How Lloyds Insurance Started As A Coffee House in the 1600’s
|
By the 1600’s, English shipping and trade were burgeoning.
The Dutch were dominant, and England’s main commercial rival. Up to date shipping information meant money.
Knowledge about ship arrivals, departures, time between destinations, weather and trade opportunities were becoming increasingly important.
Much of the trade centered on coffee, tea and spices. Ships arrived and departed daily.
Coffee Houses
Coffee houses, or Penny Universities as they were known, were where people did business. Coffee houses around the wharf areas attracted those in the ship industry.
Samuel Pepys, the famous diarist, often gleaned information for his role as a marine administrator, from the coffee houses. This gave him much more up to date information, than waiting on official news.
Lloyds Coffee House
One famous wharf precinct coffee house, opened in 1687, was Lloyd’s Coffee House, named after its host, Edward Lloyd.
Marine underwriters made Lloyd’s Coffee House their base because of its focus on shipping.
Peter L. Bernstein, in his book - Against The Gods - The Remarkable Story of Risk
filled it with information on the arrivals and departures of ships and intelligence on conditions abroad and at sea. That information was provided by a network of correspondents in major ports on the continent and in England.
The Growth of Lloyds Coffee House
At Lloyd’s Coffee House, ship’s captains traded information “on the hazards of all the new routes that were opening up - routes that led them farther east, farther south, and farther west than ever before. Lloyd’s establishment was open almost around the clock and was always crowded.” Peter L. Bernstein elaborates.
Lloyd’s List was eventually enlarged to provide daily news on stock prices, foreign markets, and high-water times at London Bridge, along with the usual notices of ship arrivals and departures and reports of accidents and sinkings…
The government even used Lloyd’s List to publish the latest news of battles at sea.
Like Samuel Pepys who preferred to get his news from the coffee houses, some regarded Lloyd’s List as the first newspaper with reliable information.
The Legacy of Lloyds Coffee House Today
In 1771, seventy nine of the marine underwriters from Lloyd’s, each contributed £100 to form the Society of Lloyd’s. This is still a trademark name for Lloyds of London today.
Thus, Lloyd’s Coffee House was the birthplace of much of the world’s insurance. Both Lloyd’s Coffee House and Lloyds List also had an influence on the way information was dissemminated, and the development of the newspaper.
Nov 9th, 2007 at 5:44 am
[…] Universities The 1700’s coffee houses or Penny Universities were very noisy, and some like Lloyd’s Coffee House were open around the clock. Lloyd’s Coffee House was near the wharves, so it was frequented […]