Royal Insurance

Royal Insurance Holdings plc was a large insurance business originating in Liverpool but based in London from the early 20th century. It merged with Sun Alliance in 1996 to form the Royal & Sun Alliance Insurance Group.

History

Formation and early growth

On 11 March 1845, a group of prominent Liverpool merchants and businessmen formed a joint stock fire and life association called Royal, and within nine days they were advertising an offer to subscribe. It was constituted under a deed of settlement dated 31 May 1845.[1] The business was intended to be almost entirely fire insurance for although the Royal was authorised to accept life assurance, that very much took second place. The first Charman was Josias Booker,[2][3]

The acquisitions begin

On the death of Percy Dove in 1868, he was succeeded by John McLaren. He had joined Royal in 1856 as Assistant Secretary and was appointed general manager at the age of 41. He remained in office until his death in 1893. During his time fire premiums rose from £460,000 to over £2 million and life insurance premiums from £194,000 to £380,000. McLaren had vowed not to make any acquisitions until premiums exceeded £1 million and they reached that level in 1888. He then embarked on acquisitions that substantially increased the size and importance of Royal Insurance. First came the National Fire Insurance, and the Brighton and Sussex Fire Insurance in 1889 but the transforming acquisition was that of the Queen Insurance in 1891.[1] Queen Insurance was already operating on a worldwide basis and the acquisition made the Royal the largest fire insurance company in the world.[4][6]

The early years of the twentieth century saw two acquisitions which took Royal into new product areas. The British Engine and Boiler Co., founded in 1878, was acquired in 1912[7] and within the Royal it developed into one of the leading engineering insurers in the world. More substantial was the entry into marine insurance. Increased risks in the marine market led to many of the insurers being acquired by the larger composites and the Royal bought British & Foreign Marine in 1909.[8] Founded in Liverpool in 1863, it had a network of overseas agents and by the opening of the twentieth century was one of Britain's two largest marine insurers.[9]

In October 1919, the Royal announced its agreed purchase of the Liverpool & London & Globe Insurance in what was the industry's largest insurance merger to date, leaving it substantially ahead of its nearest competitor.[10][11][12] The "Globe's" subsequent EGM to approve the merger made it clear that it would work "under its own directors and management as a separate concern". There was an overlap in the two insurers' interests, for instance in the colonial markets. However, the benefits of amalgamation were slow to materialise. The enlarged Royal comprised several large companies in Britain and the USA, all with separate names and identities. Pugh listed eight from the Royal and six from the Globe. "Nor was it intended that the identity of any of these companies…would be lost". It was not until 1938 that all the US companies were in the same head office and Royal and Globe continued with their head offices until after the Second World War. Although the 1930s was a period of difficult trading, the Royal continued its expansion through new offices and after the War, the Royal was still by far the largest British insurer in the US.[4]

type	Public
fate	Merged with Sun Alliance
successor	RSA Insurance Group
defunct	1996
location	Liverpool, England
industry	Insurance

History

Formation and early growth

The acquisitions begin

Post-war growth

Overexpansion and the final merger

Buildings

Further reading

References