Mathematicians and the early English life insurance industry

Abstract

Motivated by a manuscript find in the Macclesfield Collection held by Cambridge University Library, the role of mathematicians in the emerging life insurance industry in eighteenth-century England is examined. Two early life insurance societies are examined here in detail. In one, a prominent mathematician's arguments were ignored thus confirming the generally accepted view among historians of insurance that the role of mathematicians at this time was minor or non-existent. For the other case, the promoter of two insurance schemes used his mathematical knowledge to design the operation of his insurance plans thus showing that mathematical activity was at least not non-existent. The manuscript find still leaves the question of what the motivation and impact was of the major writers on life annuities during the first half of the eighteenth century. This is addressed by considering the major economic background of early eighteenth-century England—land and property.

Notes

¹ Daily Courant, 9 January, 6 March, 25 August, and 7 December 1714, 18 July and 22 August 1715; English Post with News Foreign and Domestick, 19 July 1702; Flying Post or The Post Master, 15 August 1702; Post Boy, 13 September, 4 November 1712, 7, 13 February, and 19 December 1713; Post Man and the Historical Account, 11 November 1714, 10, 16 September, and 29 December 1715, and 21 February 1716.