Waterbury evening Democrat., 1906-10-30
THE RISE OF LLOYD'S
STORY OF THE FAMOUS ENGLISH IN.
 SURANcE CONCERN.

Started Originally In n London CofRee
 House For Marine Insurance, It Will
 Now Accept Risks Against Almost
 Anything Under the Sun.
 Llody's is a name known in every
 corner of the globe. But there are
 probably few outside the shipping trade
 who if asked What is Lloyds?" could
 give an intelligent answer to the ques-
 tion.
 Lloyds was originally coffee house
 in Tower street, London, kept by a
 very enterprising and wide awake man,
 whose establishment was much ire
 quented by merchants engaged in the
 shipping and underwriting trade. Ma
 rine insurance had been first introduc-
 ed into England by the Hanse mer-
 chants and by the Lombards, who en-
 joyed for a considerable time a prac-
 tical monopoly thereof. Queen Eliza
 beth put a stop to this, however. At
 the time of her war with Spain she or
 dered all foreign traders to quit her
 dominions and not long afterward caused Sir Thomas Gresham to devise an act, sanctioned by parliament, es- tablishing marine insurance on legal basis, this being the first mention there of in the statute book of England. The merchants and brokers engaged in this branch of commerce used to meet in the various coffee houses of the city, and by the end of the seventeenth cen tury Edward Lloyd's establishment had become their favorite trysting place. In 1888 his name appears in the London Gazette in connection with an advertisement offering reward for any one giving information to 'Mr Ed ward Lloyd at his coffee house in Tow CT street, as to the whereabouts of a man who was wanted" on charge of theft.
 By 1892 his business had prospered to such an extent that he moved to the corner of Lombard street and Ab- church lane, all his customers follow ing him, while in 1896 he went so far as to produce news sheet, called Lloyd's News, containing all sorts of information, particularly relating to shipping, calculated to be of interest to the people who gathered each day at noon at his coffee house. UnfOr- tunately the seventy-seventh number of his paper (which he issued three times a week. contained a paragraph condemning certain proceedings in the house of lords relating to shipping, and the result was that he was arrested, summoned to the bar of the house, fined and compelled to abandon the publication for time. In 1721, how ever, 1t was resumed under the title of Lloyd's List and has appeared uninter- ruptedly from that time until the pres ent day, being with the exception of the official London Gazette the oldest English newspaper in existence.
 The next half century saw the grad ual specialization of the Society of Underwriters and Merchants, which had its headquarters in Lloyd's coffee house, into clearly defined corpora tion. Lombard street was left for Pope's alley in TITO, whence four years later Lloyd's moved to the Royal Ex' change, where 1t has ever since had Its home. This step was immediately fol lowed by an immense expansion of in surance business, due in a measure to the succession of wars in which Eng land was at that time involved. Not merely ships of the English mercantile navy. bat also nen-of-war and even merchantmen belonging to the enemy, were all insured at Lloyd's. If the risks were great, the premiums were high, and the scrupulous care with which Lloyd's always punctually full. filled its obligations, its triumphal ls- sue from the ordeals of several par inquiries and, above all, the active role which it assumed In nation al and patriotic movements. all con tributed to establish Its hold upon the good will of the people.
 Thus 1t was Lloyd's which first inlti- nted that lifeboat service which has been adopted by every civilized coun- try in the world boasting of sea- board. and it was Lloyd's nane that figured for S10,0Oo at the head of the list for the building of the first lifeboat ever launched. Indeed, for a quarter of a century the entire lifeboat service of the United Kingdom was maintained by Lloyd's until 1t was taken over by the National Life boat institution. Again. 1t was Lloyd's which originated with a subscription of s100.O00 in 1893 that patriotic fund which Is still In existence and which has provided for the welfare of the widows and orphans of those who have lost their lives In the naval or mill tary service of their country. besides caring for men who have wrecked their health or who have been crippled while lighting Englands battles.
 Tn 1871 Queen Victoria affixed her sign manual to an act of parliament providing for the organization of Iloyd's In It's present form It com prises about 6co underwriting and about 20 n0nunderwriting members besides about 800 annual subscribers. The underwriters pay an entrance fee and an annual subscription. and 10 place their crsiit beyond a doubt they are required to deposit as a minimum s25.DO0 security with tine committee. of r.loyi's Is mosJ jealous ly guarded Candidates must come be- fore the committee with the written rar9uruonHstioa os six r1rr7Pors anf