Lloyd’s Register
How the world’s most respected shipping database began.
Today, thanks to Wifi and the Internet, conducting business in a café is commonplace. But it’s not a new phenomenon: men were doing similar things in 17th century London when they visited coffee houses to discuss ships and shipping. One of these coffee houses – founded by Edward Lloyd in London’s Tower Street – became the foundation stone for Lloyd’s Register.
Just to be clear: Lloyd’s Register is a completely separate body from Lloyd’s of London – an institution generally associated with marine insurance. The Register, published annually, contains information about the construction and seaworthiness of ships. That information is, of course, vitally important to those insuring the vessels. But both organisations were born in the same coffee house.
Lloyd’s Coffee House – where it all started – is mentioned for the first time in a 1688 issue of the London Gazette, describing a gathering of merchants, underwriters and other players connected to shipping. Coffee was probably the key factor in the venue’s success: everyone remained clear-headed – unlike those opting to conduct business in breweries and taverns.
And Lloyd introduced a useful custom to keep negotiations moving along at a decent lick: a candle was lit at the beginning of an auction – and it ended when the wax melted away. Modern boardrooms might benefit from the same technique.
Lloyd died in 1713 but his café remained a hub of activity – and the timing was perfect: between 1700 and 1750 the maritime industry doubled both in value and volume.
Eventually, in 1760, the coffee house customers founded the Register Society, the world’s first ship classification society. It would evolve into the primary source of
information for all those involved in the maritime sector. The Society published the first Register of Ships in 1764 – a tool designed to provide a clear idea of the condition of chartered, owned and insured ships.
But because there were no clearly defined rules or standards at the time, ship classifications were riddled with inconsistencies and this, understandably, led to friction between ship owners and underwriters. In 1774 the frustrated underwriters founded Lloyd’s of London and, in 1799, published their own, alternative register.
This wasn’t a good move. The rivalry drove everyone to the brink of bankruptcy. Eventually commonsense prevailed and in 1834 the two registers amalgamated to form Lloyd’s Register. It began producing a volume ( Lloyd’s Register of British and Foreign Shipping) classifying all ships calling at British ports.
GROWTH AND STANDARDS
The Register received a healthy boost in the 19th century with the technical revolution in shipbuilding. The first steamships appeared – and with them iron hulls – and shortly thereafter, the first propeller-driven ship was classified.
In 1853 a Leith shipbuilder – Thomas Menzies – suggested using a Maltese cross as a symbol of ‘excellence’ for easy classification: today it signifies that a ship and/or its machinery has been built to Lloyd’s Register class. Ship safety and seaworthiness also improved: the first loading recommendations were introduced by the Lloyd’s Register in 1835, more than 40 years before the famous Plimsoll Line was created. These hull marks indicate that a ship has sufficient freeboard and adequate reserve buoyancy (see sidebar).
In 1868 the first overseas offices were established in Holland and Belgium, followed by the appointment of surveyors in the