The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1906-11-13

THE RISE OF LLOYD'S
STORY OF THE FAMOUS ENGLISH IN
suRAkcE CONCERN.
Started Originally In . London CeHee
Heuse Fer Marine Insurance, 1t VIII
How Accept Risks Against Almost
AHythfn9 Under the Sum.
Llody's IL q name known In every
corner Of the globe. But there are
probably few outside the shipping trade
who IL asked what L. Lloyd'sT could
give an intelligent answer to the Ques-
ton.
Lloyd's was originally coffee house
In Tower street, London. kept by q
very entsrprising and wide awake man,
whose establishment was much fire.
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-
teal 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
dominlons and not long afterward
caused Sir Thomas Gresham to devise
an act, sanctioned by parliament es-
tablishing marine insurance on q 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
fury Edward Iloyds establishment
had become their favorite trystin9
place. In 1888 his name appears In the
London Gazette In connection with an
advertisement Offering a reward for
any one giving information to Mr.. I'd
ward Lloyd at his coffee house In Tow
er street. as to the whereabouts Of
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 Abb
church lane, all his customers follow
ing him, while In 1896 he went so>far
as to produce a 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 be 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
Lloyds 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 capitalization Of the Society of
Underwriters and Merchants, which
had it's headquarters in Lloyd's coffee
house, into clearly defined corpora
ton. Lombard street was left for
Pope's alley intro, whence four years
later Lloyd's moved to the Royal Elk
change. where 1t has ever since had Its
homo. 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, but also men-of-war and even
merchantmen belonging to the enemy.
were all insured at Lloyd's. If the
high. and the scrupulous care with
which Lloyd's always punctually full
filed its obligations, its triumphal Is
sue from the ordeals Of several par
liamentary inquiries and, above all, the
active role which 1t 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 init
ated that lifeboat service which has
been adopted by every civilized coun-
try In the world Boosting Of sea-
board and 1t was Lloyd's name that
figured for $4,000 at the head Of the
subscription list for the building of the
first lifeboat ever launched. Indeed,
for quarter Of century the entire
lifeboat service of the United Kingdom
was maintained by Lloyd's until II
was taken over by the National Life
boat institution. Again, It was Lloyd's
which originated with a subscription
OF 100000 In 1903 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
fighting England's battles.
In 1871 Queen Victoria affixed her
sign manual to an act of parliament
providing for the organization Of
Lloyd's In Its present form. 1t com
prises about 800 underwriting and
about 200 Misunderstanding members
besides about 500 annual subscribers.
i nc uuutEWfittrS pay III entrance zee
and an annual subscription, and to
place their credit beyond a doubt they
are required to deposit as minimum
$4,000 security with the committee
Membership of Lloyd's is most jealous
ly guarded. Candidates must come be-
fore the committee with the written
Recommendation OF six members and
prepared to answer all questions of
whatever kind put to them. The cleo
ton takes place by ballot and for
seven days previous to its occurrence
the name of the would be member
must have been posted in the so called
chamber of horrors" The object OF
the corporation. as proclaimed by the
1871 act OF parliament. is, first, the
carrying on of the business OF marine
insurance by the members OF the So
ciety; second, the protection Of the in
terests Of members Of the society In
respect to shipping. cargoes and freight
and. third, the collection, publication
and diffusion Of intelligence and In
formation with respect to shipping.
1t is especially for this latter under
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