Fire mark

Hand in Hand Fire Office fire mark in the form of a pair of clasped hands with tight frilled cuffs, surmounted by an open crown. Policy number '1859' is impressed on the panel at the bottom.

This mark is one of the earliest surviving Hand in Hand marks in the country. It was issued to Thomas Bowles, a joiner, on 3 July 1701 for £100 on a 'brick house situated in east side of London House Yard in the Parish of St Gregory by St Paul, being the second house northward from St Paul's Churchyard'. This was located where Paternoster Square is today.

Fire marks were placed on the outside of buildings to indicate that the property was insured by a specific company. This identification was particularly important in London before the introduction of street numbering in the 1760s. Householders with fire insurance could expect the company to send its 'fire brigade' to put out the fire.

Insurance companies often had reciprocal arrangements with each other so that if a fire brigade put out a fire at a house insured by a different company then the brigade's company would be reimbursed. In 1826 an agreement was reached between the Sun Fire office, the Royal Exchange Assurance and the Phoenix Fire Office to combine their brigades under the leadership of one superintendent. This provided the basis for the creation of the London Fire Engine Establishment in 1833.

This fire mark was issued by the Hand in Hand Fire Office which was founded at Tom's Coffee House on St Martin's Lane in 1696. The company began trading at the Royal Coffee House, Buckingham Gate late that year. When the company opened an office in the City of London near the Royal Exchange, some Westminster-based policy holders broke away to form the Westminster Insurance Office in 1717. The company continued to expand its client base in London and by the beginning of the 19th century offered coverage nationwide.