The world’s first life insurance policy was signed on June 18th, 1583.

The person insured was one William Gybbons, who worked as a meat and fish salter, and the beneficiary of the policy was a man named Richard Martin. Curiously, the relationship between the two men has been lost in the mists of time.

In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly do the maths and work out exactly how much a human life is worth; discuss how, like all good insurers, the underwriters tried to weasel out of having to pay the policy after Gybbons died; and reveal why Ancient Romans used to have clowns at their funerals…

Further Reading:

• ‘Betting on Lives: The Culture of Life Insurance in England, 1695-1775’ (Manchester University Press, 1999): https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Betting_on_Lives/3wq8AAAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0 

• ‘The greatest surety: a brief history of life insurance’ (InsurTech, 2023): https://insurtechdigital.com/articles/the-greatest-surety-a-brief-history-of-life-insurance 

• ‘Life Insurance Day: The History’ (Beagle Street, 2017): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CO-auTZ6fcI 

This episode first premiered in 2023, for members of 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴 - where you can also DITCH THE ADS and get weekly bonus bits, unlock over 100 bits of extra content and support our independent podcast. Join now via Apple Podcasts or Patreon. Thanks!

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The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.

Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart.

Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2024.

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