Prior to 1818, informal meeting of insurance brokers and underwriters had taken place in Glasgow, Scotland, the earliest being recorded in 1744 at the shop of Andrew Stalker, a seller of marine policies in Glasgow. The first recorded meeting of underwriters and marine insurance brokers from Glasgow was held on 1 April 1818, where it was stated in the minutes that it had been formed for 'The purpose of such directions as might appear necessary for the superintendence and protection of the property in which the members were generally interested'. This group by the following year was known as the Association of Underwriters & Insurance Brokers in Glasgow and was composed of underwriters, marine insurance companies, and insurance brokers. At the first meeting, a chairman and 3 directors were appointed, as well as a secretary and treasurer and the committee was to be elected annually. By 1906 there was a committee of management consisting of a chairman and 6 directors and the Admissions committee included the directors and 3 other members. The Association was also represented on the Glasgow Chamber of Commerce. The Association's meetings were held in rooms in Royal Exchange Buildings, Royal Exchange Square in the centre of Glasgow. The rooms held a library of shipping newspapers, atlases, gazetteers, underwriting textbooks, maritime law reports and series of charts and sailing directions.
At the time of the Association's formation, the London Registers of Scottish vessels were incomplete, and in 1823 the Association was involved in the compilation of a list of shipping registered in the different ports of Scotland. By 1870, the Association was represented on the Agency Committee of Lloyd's Register of British and Foreign Shipping and was supplied daily by Lloyds, London, with information on shipping movements and casualties by telegraph. The Association was also greatly involved with trust and benevolent funds. When the City of Glasgow Bank collapsed in 1878 the Association donated £1000 to the relief fund and the Insurance Brokers agreed to meet all claims in full of the underwriters who were shareholders in the Bank.
In 1857 , the Association of Underwriters & Insurance Brokers in Glasgow, Scotland, formed the Glasgow Underwriters' Committee for the Protection of Underwriting Interests which by 1895 had become the the Glasgow Salvage Association . Its objects were to protect the interests of owners and underwriters by promoting despatch and economy in the salvage of ships and their cargoes and it was managed by a committee who employed a staff of surveyors and wreck agents including the British Marine Salvage Company Ltd, Glasgow. The Glasgow Salvage Association had a separate constitution to the Association of Underwriters & Insurance Brokers in Glasgow, but the Salvage Association attended, when instructed, to the protection of Underwriters' interests in respect to damaged property.
The Association was still functioning in 1998.
From the guide to the Records of the Association of Underwriters & Insurance Brokers in Glasgow, trade association, Glasgow, Scotland, 1805-1993, (Glasgow University Archive Services)
