The Sun.
London, England, 1862-06-19 00:00:00

BRITISH NATION LIFE ASSURANCE

SOCIETY.

The ordinary annual general meeting of the direc
and proprietors was held yesterday afternoon at the new
offices of the society, 316, Regent-street.
George Bermingham, Esq., chairman of the board of
directors, presided.
_ sassts a been disposed of,
Mr. Lake, the manager, read ties ar,se,,,,s tepurt tor the
past year, as follows :
" The directors, in submitting to the proprietors the fol-
lowing report, have again to congratulate them on the pro-
gress and prosperity of the association.
" During the year ending the 31st March last, the direc-
tors received the following in new business :-3,003 pro-
posals for the assurance of £612,355, and issued 2,356
plicies for the assurance of £483,743, giving a new
annual premium income of £16,364 58 sd. During
the year the association has also acquired by pur-
chase a further new income of £23,000 per annum. The
annual revenue from policies in force is £136,965 lOs lid.
The invested funds and property, irrespective of the sub-
scribed capital, amount to £257,861 17s. 7d., and the an-
nual revenue on the same is £9,865 Os. 2d. The gross
annual income, therefore, from all sources, is £146,830.
"The claims by death during the year were upon 276 po-
licies assuring £55,853 16s. 7d.
" From the revenue account it will be seen that
there is a surplus on the year's transactions of
£20,991 9s. in favour of the association, being the
excess of income over claims by death and expenses of
every description. Annuities involving payments to the
amount of £1,207 Bs. 4d. per annum have fallen in during
the financial year by the deaths of nine annuitants, and two
reversions have also fallen in. The association has by
these incidents benefited to the extent of £11,398 in present
value.
"The directors recommend that the usual interest of £5
per cent. per annum be paid on the paid-up capital to the
31st of March last, the close of the financial year, which
may be received on and after the Ist of August.
6' The directors who retire by rotation are, Col. Hammill,
and Messrs. Anderson, Clarke, and Smith, who, being eli-
gible, are recommended by the board for re-election. The
auditors also retire, but are eligible for re-election.
" The time having arrived for an actuarial inves-
tigation of the affairs of the association, the directors
have caused the necessary arrangements to be
made for that purpose, and the result of such
investigation will be communicated to the share-
holders as soon as it has been completed. To those, how-
ever, who are aware of the labour involved in the valuation
of upwards of 16,000 policies, it will be obvious that some
months must elapse before the result can be communicated.
The directors feel that they have cause to congratulate the
proprietors on the acquisition of offices so admirably fitted
for the requirements of their large and increasing busi-
ness. The details connected with such an extensive
business as the receipt of more than sixty life
proposals each week, together with an ineelFe
amounting to nearly £150,000 per annum, demand a careful
organisation of labour. The circumscnbed limitisnolonvoc.
nieceprevious offices have, in addition to many p
ment of the resources of the institution.
ftdiruencwtoorsrkfeedel,
s, offered obstructions to the more exptoeetnrhs,ievr-acitidsigz
that much ground has been unavoidably
as the returns must be to the
ed by increased space, will
and that the facilities now afford.
lead to a still further increase in the new business of the
asscciation."
The GuAIWILAST, in moving the adoption of the report,
congratulated the meeting on the success that had attended
their operations during the year just closed. During that
period they had received no less than 3,003 proposals for
new assurances, and the number of new policies issued
amounted to no less than 2,356, amounting to £483,743,
which gave a new annual premium income of £16,364 ss. sd.
(Cheers.) The annual revenue of the company from policies
in force amounted to £136,965 10s. lid., and this, with the
invested funds and other property, irrespective of the sub-
scribedLl46
,O.
83 capital, gave the society a gross annual income of
The business transacted by the society was of the
best and safest description; they sedulously avoided all those
alluring temptations held out by assurance companies, and by
so doing they had attained a position amongst the most
solid, the most reliable, and the safest assurance companies
in the metropolis.;,(Hear, hear.) They for the first time meet
in their new offices, and all would agree with him that
more commodiotis premises for the transaction of their busi-
ness could not have been selected. They had now the
means of transacting any amount of business, and he hoped
that all the proprietors would individually assist in enlarg-
ing the sphere and augmenting the income of the British
Nation Assurance Society. (Cheers.)
The motion for the adoption of the report was carried
unanimously.
The retiring directors,- viz., Col. Hammill, Messrs.
Anderson, Clarke, and Smith, were unanimously re-elected.
A cordial vote of thanks to the directors, and to Mr. Lake,
the manager, concluded the business of the meeting.
After the business of the day was disposed of, the new
offices of the society became the subject of general conver-
sation, all agreeing that a more convenient, spacious, and
elegant suite of offices did not exist. The company
appears, either from choice or necessity, to have ignored
the usual palatial elevation, and contented itself with a
portico surmounted by a piece of stone sculpture represent-
ing Britannia holding a shield over a widow and child—the
noble British lion keeping watch at the feet of our national
protectress. Unambitious, however, as the exterior may be,
as regards any attempt at rivalry with other edifices of recent
design, the interior is perfect ; admitting the most entireuech
ganisation that can be required for alife business very ISt
r rAt top::
rangersul a r it
on
larger even than the con:pan y is now doing. A long jet!
leads to the public office, which is 74ft. long, f
had oak ;
and 25ft. high. The fittings and desks are of polies() clerks,
and the office, which is capable of accommodateing
th end of this
is illuminated by gas " sunlights."
23 feet
office are the strong and fireproof rooms, while down
and other offices for clerks and messengell keet by
lavatories
wide,
the eastern side of it are the board
—the manager's room, 30 feet by 28 f e and the waiting
and medical examination rooms. One gr
6 0
nearly , 00 superficial feat,
one level the area comprising .
the arrangement of these offices that theewaht
sad thus immediate commue with any
ication can be held '
person on the establishment.