group of businessmen and landowners from Perthshire, Scotland. The business soon expanded to include sickness insurance and, in 1887, the company started writing fidelity guarantee, livestock, and marine passengers' insurance. It also undertook the insurance of many tram companies across the country. General Accident was one of the principal companies that merged to create Aviva.

1889

First burglary policy

The UK's first burglary insurance policy was issued by the Mercantile Accident & Guarantee Company of Glasgow in 1889. The following year, General Accident became the second British company to offer this type of insurance cover.

1891

First edition of Norwich Union’s staff magazine

The first edition of the Norwich Union Magazine was published in 1891. The magazine continued for over a hundred years. Its run ended in 2002, following the company’s merger with CGU in 2000. It was believed to be the oldest company publication of its type anywhere in the world.

1895

First woman employee

Mary Louisa Shelton was the first woman known to have been employed by one of our companies. She started work in July 1895 as a clerk for the Scottish General Fire Assurance Corporation. Her annual salary was £26.

1896

First motor insurance

General Accident issued its first motor insurance prospectus. The company claimed it was the first of its kind in the UK.

1896

Winston Churchill

Winston Churchill took out a personal accident policy with the Accident Insurance Company in 1896. At that time, he was a young officer in the 4th Queen’s Own Hussars. The policy covered him for steeplechasing and other forms of racing, plus travel and temporary residence outside Europe. In 1958 Commercial Union, who had acquired the Accident Insurance Company in 1906, wrote to Sir Winston to inform him that his was the oldest such policy on their books and would therefore be free from any further premium payments.