UC-NRLF 11 o in o >- Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2007 with funding from Microsoft Corporation http://www.archive.org/details/atlasreminiscentOOyeoarich mlirrvene* ft *&& >t> ht-£c£Ze. ^^tr^i (^y.^.^.^^SCy LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS The City Marshal intervenes The Watch .... Old Cheapside from the Atlas Corner . Atlas Paper Money . Sir Christopher Baynes, Bart. Henry Desborough . Tear -out from the " Sun " Br ether ton's " Prime Bang up " " But Actuaries are Bishops, my Lord " Mr. Pacifico interviews Lady Charlotte An Atlas Fireman of 1808 Antique Rewards for Fire Extinction The Atlas Brigade answering a Call The Poultry Compter Atlas Emblems The Chairman and Deputy The Atlas Office A Mulready Envelope Atlas Officers in Modern Times Frontispiece PAGE 5 7 11 13 16 19 22 26 3i 35 39 4i 45 5i 59, 63 67 70 75. 79 268127 HEAPSIDE a hundred years ago. A Hundred Ah ! The world fretted these old yearS ag ° shoulders then as it does now, but what a change has come over it. This ancient street : what a strange contrast its thronging traffic presents to the life of the past as the latter is called back to the imagination by the city pageantry which now and again L sweeps through. For pageantry, the ' old street has always been famous. From the days of the great tourna- 6 Atlas Reminiscent ment when Queen Philippa watched the tilting on its north side, and, owing to the frailty of the staging, was precipitated, as the old chronicler puts it, " with some shame " upon the knights and squires below, down to the recent visit of the President of the French to the Guildhall, history has repeatedly illustrated itself in Chepe by processions and shows. One of the oldest streets in the world, its flow of busy life has for fifteen centuries never ceased, but so far-reaching are the changes which have taken place during the last of these, it is not unlikely that in the Cheapside of a hundred years ago, Queen Philippa would have felt more at home than any modern Londoner. When the founders of the Atlas first opened the office at the corner of King Street, London had scarcely emerged from the age of flam- beaux and link boys, and the cobbled streets were still patrolled by venerable pensioners whose brains were mainly concerned with dodges to avoid the Mohocks, those " kindlers of riot" who worked their wicked will un- checked. The old prints tell us what the outlook was <3 * 3, Atlas Reminiscent 9 like from the Atlas corner. Nearly opposite The Atlas stood, as it still stands, the house erected by Sir Christopher Wren in 1669, now occupied by Elkingtons the silversmiths but then in pos- session of Tegg the bookseller, and adjoining it was the Queen's Arms Tavern where Keats the poet at that time lived. Eastward, in the apex of Cornhill and Lombard Street, one could see Bank buildings in front of which the pillory was set up to punish frauds on the Stock Market. Almost next door to the Atlas, near the Mercers Hall, stood the shop till then lately occupied by Alderman Boydell the famous printseller, who used to wash his head at five o'clock every morning at the Ironmonger Lane pump ; whilst on the other side of Old Jewry, lying back from the street, there was that grim old lockup the Poultry Compter, with its reminiscences of the slave trade. In Bank Buildings was Wills' Coffee House, Founding which was the birthplace of the Atlas Com- the Atlas pany; it was here that, towards the close of 1807, it was first projected by a group of city merchants and bankers. Though the venture io Atlas Reminiscent fully justified the enterprise of Sir Christopher Baynes and his colleagues, one would not have thought that the stormy and distressful years with which the last century opened, were pro- pitious to so large an undertaking. When the Atlas wrote its first policy, the nation was in the throes of its great struggle against Bona- parte, and Sir Arthur Wellesley had only just begun the campaign in the Peninsula which won him a peerage. Despite however, the great sacrifices entailed by the war on the people at large, commerce was flourishing in many directions and in the manufacturing districts population and wealth had greatly increased. There was a world-wide demand for our products : even the soldiers of Napoleon marched to Austerlitz in boots made in Northampton, and lay down to die on the terrible Russian steppes in greatcoats from Leeds. One result of the war was a dearth of metallic currency : the Bank of England had, under Order in Council, suspended all specie payments except for small sums, and paper money of both large and small denominations Atlas Reminiscent i i was in general circulation. In some quarters traders made attempts in a small way to supplement the authorised issues. There is a five shilling note extant which was issued by the Atlas agents in the Isle of Man. The Atlas Manx token penny and halfpenny were also put into circulation by these enterprising people who, of course, took care to keep within the limits of Manx law. T HE competition at the first election of The First Directors was dealt with at the London Tavern. The voting was by ballot and a large number of votes were taken in the ballot glasses. Those who first met at Wills' Coffee House do not seem to have unduly pushed themselves, for only two of them were elected 12 Atlas Reminiscent on the Directorate. Three Members of Parlia- ment headed the poll : William Duff Gordon, described in the Times of the day as " the respectable Member for Worcester,' ' Sir Thomas Turton Bart, and George Longman. Among the first Directors there were also J. D. Hume, who did wonders in revising the Customs Laws and became Secretary of the Board of Trade, and W. W. Prescott, whose relative, Charles Andrew Prescott, a lineal descendant of Oliver Cromwell, became, in later years, Chairman. Sir Christopher Baynes was chosen as the President: his grandson, Sir W. W. Baynes, occupied the chair from 1883 to 1897. The " Court" — it was decided not to call the Directorate a Board: — con- sisted first of eighteen members, but three or four years later, this number was reduced to twelve. One of its first resolutions decided that the Directors themselves should take no fees till the Company had paid a dividend. On Midsummer Day 1808, the Office was opened for business. Six weeks later the first fire loss had occurred. The amount claimed was paid in full. Sir Christopher Baylies, Bt. 175S-1837 First President of the Atlas. Atlas Reminiscent 15 There are quaint illustrations in the early Forming minutes of the way the staff of an Insurance Company was formed in the days of old. Good men already trained in a business so technical as insurance could not then have been numerous, and as those available were probably many of them young, it can quite easily be understood that the choice of the Directors for a Secretary fell upon Mr. Henry Desborough, who thus, though aged only twenty -four, became chief officer of the Atlas. A modest salary was accorded to Mr. Des- borough, but he was provided with a residence in the Cheapside building, " also coals and candles," all of which helped him to maintain a respectable appearance. The demands on the purse were not then so exacting and varied as now, but the Directors in fixing their re- muneration to the staff must have taken into account the grievous taxation which pressed so hardly upon the people — as Sydney Smith put it, " the schoolboy had to whip a taxed top, the youth drove a taxed horse with a taxed bridle along a taxed road, the old man poured Henry Desborough Atlas Reminiscent 17 medicine which had paid seven per cent into a spoon which had paid twenty-two per cent, and expired in the arms of an Apothecary who had paid a licence of a hundred pounds for the privilege of putting him to death." Even the hair powder with which Mr. Desborough would decorate himself for his evening amusements cost him a guinea. In some respects, how- ever, those must have been good old days — no hurried breakfast in a distant home ; no rush for the restless impatient train; only just a faint concern about the clock; suggestions even, if Dame Rumour does not lie too badly, of routs and dances within the sacred precincts of some of the Insurance Companies' houses — of course long after office hours. Such attractions in fact, that it is no wonder, when later on business had crowded our Secre- tary out of his residence at 92 Cheapside, that a minute appears granting him three hundred pounds annually as compensation for disturbance. Strange to say, voting by ballot played a part in the making of the official staff of the Atlas, as it did in the election of the Directors. i 8 Atlas Reminiscent The appointment of a solicitor and also of a surveyor* was fixed by minute to commence at half-past one and close at half-past two, and on the chosen day the Court thus decided who should guide them through the mazes of the law and measure for the Office its building risks. Juniors were chosen with a simplicity which would be the envy of the modern candi- date for an insurance clerkship. There was, of course, the Directors' nomination, but ex- cept that a specimen of handwriting was to be produced, there was little else. borough's 1V/T ANY of the subscribers to the capital Tour -1VA j. ye( j - n t j ie countl y^ an( j one f ]y[ r# Desborough's first duties was a provincial tour to obtain their signatures and to receive the instalments paid on account of their shares. Northampton, Leicester, Derby, Macclesfield, Stockport, Manchester, Halifax, Leeds, Bolton, Liverpool, Chester and Shrewsbury, were all jcorfliey are estimuteu at t 'and a n**^ .*«* which ute a*t v i&ied into small ah *old» and 'Me Produce paid to tlis Shareholders * to the « hares. Present Price ; Ticket £y t$ o a!f - - • £4 4 °| E»K*"h - • £3 HE - -- . > -RS S COLDS, 1NFLU2&Z ^Hf^iB : i BJid 6lilf3Qrdi is allowed to Ins su i others ientw*«*C it §hould be given on t "*— «*-ach, and uneasine.« v ^rde*,HV £>**'" Tom o«tf /row " The Sun" April 12, 1808 Atlas Reminiscent 21 visited in turn. There is no record of it, but if Lloyds underwriters were as venturesome then as now, no doubt a policy was taken out with them against the coach being held up and Mr. Desborough being " spoken to " by some Knight of the Road, when he was, maybe, carrying such instalments in too negotiable a form. The whole tour was completed and he was back in Cheapside again within a month, having also utilised the occasion to make surveys of the textile mills in the northern and midland counties, numbers of which had already grown into large and valuable under- takings. The chances of time have spared a copy of the Atlas " Rules, rates and regula- tions for insuring Cotton, Flax and Lint Mills divided into six Classes," drawn up just after this survey, dated, in fact, 1st September 1808. A little pamphlet of eight pages, its contents form a curious contrast to the modern tariffs, though one item in the specification for insurance for which it calls, is word for word still used by the Fire Offices to-day; an odd illustration either of the clear sight of the early Insurers or of the conservatism of those 22 Atlas Reminiscent who have followed them. The compliments which the Secretary received on his return were well deserved, for to have accomplished his mission in so short a time was no light work in those coaching days. It took thirty-four hours for even Bretherton's " Prime Bang Up carrying only four insides well lighted and guarded " to perform the journey from Liver- pool to Charing Cross. The capital paid in by the shareholders was almost wholly invested in Three per cents, and an excellent investment this turned out. One purchase of £56,000 was made at less than Atlas Reminiscent 23 sixty-seven: in 1824 the price had risen to ninety-five. It has been said that the Atlas was the first The Atlas of the London Insurance companies to own its own office, or as they called tt then, its own house. After the manner of the times, those who founded the Atlas first met in a coffee house and were elected in a tavern, but there was to be nothing nomadic about the future, and intent, from the outset, on being their own landlords, the Directors forthwith purchased the lease of 92 Cheapside, and a few years later, the freehold. It was but a mere chance, how- ever, that the Company did not settle in Corn- hill. The famous coffee house itself where the promoters assembled was on offer, and the terms asked for it illustrate the value which city property had attained even then. It was a building twenty-one feet square, four storeys high, and rented at £180, but £950 was asked as the premium of an unexpired term of only two years. This was of no use to the Atlas, but another Cornhill building was considered more likely — No. 70, and a seventeen years' lease of this at a rental of £200 could have been had for 24 Atlas Reminiscent a premium of £1,400, but the site at the corner of King Street and Cheapside was more attrac- tive and at this corner the'Atlas has made its home ever since. The old building, which was at^once";extensively altered to suit the office needs, must have been at least light and airy. In this respect the Company was almost reck- less in its expenditure, for the window tax, that handmaid of darkness to which our fore- fathers were so long subjected, was paid on as many as thirty-six windows. Indeed, not in any way would the Directors allow the Atlas to remain in the dark. When gas was introduced into Cheapside, orders were at once given that the office lamps be lighted by it: two Directors had first attended experiments made to demonstrate its safety. The Com- pany bought the freehold of the adjoining house in 1833, whereupon the two buildings were pulled down and the present office was erected on the site after the design of Mr. Thomas Hopper, the Atlas surveyor. Hopper was a man of some note. He had attracted the attention of George the Fourth, for whom he carried out alterations at Carlton Atlas Reminiscent 25 House, and he had the honour of declining a knighthood, a distinction which he possibly thought it difficult to support. One feature of Hopper's design for the Atlas office was a ceiling copied from the celebrated Taj at Agra. This was reproduced when, sixty years later, the interior was remodelled by Mr. Alfred Waterhouse, R. A. A LAWYER was engaged to draw up the Lord ^ Atlas Deed of Settlement — a lawyer St * Leonards who was afterwards to become famous as Lord Chancellor and to be regarded as an almost infallible oracle in law. Lord St. Leonards, or Mr. Sugden as he was then, put such thorough- ness, foresight, and wisdom into his work, that the Deed stood the test of time for genera- tions, and though it was modernised a few years ago, it is still in use. A keen-witted opponent was the author of this deed. Speak- ing of Lord Brougham's elevation to the Wool- "l^uf Actuaries are bishops, my Lord . Atlas Reminiscent 27 sack, Sugden vented his spleen with this peculiarly bitter bon mot. " If," he said, " the Lord Chancellor only knew a little law, he would know a little of everything." Among the juniors who began with the be- Charles ginning of the Company, there was at least one nse who made his mark: " Mr. Ansell," said Mr. Gladstone, speaking as Chancellor of the Ex- chequer, " is one of the most eminent authori- ties among actuaries," and a well-known insurance encyclopaedist described him as the father of the actuarial profession. Charles Ansell was a clerk in the Atlas in 1808, became its actuary in 1823 and held the position till 1864. During these years he was again and again consulted by members of the Govern- ment, and in relation to Friendly Societies rendered most important services. The " Bishop of London once instructed him to make certain calculations. On their com- pletion he named a hundred guineas as his fee. " A hundred guineas, Mr. Ansell! " exclaimed his lordship in surprise. Mr. Ansell replied that it was the usual fee in such cases. " Why," exclaimed the Bishop, " there are 28 Atlas Reminiscent many curates in my diocese who don't get . more than that for a year's services." " That may be," quietly remarked Mr. Ansell, " but actuaries are bishops, my lord." " And," rejoined Dr. Blomfield, " they know how to make a charge." Mr. Ansell was elected a fellow of the Royal Society, and ultimately after his retirement became High Sheriff of Merionethshire. Examining Like valued policies in fire business and a good many other crudities wisely abandoned long ago by sound underwriters, life assurance without medical examination was common enough in those days, but the would-be Assured had to appear before the Directors, and it was thus not an easy matter for an invalid to secure a policy and prejudice, by his entry into the circle of healthy policy holders, their chance of a good bonus. It was not always, however, that the summons to the Office could be insisted upon, and when Coutts the bankers sought to effect a policy on the life of the Duke of York, the Directors, instead of calling for His Royal Highness to appear before them, had perforce to content themselves by Atlas Reminiscent 29 charging a substantial extra. Somehow it was discovered that though he had a " weak stomach " his heart was good and the proposal was accepted ; but an assurance on the life of the Prince Regent, which was also before the Court, was declined straight away, and no wonder. The " first gentleman in Europe " was no doubt well enough known to the Atlas Directors to be a pretty bad life in more senses than one. Occasionally for people of less con- sequence than royal princes, the rule requiring personal attendance before the Court was re- laxed, though even then personal examination was not lightly waived. An assurance on the life of one Right Honourable Lady was re- quired, but her ladyship was either too shy or too imperious to accept an invitation to 92 Cheapside, and Mr. Pacifico, one of the Direc- tors, was requested to wait upon her. Here was a mission with real scope in it for delicacy and tact. No mere layman could have risen to the occasion, and we are not surprised to find M.D. appearing after Mr. Pacifico's name a few years later. It proved on several occa- sions to be a really fortunate thing for the 30 Atlas Reminiscent Company that he had secured the necessary number of votes at the London Tavern. Not always, though, was it so entertaining for Mr. Pacifico Mr. Pacifico. To no aristocratic home, but in visits the prison quite an opposite direction, was another of his missions. The sequence of the record indeed almost puts him on " The Bridge of Sighs, A Palace and a Prison on each hand." Misfortune had driven a once affluent Atlas policy holder into the King's Bench. Here, discontented with the entertainment afforded him within the prison, and getting no comfort from the philosophy of Doctor Haggage, " We are quiet here: we don't get badgered here: there's no knocker here, sir, to be hammered at by creditors and bring a man's heart into his mouth " — he hit upon the bright idea of appealing to the Atlas to assist him to buy the " rules." The walls surrounding the prison were about thirty feet high, but the liberties, or rules as they were called, formed an area in and about the Borough High Street of about three miles in circumference. These rules were usually to be had for a few guineas, and rn <■■< u fl r Jocific© interviews i u Lodv Ckarlofte. X^ Atlas Reminiscent 33 the buyer secured with them the right to live anywhere within the precincts. They really meant much more than this, for a strict atten- tion to them was so seldom enforced, that when Lord Ellenborough was once appealed to for their extension, his lordship replied that he really could perceive no grounds for the appli- cation, since to his certain knowledge the rules already extended to the East Indies. The Directors, judging no doubt from Mr. Pacifico's report that life in the King's Bench was not good for the health, helped Mr. James to the rules; and locks, bars and bolts flew asunder. AN ancient writer says of the early Fire The Atlas r\ca «ri, i. * Fire Brigade Offices, They have a great many Servants in livery with badges, and other lusty Servants dwelling in several parts of the City, who are always to be ready when any sudden fires happen, which they are very laborious and dexterous in quenching." But such devices were not ideal, and the Atlas was, soon after its formation, invited to 34 Atlas Reminiscent consider the proposal of Sir Frederick Eden for the formation of a general fire engine establishment — an intelligent an- ticipation of the scheme adopted in later years of a fire brigade owned and managed by the companies jointly. Careful men as they were who, later on, matured this scheme, could they only have seen far enough into the future, they would once and for all have left fire extinction to the local authorities whose duty alone it is to provide it. No one dreams of asking Marine Assurers to provide light- houses because they prevent wrecks; or, because life is prolonged by good sanitation, of throwing the cost of drainage upon the Life Assurance companies, and one would have thought the heresy that Fire Offices should be made to pay for fire brigades would have died out long ago. Eden's idea of a joint brigade was in advance of his time and only one Office accepted it ; so the Atlas proceeded to form a brigade of its own. The captain was nominated by the Presi- dent, the two engineers by the Chairman and Deputy Chairman, and the firemen by the &1 Am