England Insurance Records (National Institute)

Insurance (cont.)
Chart: TOPPINGS Index to Records of Sun Fire Office (MS 11936)

It is probable that the two addresses in Richmond are actually the same dwelling. Did William have two pubs called The Duke’s Head or is this same edifice described differently? Did he keep moving to different premises, or install managers, or is there more than one William? The warehouse at Topping Wharf has the address 3-11 Tooley Street in the 1846 PO Directory.

Other examples of available insurance records include:


 * Wesleyan Methodist Trust Assurance Co. Ltd established 1822 with records on.


 * Redstone’s booklets on Bristol and Somerset Insurance Policy Holders 1714-1731.


 * Dickenson’s analysis of probate inventories and insurance records for the woollen and worsted industries in Yorkshire.


 * Stanley Chapman’s work on Devon fire insurance records of inventories of merchants’ and manufacturers’ property 1726-1770.


 * Over 300 Sun Fire Insurance Office Claims (1770-1788) are at the Society of Genealogists and an index of names, occupations and locations by county, together with examples, is given by Lawson-Edwards (Sun Fire Insurance Office Claims 1770-1788. Genealogists’ Magazine Vol. 18 #4, page 192-201, 1975).

To locate policies not at Guildhall consult the index of agents in Cockerell and Green who also give the addresses of firms so you can contact them directly.

Hawkings (Fire Insurance Records for Family and Local Historians, 2003) has written a guide for family and local historians and he estimates that by the end of the 18th century one third of tradesmen were insured by either the Sun or the Royal Exchange companies. Further details on the format and use of fire policy registers is given by Thomas (Fire Insurance Policy Registers. #19 in Short Guides to Records edited by Lionel M. Munby, 1972), and Blake (Archive Alphabet: F is for Fire Insurance Records. Practical Family History #7, page 7-8.) who notes other indexes and has examples. Camp’s 2003 article (“An Accidental Fire Happened…” Fire Insurance Policies and Claims. Family Tree Magazine Vol. 19 #6, page 26-28) is excellent on history and examples.

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