Guide to the Royal Indemnity Company Records of the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake and Fire 1892-1987 (bulk 1901-1911)

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Guide to the Royal Indemnity Company Records of the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake and Fire 1892-1987 (bulk 1901-1911)

SFH 16

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Table of contents

Box 1

Series 1 Operational documents, 1890-1927

Physical Description: 5.0 folders

Scope and Contents note

This series contains legal documents referring to the transfer of policies by re-insurers from Anglo-Nevada Assurance Corporation to the London & Lancashire Fire Assurance Company of Liverpool, England (October 1890); the minutes for the Liverpool & London & Globe Insurance Company (29 October 1901-24 February 1914); a ledger of the New-York Inter-Reinsurance detailing business done in San Francisco (February 1902-December 1909); the office manual for the Royal Insurance Company and affiliated companies (1923); and miscellaneous financial documents [1906?]-1927.

Folder 1

London & Lancashire Policy Transfer, 1890

Folder 2

Liverpool & London & Globe Minutes, 1901-1914

Folder 3

Liverpool & London & Globe New York Inter-Reinsurance Ledger, 1902-1909

Folder 4

Royal Insurance Company Office Manual,

Folder 5

Miscellaneous Financial Documents, [1906]-1927

Box 1

Series 2 Correspondence, 1905-1909

Physical Description: 4.0 folders

Scope and Contents note

This series contains the bound, outgoing correspondence of the San Francisco office of the Liverpool & London & Globe Insurance Company to the home office in Liverpool (5 January 1905-28 September 1909); outgoing correspondence from Royal and Queen Insurance Companies to the various agents of the company (1906); outgoing correspondence from Royal and Queen Insurance Companies to the policyholders of the company (1906); and incoming correspondence to the Royal Insurance Company from satisfied policyholders (1906).

Folder 6

Liverpool & London & Globe Outgoing Correspondence, 1905-1909

Folder 7

Royal and Queen Outgoing Correspondence to Agents, 1906

Folder 8

Royal and Queen Outgoing Correspondence to Policyholders, 1906

Folder 9

Royal and Queen Incoming Correspondence, 1906

Box 1

Series 3 Reports, 1906-1924

Physical Description: 4.0 folders

Scope and Contents note

This series includes meeting minutes, statements and reports produced by various committees and subcommittees formed by insurance companies to respond to the earthquake and conflagration. Where supporting legal or scientific documents exist, they follow the committee report or minutes.

Particularly interesting is “Mr. Warner’s Report on San Francisco,” a 51-page unpublished, typewritten manuscript written in 1924 by an agent of an insurance company, reporting the state of San Francisco after reconstruction, the company’s aggregation of liability, and the risk of another conflagration. Mr. Warner details the infrastructural improvements of the city, including the changes in the city’s water supply and the new fire protection systems. Also included are descriptions of the climate, topography, and architecture of San Francisco, as well as some characterization (sometimes including culture) of each neighborhood.

Folder 10

Committee Minutes and Reports (and Supporting Documents), 1906-1907

Folder 11

Report of the Committee of Five to the “Thirty-Five Companies” on the San Francisco Conflagration, 1906

Folder 12

The San Francisco Earthquake and Fire of April 18, 1906 and Their Effects on Structures and Structural Materials, 1907

Folder 13

“Mr. Warner’s Report on San Francisco, ” 1924

Box 1

Series 4 Publications, 1892-1987

Physical Description: 7.0 folders

Scope and Contents note

This series contains publications about RSA companies, the reconstruction of the Royal Insurance building, and advertisements published by the various RSA companies. It also contains other publications, personal and corporate, having to do with the insurance industry in general.

Folder 14

Subseries 1 RSA Company publications, 1906-1987

Physical Description: 1.0 folder

Scope and Contents note

This folder contains RSA Publications about RSA Companies. Included are: San Francisco Earthquake and Fire 18-20th April 1906: Facts and Figures, a booklet by London & Lancashire Fire Insurance Company; 75 Royal Years and Growing with the City by the Bay, two Royal company histories; and Thunder Underground!: The San Francisco Earthquake and Fire of 1906, a publication by the Royal Group commemorating the 75th anniversary of the disaster. Also included is an issue of Red Shield News, the Royal Insurance newsletter, which includes an article about the Far West offices and describes the 1906 events.

Subseries 2 Royal Insurance Company Building, 1909-1987

Physical Description: 2.0 folders

Scope and Contents note

These folders contain publications about the Royal Insurance Company building, including information about the damage, reconstruction and eventual sale of the building. Included are an advertisement and a brochure for prospective tenants, a photocopied newspaper clipping, and two copies of The Royal Insurance Company’s Building in San Francisco, a vanity publication about the reconstructed building.

Folder 15

Royal Insurance Company Building Tenancy Information, 1909-1987

Folder 16

The Royal Insurance Company’s Building in San Francisco

Note:

3 copies, 1 removed, added to book collection, and cataloged separately.

Folder 17

Subseries 3 Advertisements, 1906-1911

Physical Description: 1.0 folder

Scope and Contents note

These folders contain handbills and reprints of newspaper advertisements for Queen and Royal, and a few combined advertisements for Royal and Queen. One photo postcard is also included.

Subseries 4 General insurance industry, 1892-1956

Physical Description: 3.0 folders

Scope and Contents note

These folders contain publications about the insurance industry. Included is the 1892 Holiday Supplement of The Weekly Underwriter, which focuses on California, especially San Francisco, and the insurance companies doing business therein. Agents for Liverpool & London & Globe (Charles D. Haven) and Royal and Queen (Rolla V. Watt) are pictured. Also included is a reprint of an article from Underwriter’s Report announcing H.R Burke’s succession of Rolla V. Watt as Manager of Royal and Queen.

Folder 18

The Weekly Underwriter: California and the Pacific Coast: Holiday Supplement, 1892

Folder 19

The Coast Review, 51(1)- 52(6) 1897

Folder 20

Miscellaneous Insurance Industry Publications 1910-1956

Box 2

Series 5 Scrapbook, 1906-1956 (bulk 1906-1908)

Physical Description: 1.0 vol. 1 scrapbook in box.

Scope and Contents note

This scrapbook is comprised primarily of newspaper clippings from a variety of publications about the 1906 earthquake and fire, but with a particular interest in the actions of and attitudes about insurance companies in the two years that follow. Near the end there is a gallery of editorial cartoons and clippings depicting reconstruction efforts and reconstructed buildings. Also included are various ephemeral items: the May 1906 emergency edition of Sunset magazine; insurance industry event programs and menus; an August 1907 map of San Francisco delineating the burned area, fire risk areas, and the proposed auxiliary fire system; and two photographs. Please handle with care – many items have become loose and are in a brittle, fragile condition.

Title on item:

Scraps: San Francisco Conflagration 1906 and Other Items

Box 3

Series 6 Photographs, [1856]-1979

Physical Description: 1.0 Box

Scope and Contents note

This series primarily contains photographs of the various buildings owned and used by the RSA companies. Some of the internal images were used in the publications Growing with the City by the Bay and The Royal Insurance Company’s Building in San Francisco, located in Series 4 within the Royal Insurance Company Building, 1909-1987 section.

Also included are miscellaneous photographs of San Francisco before and after the 1906 earthquake and fire, photographs of insurance industry events, internal and external photographs of various insurance company offices and buildings, and unidentified damaged buildings. All photographs were transferred to the San Francisco Historical Photograph Collection. The Series includes photographs by: American View Co., M. Behrman, Cardinell-Vincent Co., T.E. Hecht, Geo. H. Knight, Gabriel Moulin, Antonia Harris Roby, W.J. Street, Strohmeyer Photographs, and Chas. Weidner.

Folder 1

San Francisco, [1856-1870]

Folder 2

RSA Buildings & Offices, [1868-1909]

Folder 3

RSA Buildings & Offices (color), 1979

Folder 4

Insurance Industry Events, [1896-1950]

Folder 5

Miscellaneous Insurance Buildings & Offices, [1868-1870]

Folder 6

Damaged Buildings, undated

Collection Contents

Operational documents,

Correspondence,

Reports,

Publications,

RSA Company publications,

Royal Insurance Company Building,

Advertisements,

General insurance industry,

Scrapbook,

Photographs,