In my latest work Ashes & Understanding, property insurance and fire insurance play a large role. In order to be as historically accurate as possible, I did a lot of research about the history of property insurance in England, which was the birthplace of property insurance.
The Blaze That Changed Everything
In one of my previous posts, I go into great detail about the Great London Fire affected Jane Austen and her time. I will only discuss it briefly here, but it was the catalyst that turned property insurance into what it is today.
In September of 1666, the city of London was devastated by a fire that raged for four days. It destroyed over 13,000 houses, 87 parish churches, and major public buildings, leaving an estimated 100,000 people homeless. The fire’s staggering cost—not only in property loss but in the sudden, systemic collapse of housing and commerce—left survivors clamoring for a way to prevent such ruin from happening again.
The concept of insurance wasn’t entirely new in England. Marine insurance had existed since the medieval period, helping merchants protect their cargoes and ships from the risks of piracy and storms. But property insurance—designed to protect homes, businesses, and buildings—had yet to be formalized. The Great Fire would spark that transformation.
Nicholas Barbon and the First Fire Insurance Company
Enter Nicholas Barbon (pictured above), a physician, economist, and speculative builder with a flair for innovation. In 1680, just fourteen years after the fire, Barbon and a group of investors founded what is widely recognized as the first true fire insurance company in England: The Fire Office, also known as The Insurance Office for Houses. Located near the Royal Exchange, the office initially offered policies only within a 10-mile radius of London.
Barbon’s Fire Office was revolutionary. For an annual premium, homeowners could insure their property against loss by fire. The office maintained its own firefighting teams—equipped with leather buckets, axes, and hand pumps—to reduce the likelihood of catastrophic damage. Each insured house was fitted with a metal badge, or fire mark, bearing the company’s symbol. These marks indicated to fire brigades which buildings were under their protection, and thus prioritized during a blaze.
They were also issued Insurance Certificates, which you can view here.
Expansion and Competition
Following Barbon’s success, other insurance companies emerged in London. The most notable was the Sun Fire Office, founded in 1710 and still operational today as part of the Royal & Sun Alliance group. Sun Fire began insuring not only houses but also warehouses and commercial properties, expanding the scope of what could be protected.
By the mid-18th century, property insurance had become a staple of urban life. Insurance offices hired their own brigades or contracted with independent fire brigades. The presence of competing fire crews created something of a rivalry: if a building wasn’t marked with their company’s fire plate, some brigades might let it burn.
This chaotic system led to a gradual push for publicly funded fire services—though private insurance firms and their brigades remained dominant for much of the 18th century.
Fire Insurance in the Countryside
While fire insurance developed rapidly in cities like London and York, rural areas were slower to adopt it. Most policies in the early years excluded buildings with thatched roofs or timber construction—precisely the types of homes most vulnerable to fire. Even as country estates began to acquire coverage, many smaller farms and cottages remained uninsured well into the 19th century.
That said, the existence of insurance—particularly among wealthier landowners—had a ripple effect. It introduced new expectations about risk, responsibility, and accountability. Fires were no longer solely matters of divine will or bad luck; they were quantifiable, preventable, and, to some extent, compensable.
Regulation and Reform
By the 19th century, the property insurance industry was thriving—but also drawing scrutiny. Questions about fraud, excessive premiums, and inconsistent payouts led to calls for regulation. In response, Parliament passed a series of laws governing the conduct of insurers and protecting the rights of policyholders.
The growth of organized public firefighting services in the Victorian period also shifted the role of insurers. No longer needing to operate their own fire brigades, companies focused instead on improving actuarial science—developing increasingly sophisticated ways to assess risk, calculate premiums, and diversify their portfolios.
Literary and Cultural Impact
The rise of property insurance didn’t just affect economics—it subtly reshaped English literature and society. In Jane Austen’s world, for instance, property and inheritance are constant concerns. While her characters don’t mention insurance explicitly, the very possibility of financial ruin through unforeseen disaster echoes a society more aware than ever of fire, loss, and fiscal contingency.
The insurance industry also played a role in fostering social mobility. Artisans, shopkeepers, and members of the middle class could now protect their hard-earned assets, encouraging entrepreneurship and urban development. A man could open a shop, insure it against fire, and take the first steps toward upward social advancement.
A Lasting Legacy
Today, we think of property insurance as a mundane formality—one more signature on a stack of legal paperwork. But its origins are anything but ordinary. Born out of crisis, fire insurance was a revolutionary idea that helped stabilize urban life, protect families from destitution, and lay the foundations for modern risk management.
In England, it is a legacy of both tragedy and triumph. From the scorched ruins of 1666 rose not only a new London, but a new way of thinking: that disaster could be faced not with fear and fatalism, but with preparation, mutual aid, and hope.
I hope this post helps you understand my book Ashes & Understanding in a deeper way.
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