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London Metropolitan Archives

LLOYD'S OF LONDON


IDENTITY STATEMENT

Reference code(s): GB 0074 CLC/B/148

Held at: London Metropolitan Archives

Title: LLOYD'S OF LONDON

Date(s): 1585-2018

Level of description: Collection

Extent: 853 production units.

Name of creator(s): Lloyd's of London | marine insurers

CONTEXT

Administrative/Biographical history:

In the late seventeenth century, Edward Lloyd opened a coffee house in Tower Street, and later Lombard Street, where merchants and bankers were accustomed to meet to write insurance on ships and cargoes. In 1769, a group of such underwriters, who wished to distance themselves from a reputation for speculation, set up a New Lloyd's coffee house, at 5 Pope's Head Alley. Lloyd's first took on a collective identity when, two years later, the underwriters paid a subscription and elected a Committee, with the intention of establishing themselves in more suitable quarters and regulating the conduct of their business.

Lloyd's was governed by the Committee according to a constitution defined by a trust deed of 1811 and redefined by an Act of Parliament of 1871, which incorporated Lloyd's, and later Acts of 1888, 1911, 1925 and 1951. The management structure was revised under the terms of the Lloyd's Act of 1982 which established the Council of Lloyd's as the new governing body with powers to regulate the business of insurance at Lloyd's. The Committee of Lloyd's continued in existence with reduced powers.

Lloyd's remains a market for marine insurance, although, in the twentieth century, its business has expanded into other areas of insurance. Lloyd's was established at the Royal Exchange in 1774, and remained there until 1928, with only a brief interruption between the years 1838-44, following a fire. From 1928, Lloyd's occupied a site on the corner of Lime Street and Leadenhall Street; subsequently opening a new building, on the other side of Lime Street, in 1957, and another new building, on the original site, in 1986.

CONTENT

Scope and content/abstract:

Records of Lloyd's of London, marine insurers. IMPORTANT INFORMATION REGARDING ACCESS: Except the Captain's Registers, these records are stored at the Guildhall Library site rather than the LMA Clerkenwell site. Researchers wishing to access these records should do so at the Guildhall Library Rare Books table. The Library is open Monday to Saturday, 9:30 to 16:45. Researchers will need to have an Archives History Card or a Library Readers Card. An archivist will be available at Guildhall Library on Thursday mornings to answer any queries.

The majority of the collection dates from 1771, with deeds 1585-1949, and includes minutes of the Committee, of the Council and of general meetings; letter books; subscription books; loss and casualty books; war casualty books; deeds and other papers relating to the offices on the corner of Lime Street and Leadenhall Street; and papers relating to the Lloyd's Medal for Saving Life at Sea, the Lloyd's Medal for Meritorious Service and the Lloyd's War Medal for Bravery at Sea.

Also in the collection are the Captain's Registers. These list certificates of competency awarded to men intending to be masters or mates of foreign going merchant ships; and form a directory of qualifed personnel, 1869-1947. The registers include destinations and casualies such as sinking or collisions. For detailed information about the registers please see the sub-fond entry Marine Records, CLC/B/148/B.

Also in the collection are papers relating to signal stations, including reports, legal agreements, histories and register of ships passing North Shields station. The signal stations were operated by Lloyds both in the UK and abroad. They gave notice of vessels in distress, noted the weather, and reported all passing vessels that gave their name to the station. This latter meant ships could be tracked and made Lloyds the recognised clearing house for global shipping intelligence.

Post-1944 material in Mss 31570-1 and 38565 is closed.

ACCESS AND USE

Language/scripts of material: English

System of arrangement:

As the archive is large and complex, to assist the user the catalogue has been arranged in sections each with an archival classification, as follows:
CLC/B/148/A: Minutes;
CLC/B/148/AA: Administration;
CLC/B/148/B: Marine records;
CLC/B/148/BA: Signal station records;
CLC/B/148/C: Premises records;
CLC/B/148/D: Charities.

Conditions governing access:

Not available for online ordering. Please see staff.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION REGARDING ACCESS: Except the Captain's Registers, these records are stored at the Guildhall Library site rather than the LMA Clerkenwell site. Researchers wishing to access these records should do so at the Guildhall Library Rare Books table. The Library is open Monday to Saturday, 9:30 to 16:45. Researchers will need to have an Archives History Card or a Library Readers Card. An archivist will be available at Guildhall Library on Thursday mornings to answer any queries. For further information please see LMA Research Guide "Consulting Archives at Guildhall Library", available at http://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/Corporation/LGNL_Services/Leisure_and_culture/Records_and_archives/Visitor_information/free_information_leaflets.htm

Conditions governing reproduction:

Copyright to this collection rests with the depositor.

Finding aids:

Please see online catalogues at: http://search.lma.gov.uk/opac_lma/index.htm

ARCHIVAL INFORMATION

Archival history:

Immediate source of acquisition:

The manuscript archives of Lloyd's of London have been deposited in the Manuscripts Section of Guildhall Library at various dates since 1975. The Guildhall Library Manuscripts Section merged with the London Metropolitan Archives in 2009.

ALLIED MATERIALS

Publication note:

See also LMA Information Leaflet Number 50, available online and in hard copy in the Information Area.

DESCRIPTION NOTES

Archivist's note:

Rules or conventions: Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.

Date(s) of descriptions: January to May 2011.


INDEX ENTRIES
Subjects
Business records | Documents | Information sources
Insurance records | Documents | Information sources
Insurance services | Financial service industries | Service industries
Maritime insurance | Insurance | Finance
Merchant shipping | Maritime transport | Transport
Seaborne disasters | Accidents | Disasters
Shipping records | Documents | Information sources
Manmade disasters
Shipping
Water transport

Personal names

Corporate names
Lloyd's of London | marine insurers

Places
City of London | London | England | UK | Western Europe | Europe