Protests were made to the mercantile tariff companies about the high premiums, but no satisfactory compromise was reached. At a meeting of prominent merchants and brokers held on 5 August 1861, it was decided to form a new company with a capital of £2,500,000 to underwrite mercantile risks at 'fair' rates. The venture quickly got underway and on 28 September the Commercial Union Assurance was officially established as a joint-stock company.

The Commercial Union took much business from old-established companies insuring wharves and warehouses, and the rating introduced by the company undercut the whole range of the tariff system except over extreme risks.

There followed two years of struggle for supremacy in mercantile insurance, until an agreement was eventually reached in November 1863 between the Commercial Union, the tariff companies and the northern companies for an amended London mercantile tariff.

The company did well in the life and marine department, but the fire business suffered heavy losses. In 1865 the fire fund was so depleted that it had to be topped up with £25,000 from the reserve fund, and the company failed to pay a dividend that year. The fire business made erratic progress until the late 1880s, when it increased steadily.

Agencies and branches were established in the United Kingdom and worldwide and many smaller companies were taken over - among them the Hand in Hand Fire and Life Insurance Society and the Union Assurance Society - until the Commercial Union became one of the largest British insurance groups.

Emblem. A salamander, a mythical lizard-like creature which could not only live in fire but extinguish the flames.

It was decided that fire and life insurance should be undertaken in Europe, the West Indies and India, and the first British agents were appointed. Business rapidly expanded with policy holders participating in the profits of the company until 1862, when this practice was discontinued in respect of fire policies.

A fire brigade was formed shortly after business started, and regular contributions of money and equipment were made to various towns and cities in both Britain and overseas, a fire engine being sent to Montreal in Canada in1826. The company brigade was involved with many notable London fires, including that in 1838 which destroyed the Royal Exchange.

A period of expansion lasted from 1847 to 1923. By 1868 the company was considered to be one of the most solid insurance institutions in the United Kingdom. The company continued to make steady progress, changing its name to the Alliance Assurance Company in 1905. In 1959 the Alliance amalgamated with the Sun Insurance Office, the combined company using the title of the Sun Alliance Insurance Company.

Emblem: A castle on a rock portraying strength and protection.

The funds of the fire and life departments were to be kept separate and four-fifths of the profits from the fire business were periodically divided among the policyholders.

The fire insurance business was discontinued in 1829 and taken over by the Phoenix Assurance Company the following year, mainly through the efforts of Jenkin Jones, the secretary of the Phoenix. The society dropped the word 'Fire' from its title from 1829, and continued life assurance until it passed to the Eagle Fire and Life Insurance Company in 1856.

Emblem: Pallas Athene, a goddess often associated with insurance, since she was regarded as a protective deity. She was also associated with defensive war, hence her spear, and with impregnability since she carried Medusa's head on her shield.

The Company was founded by Edward Mountain, a Lloyd’s broker in 1904 as a marine business known as the British Dominions Marine Insurance company. Within the first ten years, it had acquired the Eagle, the Sceptre and the Star. The acquisitions expanded its interests into general business, fire and motor insurance. It was renamed the Eagle Star & British Dominions in 1917 and Eagle Star in 1937.

Edward Mountain was knighted for his contribution to insurance in 1918, by which time the company had become the largest composite office in the UK.

In 1984 Eagle Star became part of B.A.T industries pls and saw diversification into financial services. In 1998 it became part of Zurich Financial Services Group.

Little is known of the business history of the company and it passed to the English and Cambrian Life Insurance Company in 1850.

Emblem. The aegis (shield) of Athene - a protective deity often associated with fire insurance - bearing the head of Medusa. This had been fixed there by Athene after Medusa had been slain by Perseus, who had borrowed the shield. It represents impregnable defence and protection.

The Protector's rates of premium were set at 2s per cent for common insurance, 3s per cent for hazardous and 5s per cent for doubly hazardous. Losses by fire and lightning were made good, but the company would not be responsible for loss or damage by explosion.

Persons who took out policies for seven years in advance were charged premiums for only six years. In 1826 the Protector Life was set up to transact life assurance. It is probable that the profit-sharing scheme and fierce competition led to such greatly reduced profits that the directors decided to repay the capital to the shareholders and sell the insurance business for what they could get.

The capital of the company was £150,000 in 30,000 shares of £5 each, and it was stated that policies issued before the deed of settlement were still valid and would be honoured.

Little is known of the company's business history. In 1850 its name was changed to the Monarch Fire and Life Assurance Company, and in 1857 it passed to the Liverpool and London Fire and Life Insurance Company.

The company transacted only life business until 1845, when it began to underwrite fire insurance and the name was changed to the Star Life and Fire Assurance Society.

The fire department lasted only until 1853, and in that year the portfolio passed to the Manchester Fire Assurance Company, the Star then resuming the name of the Star Life Assurance Society. In 1917 the company amalgamated with the Eagle and British Dominions Insurance Company, and the combined group was known as the Eagle, Star and British Dominions Insurance Company.

Emblem. A star whose design is based on the Star of the Order of the Garter, the premier order of chivalry founded by Edward III in 1348. The star is made of chipped silver, gold and enamel.

The report of 1851 shows that in the first eighteen months the fire department had issued 3,800 policies insuring property to the value of £2,250,000 and producing a premium income of £7,109, with losses amounting to 16 per cent of premium income. By 1853 the premium income had risen to £12,000.

Despite this apparent progress, the affairs of the company were not in a satisfactory state. When Thomas Cave became managing director in 1855, he cut down the working expenses and made great efforts to place the business on a sound footing. This proved to be a slow process, and so the directors decided to amalgamate with the National Provincial Insurance Company but failed to do so owing to a technicality. The company then had to make a call of £1 per share to enable the business to continue.

In 1857 the Anchor amalgamated with the Bank of London Insurance Company.

Emblem. An anchor representing security.

The Liverpool office soon appointed agents in Manchester, Halifax and other centres, and the London board appointed agents in many southern towns. Before the end of 1862 agencies had been set up in Scotland and Ireland.

Most companies consolidated their home business before branching out overseas, but the London and Lancashire immediately undertook business in Australia, India, Canada and Jamaica, and acquired indirect interests in Europe by reinsurance agreements in France, Spain, Holland, Germany and Russia. Within a few months of starting, agents had been appointed successively in Paris, Hamburg, Bombay, Montreal, Melbourne, Stockholm and St Petersburg.

On 21 October 1862 the company became incorporated under the new Companies Act and then mounted a massive publicity campaign with bill posters in railway stations and the issue of fire marks and calendars.

The Liverpool office moved to Brown's Buildings near the Liverpool Exchange towards the end of 1862, and branches were set up in leading cities to reinforce the agency network.

The adverse national economic situation and losses abroad in 1866 caused problems, and the company was forced to borrow to the extent of half of its paid-up capital. However, it weathered the difficulties and became one of the country's most successful insurance companies.

In 1920 the company was renamed the London and Lancashire Insurance Company and in 1961 became allied with the Royal Insurance Company.

Emblem. Derived from the arms of the City of London and the Duchy of Lancaster.

Fire insurance business was pursued abroad with great energy, with the establishment of a New York agency. However, the American business, along with that of other insurance companies, suffered a setback when in 1871 the Chicago fire cost the company £325,000 and the following year the Boston fire resulted in a loss of £92,000. When the London board heard of the Chicago disaster, they cabled their New York agent to settle all losses promptly and subscribed $5,000 'for sufferers'. This offer received wide publicity in the United States and enhanced the company's prestige. In 1897 it formed an American company, the North British and Mercantile Company of New York, which was later renamed the Mercantile Insurance Company of America.

Towards the end of the nineteenth century, branches were established in Canada, Australia and India. In Europe the company conducted much business in Germany and Austria. In the United Kingdom it operated in Scotland, Ireland and South Wales, with agents in all the principal cities and towns of England. The company continued to grow, taking over various other companies to increase its range of insurance, entering the marine market in 1908 and underwriting accident insurance in 1910. It expanded worldwide through the first half of the twentieth century, but was experiencing difficulties, with losses in the United States and Canada.

In 1959 it was decided to become allied with the Commercial Union Assurance Company to enable both companies to consolidate and develop fire and casualty insurance in the United States.

Emblem. The first design is based on the arms of Edinburgh and London. The second design incorporates a guardian angel.

In an advertisement published in 1865 the company stated that it did not wish to associate itself with the Fire Offices' Committee, which had been formed in 1858, because 'every proposal for Fire Insurance will be treated strictly upon its own merits'. The rates and premium were Is 6d per cent for common insurance, 2 per cent for hazardous and 4s 6d per cent for doubly hazardous. The advertisement went on to state that losses caused by lightning and explosion of gas would be ‘recognised'.

Fire branches were established in Manchester, Bristol and Dublin, but after a promising start the company was taken over by the Western Fire Insurance Company in 1866.

Emblem. The head of Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (1819-61), Prince Consort to Queen Victoria.

Several directors of the Britannia were also members of the board of the British Medical and General Life Association, and the Britannia used the British Medical's agency network, so securing wide coverage in the United Kingdom from its first day of business. The Britannia, although à separate company, used the same premises and even staff to some extent.

Little is known of the business history of the company. In 1879 it was renamed the Britannia Home and Colonial Insurance Company but passed to the Anglo-French Fire Insurance Company the same year.

Emblem. Britannia, a patriotic figure representing Britain, who is usually depicted with a lion symbolising strength and security. It is not clear why Britannia is apparently standing on a platform composed of different types of fruit.

The company had a remarkably small working capital, a writer in an insurance journal describing it as a 'peculiar company'. The adding of fire insurance to the company's business was confirmed at a shareholders' meeting on 29 April 1876, and the word ‘Fire' was added to the title.

The avowed aims of the company were for 'the special interest of the licensed victualler, who has hitherto been subjected to exceptionally onerous and often unfair charges upon fire and plate glass insurance [since] their interest in respect of fire insurance, and the insurance of plate and other glasses, has not only been neglected, but they have all allowed it, for the want of mutual support, to be made an extra-hazardous risk by existing companies.'

The business of the company was not restricted to licensed victuallers but extended to other trades and private individuals. The company did not become very large and never seems to have been well organised. In early 1878 its name was changed to the Sceptre and Licensed Victuallers and General Fire Insurance Company. By July the company had simplified its name to the Sceptre Insurance Company and was wound up the following year, 1879.

Emblem. The head of Bacchus, son of Jupiter and Semele, who discovered the culture of the vine and how to extract its juice, is depicted with bunches of grapes and a wine barrel.

The prospectus stated that "The losses through fires occurring in private houses are relatively small, and the promoters consider insurers of this class of property have hitherto contributed unduly to hazardous risks.'

The National offered lower rates of premium than other companies, stating that its premiums were one-third below the usual rate.

The company was the only one in Britain which confined itself to this 'safe' branch of risks, although the Phoenix Insurance Company of Frankfurt operated a similar scheme from about the 1870s and paid dividends of between 30 and 40 per cent to its shareholders. The National hoped for a similar return.

The company was not as successful as the promoters had hoped and after operating for ten years it passed to the Royal Insurance Company.

Emblem. The female figure probably represents Britannia.

The company purchased business in the former French provinces of Alsace and Lorraine which had been ceded to the Germans after the Franco-Prussian war of 1870-71. French insurance companies in the area were forbidden to continue business on the grounds that they used their organisations for political purposes. Rather than let their business go to German companies, the French sold their portfolios to British ones.

Throughout its first year it expanded its business, establishing agencies in London and some other English centres and worldwide. Despite this, the company was not very profitable, and by 1900 was in difficulties.

Between 1894 and 1900 premium income amounted to £1,400,000, but during the same period £1,415,000 was paid out. In May 1901 the Dublin branch was closed and the business sold to the Yorkshire Fire and Life Insurance Company.

In December 1901, the Yorkshire offered to take over most of the Lion's remaining business since it wanted to expand. On 24 March 1902 the offer was accepted by the Lion shareholders as the company was facing collapse, the payment being partly in Yorkshire shares and partly in cash. The Yorkshire kept on the Lion staff at branch offices in Birmingham, Bristol, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool and Manchester.

An arrangement was reached with the North British and Mercantile agencies in Alsace-Lorraine whereby the Yorkshire would conduct new business in the name of the North British until it was granted its own concession, the Lion's concession having lapsed. The concession was finally granted by the German Chancellor in July 1903 after representations by the British Foreign Office.

The Lion was probably the last company to issue fire marks for use in Britain.

Emblem. The lion represents strength, security and alertness.

Emblem. Based on the arms of Middlesex: threes seaxes, which were characteristic Saxon weapons. The was a single-edged hacking sword, with an angle sloping towards the point, representing a heraldic notched blade. These arms were attributed to the Saxon kingdom by the medieval heralds.