The Marine and General Mutual Life Assurance Society

[1] When the society was started, seamen of the day were charged more for life assurance if they were teetotal, as water was considered by insurance companies of the 1830s and 1840s to be a dangerous element – both for its sanitary condition and volatile nature.

This prompted the creation of the United Kingdom Temperance and General Provident Association in 1841[2] – which went on to champion longevity due to abstinence of alcohol on a seafaring voyage and a consequential reduction in premiums.

[5] With the deed of settlement all were still involved (with the exception of Captain Lawrence of which very little is known) but with some notable additions, all with the possible exception of Nathaniel Acworth of the Madras Railway Company, were leading British ship-owners of the day: The make-up of this board shows that the initial challenge set by Robert Warner was being taken forward by the influential maritime men of the day.

The first general meeting was held at the London Tavern and the second in the house of J. Hartley and Son, at 137 Leadenhall Street[8] – the latter being the first address to be officially recorded as 'the offices of the Society'.

The first prospectus was published in the Shipping Gazette and aroused widespread interest "offering advantages to the seafaring portion of the community, which no office has yet attempted."

A closer study of the limited marine mortality data was undertaken as well as a review of the current practice of other Life Offices.

[9] With this data in mind the final decision was the following scale:[10] Assurances were offered for the voyage, by the year or for the whole life term and could be affected by a single or an annual payment.

The date of Sutherland's election coincided with the creation of district agencies in the large commercial centres such as Liverpool, Manchester and Leeds.

To provide a bridgehead into this new territory, the Directors negotiated the only amalgamation in which the Society has ever participated by taking over the business of the Briton Life Association.

[17] ‘We have entered,’ said Sutherland, ’the field of competition for general life business.’ Under the last twelve years of his stewardship the Society continued to improve and consolidate.

Although it was decided not to accept any new war risks, no one who was already a member was charged any additional premium on joining the armed forces or the transport services.

In all 191 members lost their lives on active service – 65 at sea and 126 on land – and these policies cost the society £86,000 against £4,900 received in extra premiums.

[20] In 1920, the board once again elected a Royal Mail chairman, Mr Arthur Nevile Lubbock, under whose guidance the society was to make steady progress until the outbreak of the Second World War – even taking into account the slump of the 1920s.

The rapid rise of the assurance fund was brought to a standstill in September 1939 as new business dried up to a trickle – at the quinquennial valuation completed in 1939 it stood at £3,722,067 – five years later it had only increased to £3,877,922).

Unlike many City-based concerns, Marine and General did not desert its London home – though its most important documents were duplicated and certain activities transferred to temporary offices at Sevenoaks and Ifield.

Fire-watching precautions were rewarded in May 1941, when London had its second big incendiary raid, when all the nearby buildings were gutted; No 48 was left standing in defiant isolation.

[24] In 2008 the company repositioned its business under the new trading name of MGM Advantage, and focused on retirement income products including investment backed and enhanced annuities.