Fire mark

From 1684 fire insurance marks, made from lead, were put on the outside of properties to show which company insured them. This mark is from the Sun company, which was established in 1710. The Sun still exists today as Royal & Sun Alliance and is the oldest insurance company with its original name. Records show that this policy (no. 683129) was taken out by James Heseltine of Great Knight Rider Street, Doctors Commons, in 1798 on his household goods in a property at Walthamstow, Essex. There are stories that insurance company fire brigades would leave houses to burn if they were insured by a different company. However, there is no record of this actually happening and brigades frequently worked together to fight fires.