Lloyd's coffee house and marine insurance

Timeline

1. 1688–1690Tower Street, London · Tower StreetEdward Lloyd ran a coffee house on Tower Street, providing shipping news to shipowners and returning captains, and renting tables for merchants to sell ship insurance. London already had dozens of trade-clustered coffee houses at the time, but Lloyd's stood out for specializing in maritime information. The proprietor was an information intermediary, not an underwriting company.
2. 1691–1696Lloyd's Coffee House, 16 Lombard Street · Lombard StreetIn 1691 it moved to 16 Lombard Street in the heart of the City, closer to the Royal Exchange and the bankers' quarter. Inside, a rostrum read arrival news and auctions, and individual underwriters signed marine insurance by shares. In 1696 Lloyd trialed Lloyd's News, reporting shipping schedules and insurance concluded in the house; it soon ceased publication but proved information products could be subscription-based.
3. 1734–1769Lloyd's Coffee House, Lombard Street · Lombard StreetThomas Jemson formally published Lloyd's List in 1734, a subscription reporting arrivals, departures, cargoes, and pirate activity, making the house's name a payable maritime intelligence brand. Professional underwriters grew dissatisfied with the gambling-style speculation in the house; in 1769 some set up 'New Lloyd's' in Pope's Head Alley, and the old house lost the competition.
4. 1771Royal Exchange (Cornhill) · CornhillIn 1771 underwriters formed a more formal society, and in 1774 the 'Lloyd's Subscribers' moved into the Royal Exchange, with market infrastructure such as average books appearing. In 1871 an act of Parliament granted corporate status. The market went from tables in a coffee house to the world's central trading place for specialty insurance, its name still referring back to Edward Lloyd.