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; within nine days they were advertising an offer to subscribe. It was constituted under a deed of settlement dated 31 May 1845. 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, a plantation owner and founder of Booker Brothers. Other directors included Charles Turner (MP), Chairman of the Mersey Docks and Harbour Board; John Bramley-Moore, merchant and future Lord Mayor of Liverpool; Thomas Horsfall, first chairman of the Liverpool Chamber of Commerce and later Mayor and MP; and Thomas Booth, chairman of N Waterhouse & Sons, leading cotton brokers.
The first general manager was recruited from Royal Exchange Assurance, Percy Matthew Dove, a qualified actuary. He led the Company until his death in 1868 and, with the support of the directors, was responsible for the Royal’s early rapid growth. In September 1845 agents were appointed in the nearby towns and throughout Lancashire the following month. In November, agents were appointed in Glasgow and London and these were followed in succeeding months by the first overseas agents, in India, South America and the Far East. Within a year, the Royal had 45 agents. The first step in establishing what was to become Royal’s most important market came in 1851 with the formation of a New York board; by 1853, Royal had been established in ten U.S. cities.
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. Queen Insurance was already operating on a worldwide basis and the acquisition, which required an Act of Parliament, made the Royal the largest fire insurance company in the world.
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 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. 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. This was followed by the purchase of the Liverpool and London Globe Insurance, a major Liverpool fire office, in 1919. Prior to that, Liverpool & London had itself acquired Thames & Mersey Marine Insurance so the Royal found itself the owner of Liverpool’s two leading marine insurers.