William Thomas Thomson

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and Literature, letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". ...

FFA (1813–1883) was a 19th-century Scottish actuary who was manager of the

Standard Life Assurance Standard Life is a life assurance, pensions and long-terms savings company in the UK which is owned by Phoenix Group. History 1825–2010 The Standard Life Assurance Company was established in 1825 and reincorporated as a mutual assurance com ...

Company 1834 to 1878 and changed the face of insurance through use of mortality rates. His use of actuarial tables became common practice across the globe in the field of life insurance.

Personal life

Edinburgh - Standard Life Investments - panoramio

He was born on 25 February 1813, in the parish of St Andrews, in Edinburgh. He appears in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

around 1833 as an accountant living at 57 Northumberland Street in the Second New Town. In 1839 he married Christian Anne Seaman, and by 1842 he was living with his family in a suite above the company offices at 3 George Street. Around 1860 he moved to a magnificent townhouse at 41 Moray Place on the

Moray Estate The Moray Estate, also known as the Moray Feu, is an early 19th century building venture attaching the west side of the New Town, Edinburgh. Built on an awkward and steeply sloping site, it has been described as a masterpiece of urban plannin ...

in Edinburgh's fashionable West End, but still retained his suite at George Street.

Career

In 1834 he joined Standard Life Assurance in

as their Secretary and by 1837 found himself in charge as manager of the company, taking over from his predecessor James Auchinleck Cheyne. Through both positions, Thomson had a strong philosophy of expansion; largely through the acquisition of rival companies. These included Commercial Assurance and Victoria, Legal & General. He worked closely with

Robert Christison Sir Robert Christison, 1st Baronet, (18 July 1797 – 27 January 1882) was a Scottish toxicologist and physician who served as president of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh (1838–40 and 1846–8) and as president of the British ...

(as medical advisor) to create tables of life expectancy based on life styles. The company rewarded customers who had a "standard life" (normal life) whilst charging others a higher premium (or refusing them insurance). Once he was appointed manager, his plans for expansion focused on fostering shareholder and customer loyalty, reviving business prospects. In 1845 he began venturing into foreign expansion and created a sister company: the Colonial Life Assurance Company, who shared the George Street head office. They had branch offices in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger, more populous island of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, the country. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is the southernmost island in ...

Tobago Tobago, officially the Ward of Tobago, is an List of islands of Trinidad and Tobago, island and Regions and municipalities of Trinidad and Tobago, ward within the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. It is located northeast of the larger islan ...

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

, Canada, India,

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

, China, South Africa and Germany. In 1849 he was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was establis ...

. His proposer was

John Graham MacDonald Burt Dr John Graham MacDonald Burt FRSE LLD (1809–1868) was an eminent Scottish physician and medical author. Life He was born on 3 March 1809, in Edinburgh as John Graham Burt. He added the name MacDonald upon marriage. In the 1830s he is list ...

. Additionally, Thomson was a founding member of the

Institute of Actuaries The Institute of Actuaries was one of the two professional bodies which represented actuaries in the United Kingdom. The institute was based in England, while the other body, the Faculty of Actuaries, was based in Scotland. While the Institute a ...

in 1848, and the Faculty of Actuaries in Scotland in 1856. He retired in 1878 and passed his management role to his son,

Spencer Campbell Thomson Spencer Campbell Thomson FRSE FFA (1842–1931) was a Scottish actuary and influential businessman. He introduced statistical mortality rates into life insurance. Personal life Spencer Thomson was born on 16 October 1842, the son of Willia ...

. Thomson died in Edinburgh in 1883.

Publications

*''Actuarial Table'' (1853) *''Decimal Coinage'' (1854) *''Notes on the Pecuniary Interests of Heirs of Entail''

References

1813 births 1883 deaths Businesspeople from Edinburgh Actuaries Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh {{Scotland-bio-stub