Lloyd’s
of London
Intriguingly, the name ‘Lloyd’ that has become so well known
both within the insurance and marine classification industries, appears to have originally had
very different business interests. Edward Lloyd was a coffee shop owner at
Lombard Street, in the City of London in the late 17th century. The
import of this product was courtesy of the Honourable East India Company: also
shipping tea and chocolate to the UK as well. Not unique to those connected
with shipping by any means, these houses became fashionable centres of
commercial activities, but underwriters and other interested parties frequented
Lloyd’s. So the industry consolidated in this pocket of the City and has
remained, although it has relatively recently expanded down to Aldgate and the Minories which had previously been rough areas of
industrial manufacture, wholesaling, retailing, warehousing and plebeian
accommodation (including that for mariners between voyages).
Although modern communications, it could be argued, have made
the old ways of face to face business unnecessary, insurance people can be
routinely seen going to and from the present ‘market’ at Lime Street. (Easy to
spot, they are normally suited and carrying folders of documents, sometime
struggling under their loads: like professional packhorses!)
Edward Lloyd, entrepreneur that he was, briefly published a news-sheet,
Lloyd’s News, in the
late 1690s. (Later he also seems to have published Lloyd’s Weekly London Newspaper.)
However, in regards to shipping the 1734 the first editions of the famous Lloyd’s List
appeared: though Edward Lloyd had nothing to do with this, having died in 1726.
Unfortunately, the earliest editions have not survived. So, from modest
beginnings came this august company. From 1811 a network of agents, both in the
U.K. and abroad began and the rest, it is said, is history!
The movements of vessels are one highly important aspect in
these periodicals. These can be found variously, but generally in most detail
in Lloyd’s List.
Although I have no personal experience of these, many of the 18th
century copies (from 1741) have been, or are in the process of being indexed.
However it was not until the mid 19th century that Lloyd’s List comes
into its own. Between 1838 and 1927 there were contemporaneous indexes compiled
to identify movements in the above publication. So, it should be noted that
while entries are often similar, some individual entries cannot be found in
copies of Lloyd’s Weekly
Index.
Also, there had been competitors, such as the Shipping Gazette, renamed
the Shipping Gazette and Commercial
Advertiser, which
was certainly active in the 1830s but appears to have gone by 1846 (when the
first Newspaper Press
Directory appeared). Whether William Mitchell had anything to do with the
above operation I do not know, but the publication of Mitchell’s Maritime Register as of
1856 meant substantial competition. There had been other titles, such Mitchell’s Steam-Shipping Journal between
1859 and 1869, but the Shipping
and Mercantile Gazette became the group’s daily (with a weekly
summary also).
Without going into the corporate histories too deeply, the two
groups merged their publication operations in 1884. The result was initially
the Shipping Gazette and
Lloyd’s List Summary as of 1884, but with marketing further titles came and went.
All of these can be helpful in tracing movements and much else, although it
must be stated that the Guildhall Library does not hold copies of Mitchell’s Mercantile Register before
1880.
It must also be noted that there were also separate confidential
wartime listings of movements, in both world wars. Certainly for the First
World War, there are various complications.
Accidents involving vessels, or ‘casualties’ as they are known
within the marine insurance world are also to be found in the same and other
Lloyd’s records. Earlier 19th century reports can and often were of
few words. However, with improved communications, specifically the laying of
undersea telegraph cables between important centres in the expanding Empire and
in the 20th century the adoption of wireless telegraphy; as well as
other factors, such as greatly increased values involved (of both hulls and
cargoes); often far more information was recorded in these reports. (It must be
stressed that it can be seen that this was more a reflection of the successful
business operations of Lloyd’s of London, rather than of shipping companies
spending more money informing the industry of their problems though.) Once
again, during wartime separate listings were developed which covered accidental
and intended losses.
Whilst Lloyd’s
List dealt very much with day-to-day market conditions, ‘Mitchell’s’ and the ‘Shipping Gazette’ were ‘newspapers’ in the normal understanding. Major happenings
within the industries involved were commented on and this included events about
vessels and crews.
As an aid to underwriting Lloyd’s also maintained registers of
ocean-going master mariners’ service as of 1869. And, for their own reasons
this institution also awarded medals for gallantry.
The information for this section came principally from Charles
Wright and Charles Ernest Fayle: A History of Lloyd’s (London:
The Corporation of Lloyd’s, 1928). Additional elements came from the Newspaper Press Directory.
Go to the
Certification of Seamen Officers
Go to Central Index
Register c.1919-1941
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Mercantile Page