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<DATE>2014-04-28</DATE>
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<NAME>TCP Staff (Michigan)</NAME>
<RESP>MURP</RESP>
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<ITEM>Proofed and reviewed as part of batch B140218.pdcc.</ITEM>
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<IDG S="marc" R="UM" ID="B18724">
<STC T="W">C1179b</STC>
<STC T="G">L.R.305.a.7.[29]</STC>
<STC T="C">R227800</STC>
<BIBNO T="umi">99887514</BIBNO>
<VID>190492</VID>
</IDG><!-- alt.stc GL.R.305.a.7.[29] --><!-- alt.stc Cr227800 -->
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<DIV1 TYPE="text">
<PB REF="1" MS="y">
<HEAD>The Ca&s;e of their Maje&s;ties Antient Publick Office of A&s;&s;urance, for Making and Regi&s;tering of Policies of A&s;&s;urance in the City of <HI>London.</HI> Humbly offered to the Right Honourable the Lords Spiritual and Tem|poral in Parliament a&s;&s;embled.</HEAD>
<P>IT has been an U&s;age time out of mind among&s;t Merchants when they have &s;ent out greater Adventures than they have been willing to run the Ri&s;que of, to give a Premium to others for them to en&s;ure &s;uch part of the Goods as is agreed between them. Heretofore the A&s;&s;ured relied only on the Credit of the A&s;&s;urers; and if any Differences aro&s;e they were u&s;ually determined by Merchants appointed (for that purpo&s;e) by the Lord Mayor; as it appears by the preamble of the Statute of the 43 <HI>Eliz. cap.</HI> 12. The Merchants of <HI>London</HI> being &s;en&s;ible that this manner of Trading by way of A&s;|&s;urance was a very great Incouragement of Traffickers, but finding that there had been &s;everal Abu&s;es in it, they Petitioned Queen <HI>Elizabeth</HI> in the 17th year of her Reign to erect a Publick Office for the Regi&s;tering of Policies of A&s;&s;urance; and thereupon the Queen, by her Letters Patents, reciting, That it had been an Antient Cu&s;tom of Merchants in <HI>Lombard-&s;treet,</HI> and then in the Royal Exchange, to make Policies of A&s;&s;urance, which were held in great E&s;timation in mo&s;t Parts of Chri&s;tendom; but at that time, for want of a due and orderly keeping of a Regi&s;ter, Merchants had been abu&s;ed by evil di&s;po&s;ed Per&s;ons, who a&s;&s;ured the &s;ame thing in &s;undry Places. For prevention of tho&s;e, and the like Abu&s;es, the Queen did appoint <HI>Richard Chandler,</HI> Maker and Regi&s;ter of all Policies of A&s;&s;urance, and did provide and declare that all Policies made after the &s;aid Grant by any other Per&s;on &s;hould be void.</P>
<P>This Patent was only during Plea&s;ure, to make an Experiment of the Expediency or Inconveniences of it. The Office conti|nued under that Patent until the 30th year of Queen <HI>Elizabeth,</HI> and then the Queen reciting that her former Grant had been found greatly Beneficial, and taken good Effect, granted the &s;aid Office to <HI>Richard Chandler,</HI> and one <HI>Richard&s;on,</HI> for their Lives. Some time after which, at the Solicitation of the Merchants, there was a Statute made (<HI>viz.</HI> in the 43 of <HI>Eliz.</HI>) which not only takes notice and allows of the Office, but gives all manner of Incouragement to it, by erecting a Court, and granting great Powers to the Commi&s;&s;ioners to enable them to give a quick and ea&s;y Recovery to the In&s;ured, when Lo&s;&s;es happen. After the death of <HI>Richard&s;on,</HI> and <HI>Chandler, Anno 7th. Ja. primi,</HI> this Office was granted to <HI>Giles</HI> and <HI>Walter Overbury</HI> for their Lives, and after their Deaths for 31 years, the 3 <HI>Car. prim.</HI> it was granted to <HI>Richard Bogan</HI> for 31 years; and the 14 <HI>Car.</HI> 2. there was another grant of it to <HI>Nich.</HI> and <HI>Tho. Veel</HI> for their Lives; both which la&s;t mentioned Patents were &s;urrendered to the King the 12 <HI>April,</HI> 1665. and the Office was granted to Sir <HI>Allen Brodrick,</HI> and his A&s;&s;igns, under which grant the pre&s;ent Patentee claims; in every one of the&s;e &s;ucce&s;&s;ive Grants there is this Clau&s;e (or to this Effect) That every Policy of A&s;&s;urance, contract of A&s;&s;urance, Intima|tion, or Renunciation, that &s;hall be made after the date of the&s;e Letters Patents, upon any Ship, Goods, or Merchandize, or other the Premi&s;es, by any manner of Per&s;on or Per&s;ons, within the Royal Exchange, or any other Place within the City of <HI>London,</HI> be|ing not made and regi&s;tered by Sir <HI>Allen Brodrick,</HI> and his A&s;&s;igns, Deputy or Deputies, &s;hould be utterly void.</P>
<P>'Tis ob&s;ervable, That this was not only a publick and known Office openly kept ever &s;ince its fir&s;t Erection, but if that re|&s;trictive Clau&s;e were publickly taken notice of, as it appears in my Lord <HI>Coke</HI>'s 12 Book of Reports, Folio 117. And yet in the 21th year of K. <HI>James,</HI> or in the time of K. <HI>Charles</HI> the Fir&s;t, when there was &s;o great Enquiry after, and means taken to &s;uppre&s;s all Patents that tended to Monopolies, this Office was never touched nor looked upon to be &s;uch; nay, on the contrary, it has received not only the countenance of the Statute before-mentioned (43 <HI>Eliz. cap.</HI> 12.) but in the 14th year of the Reign of <HI>Car.</HI> 2. after near 100 years Experience of the Benefit of it, the Parliament made an Additional Act to the former, giving the Court greater Powers than it had before; and afterwards, in the Act for Rebuilding the City of <HI>London,</HI> the 19 <HI>Car.</HI> 2. 'tis provided that Policies made in <HI>Gre&s;ham</HI> Hou&s;e (where the Office was kept for nece&s;&s;ity upon that occa&s;ion) &s;hould be as Authentick as A&s;&s;urances made in the Antient Office on the Royal Exchange. Which proves not only the Parliaments allowing and approving of the Office, but &s;hews that they thought (as in the Grant expre&s;&s;es) that Policies ought not to be made el&s;ewhere, and were not of Force if not made there, for el&s;e there had been no need of that Provi&s;ion.</P>
<P>Now that this is an Office of great Benefit is certain. It will be for the Advantage of the King in his Revenue; Fir&s;t, by the Incouragement that the Security of dealing will give to Per&s;ons to Trade.</P>
<P>By preventing the Shipping of, or tran&s;porting Counterband or Prohibited Goods, or the defrauding of the King of his Cu&s;toms by Mi&s;-entries, to which private Offices give Incouragement, but a publick one would be a means to detect &s;uch Deceits.</P>
<P>The Benefit will be great both to the A&s;&s;urers and A&s;&s;ured (to &s;uch 'tis meant as de&s;ign hone&s;tly) and that there may be Secu|rity to both on the Terms agreed on is the intent of the Policy.</P>
<P>As to the A&s;&s;urers, one very great Mi&s;chief to them was, That Per&s;ons would a&s;&s;ure on Ships with different Per&s;ons, and in dif|ferent Places, far beyond the Value of the Goods which they had on Board, and then with confederacy with the Ma&s;ter of the Ship the Ship &s;hould be ca&s;t away &s;omewhere near Land, and thereby the a&s;&s;ured be great Gainers, by their Recovery again&s;t all the &s;e|veral Per&s;ons, of which there are many and frequent In&s;tances. Which Fraud would be ea&s;ily detected in a publick Office, were the whole that every Man A&s;&s;ures upon one Ship may be known to the A&s;&s;ured (for who&s;e Benefit the &s;everal Acts were chiefly made) It will be of great Advantage; for 'tis an u&s;ual thing for A&s;&s;urers to &s;ub&s;cribe Policies for far greater Sums, than (if Lo&s;&s;es happen) they are capable of an&s;wering. This will in a great mea&s;ure be prevented by being vi&s;ible in the Office how far the Per&s;on with whom they are treating has under-written, by which they may make a Judgment whether they dealt &s;afely or not.</P>
<P>The ordinary and lowe&s;t Rate then currant as a Premium will be known, and &s;o no one need be &s;urpri&s;ed into the giving Ex+travagant, or more than the Common Rates then currant.</P>
<P>The Entry of the Policies in the Regi&s;try will be good Evidence &s;hould the Policies them&s;elves be lo&s;t.</P>
<P>There is likewi&s;e great Advantages to the A&s;&s;ured in the Recovery of their Moneys, by the Power the Commi&s;&s;ioners have to Examine Witne&s;&s;es beyond Sea, and the &s;peedy Cour&s;e that is taken by the Court in their Proceedings, the Statute appointing Courts to be kept weekly; which is of great u&s;e where Sea-faring Men are generally the Witne&s;&s;es, who cannot attend the tedious Proceed|ings of Common Law, being required to Sea again before a Tryal be had.</P>
<P>That in many Ca&s;es where In&s;urances have been made in private Offices, and Lo&s;&s;es happen thereon, the A&s;&s;ured have been for|ced to take of the A&s;&s;urers what they plea&s;e to give them; a half, or le&s;s part of their due, by rea&s;on of the defect of the Poli|cies; as in the Ca&s;e of one Captain <HI>Saye,</HI> where the Policy being imperfect the Lo&s;s could not be recovered.</P>
<P>By the Cu&s;tom of Merchants no Man can recover a Lo&s;s till he have fir&s;t renounced his Intere&s;t to the A&s;&s;urer; and there is no Place where a Renunciation can be legally taken, but in the publick Office of A&s;&s;urance; and the Office of A&s;&s;urance can take no Renunciation but of &s;uch Policies as are there Regi&s;tred, and that before notice of the Lo&s;s. Therefore the A&s;&s;urers would be glad the publick Office were di&s;charged, having this Advantage again&s;t the A&s;&s;ured.</P>
<P>That in all Places abroad where any In&s;urances are made, there is no Office for making Policies of A&s;&s;urance but what is allowed by publick Authority.</P>
<P>This Office is Authori&s;ed by the Prerogative of the Crown, and is by Statute Law made a Branch of, and &s;ubject to the High Court of Chancery.</P>
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