Actuarial pioneers

The editorial in the May issue of The Actuary mentions William Morgan as the first modern-day actuary. He has competition for that honour - the Church of Scotland Widows' and Orphans' Fund was set up in the 1740s on an actuarial basis and was "with profits" in the sense that the annuities were "subject to diminution or augmentation, according to the state of the assets and liabilities, actual and contingent". 

A history of the fund was published to commemorate its 200th anniversary. Disclosure - I was briefly a beneficiary of the fund in the 1950s.

John (Iain) Ross  10 June