House fire insurance in England began in the late seventeenth century, perhaps spurred on by the Great Fire of London (1666). It worked much as insurance does today (though some companies also had their own fire engines) with risk calculated by the insuring company and premiums paid regularly by the owners. In 1680 the London rate for timber built houses was twice that for those built of brick. Companies advertised themselves by fixing a plaque to insured properties. These were made of lead, copper plate, tinned iron or cast iron. Designs usually included the company's emblem and name. Some had the specific insurance number too. The photograph shows one such plaque on the Man of Ross Gallery in Ross on Wye, Herefordshire. The building dates from the seventeenth century but the plaque, as far as I can ascertain, dates from the late eighteenth or early nineteenth century.
photo © T. Boughen Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2
