Skip to main content
The Actuary: The magazine of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries - return to the homepage Logo of The Actuary website
  • Search
  • Visit The Actuary Magazine on Facebook
  • Visit The Actuary Magazine on LinkedIn
  • Visit @TheActuaryMag on Twitter
Visit the website of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries Logo of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries

Main navigation

  • News
  • Features
    • General Features
    • Interviews
    • Students
    • Opinion
  • Topics
  • Knowledge
    • Business Skills
    • Careers
    • Events
    • Predictions by The Actuary
    • Whitepapers
    • Moody's - Climate Risk Insurers series
    • Webinars
    • Podcasts
  • Jobs
  • IFoA
    • CEO Comment
    • IFoA News
    • People & Social News
    • President Comment
  • Archive
Quick links:
  • Home
  • The Actuary Issues
  • August 2017
08

Book review: Insurance in Elizabethan England

Open-access content Tuesday 8th August 2017 — updated 5.50pm, Wednesday 29th April 2020

Insurance in Elizabethan England – The London Code Cambridge Studies in English Legal History

2

Author: Guido Rossi

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Review: Chris Lewin


This is a substantial book of nearly 900 pages. Just over half of it consists of a detailed discussion of the terms of marine and life insurance offered in Elizabethan London. The remainder conveniently gives full transcriptions of the London Code - the rules covering marine and life insurances after about 1580 - and 46 surviving marine policies issued from 1523-1604. These include the life policy of 1583 taken out by Richard Martyn on the life of William Gybbons for 12 months. 

The book is written from a legal viewpoint. It traces how the London Code was partly derived from various similar codes in European towns such as Antwerp, Barcelona, Bruges, Genoa and Rouen, and shows which provisions were original to London. The book outlines what the author sees as a continuing struggle for jurisdiction over insurance matters between the official British court system and the Assurance Chamber of London, where the commissioners were usually merchants appointed by the City's mayor.

An analysis is given of the 40 known London policies for the years 1573-91. The average sum insured was £506, while for 62% of the policies the sum insured was less than £400 and for 5% it was £1400 or more. There was a small group of about 40 underwriters whose names cropped up at least five times and who may, therefore, have had the greatest influence in the market, but there were about 200 other underwriters who were named less frequently and often once only. The number of underwriters on each policy varied widely, from three to 47. Table 3.2 sets out the premium charged for each of 24 voyages which took place from 1579 to 1593. The lowest premium rate was 3%, or in one case 2% for a short voyage from Harwich to London, while in the four cases from November 1586 onwards the rate was 10% or 11%, reflecting increased international tension.  

For anyone who wishes to have a good idea of the rules of the Elizabethan London insurance market in the various contingencies which could arise to a ship or cargo, the book will be of great value. It does not, however, throw additional light on life assurance at that time, the rules of which are already well known.


This article appeared in our August 2017 issue of The Actuary .
Click here to view this issue

You may also be interested in...

2

Perfecting proxy models

Shaun Lazzari and Oliver Bentley look at managing sources of inaccuracy in Least Squares Monte Carlo proxy model fitting
Tuesday 8th August 2017
Open-access content
2

Are you a pusher or a puller?

Ally Yates explains how to use the right strategy for the right situation when negotiating and influencing
Tuesday 8th August 2017
Open-access content
2

Fail to prepare

Fail to prepare
Tuesday 8th August 2017
Open-access content
2

A nation divided?

Are there really differences in life expectancy between Scotland and the rest of the UK? If so, how should actuaries take account of these? Phil Caine and Susan Hanlon discuss
Monday 7th August 2017
Open-access content
2

Is de-risking in members' best interests?

Traditional asset-liability modelling for defined benefit pension schemes ignores covenant risk. Integrating this risk may suggest that a higher allocation to return-seeking assets makes sense, say Robert Waugh, Nic Barnes and Robert Chestnutt
Monday 7th August 2017
Open-access content
2

Mortality improvements in decline

Jon Palin, on behalf of the CMI Mortality Projections Committee, reviews the growing evidence for a slowing down of mortality improvements in the UK, noting the trend for pension scheme members is less clear
Monday 7th August 2017
Open-access content

Latest from August 2017

2

Government announces tough new measures to tackle pension cold calling

The UK government announced yesterday that it would ban cold calls and tighten protections against transfers to fraudulent schemes.
Friday 18th August 2017
Open-access content
2

British Steel Pension Scheme to separate from Tata Steel

The Pensions Regulator has today approved a proposal from Tata Steel UK (TSUK) to separate itself from the British Steel Pension Scheme (BSPS), to avoid the company becoming insolvent.
Friday 11th August 2017
Open-access content

Erratic expectations

I was interested to learn from Alex Waite’s July article (bit.ly/AnimalSpiritsAW) there is an Economic Modelling Group aiming at improving forecasting of economic outcomes. I wish this the best of luck, but would not be surprised if the results prove inconclusive. Honorary fellows are eminent individuals in business, academia and government.
Tuesday 8th August 2017
Open-access content

Latest from small_opening_image

2

COVID-19 forum for actuaries launched

A forum for actuaries has been launched to help the profession come together and learn how best to respond to the deadly coronavirus sweeping the world.
Wednesday 25th March 2020
Open-access content
2

Travel insurers expect record payouts this year

UK travel insurers expect to pay a record £275m to customers this year as coronavirus grounds flights across the world, the Association of British Insurers (ABI) has revealed.
Wednesday 25th March 2020
Open-access content
2

Grim economic forecasts made as countries lockdown

A sharp recession is imminent in the vast majority of developed and emerging economies as the deadly coronavirus forces businesses to shut down across the world.
Tuesday 24th March 2020
Open-access content

Latest from 08

Paying LPI service to market prices

Robin Thompson and Andrew Kenyon look at how liabilities linked to Limited Price Indexation can create risk
Monday 7th August 2017
Open-access content
2

Changing world health

Dr John Schoonbee talks to Gemma Gregson and Richard Purcell about reinventing dietary guidelines, e-cigarettes and advances in diagnostic techniques
Monday 7th August 2017
Open-access content
Share
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Linked in
  • Mail
  • Print

Latest Jobs

Exposure Management Analyst

London, England
£40000 - £50000 per annum
Reference
148639

Pricing - Casualty Actuary

London (Central)
£128K + bonus + benefits
Reference
148638

Reporting Contractor

Negotiable
Reference
148636
See all jobs »
 
 
 
 

Sign up to our newsletter

News, jobs and updates

Sign up

Subscribe to The Actuary

Receive the print edition straight to your door

Subscribe
Spread-iPad-slantB-june.png

Topics

  • Data Science
  • Investment
  • Risk & ERM
  • Pensions
  • Environment
  • Soft skills
  • General Insurance
  • Regulation Standards
  • Health care
  • Technology
  • Reinsurance
  • Global
  • Life insurance
​
FOLLOW US
The Actuary on LinkedIn
@TheActuaryMag on Twitter
Facebook: The Actuary Magazine
CONTACT US
The Actuary
Tel: (+44) 020 7880 6200
​

IFoA

About IFoA
Become an actuary
IFoA Events
About membership

Information

Privacy Policy
Terms & Conditions
Cookie Policy
Think Green

Get in touch

Contact us
Advertise with us
Subscribe to The Actuary Magazine
Contribute

The Actuary Jobs

Actuarial job search
Pensions jobs
General insurance jobs
Solvency II jobs

© 2023 The Actuary. The Actuary is published on behalf of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries by Redactive Publishing Limited. All rights reserved. Reproduction of any part is not allowed without written permission.

Redactive Media Group Ltd, 71-75 Shelton Street, London WC2H 9JQ