The actuarial profession has a rich and varied history dating back to the seventeenth century when John Graunt, a London draper, demonstrated that there were regularities to the patterns of life and death in a group of people, despite uncertainty about the future life-span of a single individual.

Exploring actuarial history. A seminar on the potential of historical resources for new research. The seminar was held on 14 June 2007 at Staple Inn. The seminar comprised presentations by Chris Lewin, FIA, Trevor Sibbett FIA and Professor David Bellhouse of the University of Western Ontario, Canada. The seminar concluded with a discussion of potential topics for research and an opportunity to view source materials in the Actuarial Profession's own collections.

Presentations

• An overview of actuarial history [pdf]
  Chris Lewin
• European sources for research of actuarial history and the scope for translation [pdf]
  Trevor Sibbett
• Annuity calculations, motivations and methods in the first half of the eighteenth century [pdf]
  Professor David Bellhouse

Other documentation

• List of books and papers on actuarial history by members. [pdf]
• Support for research from the Profession's libraries [pdf]
• Applying for a research grant

History of the actuarial Profession

• History of the actuarial profession
  Chris Lewin
• Reading list on the history of the actuarial profession [pdf, 119 kb]
• Archive of Equitable Life Assurance Society

History of members of the profession

• Biography of John Finlaison, first President of the Institute of Actuaries
• Obituaries of members of the UK actuarial profession from the Institute Yearbook, the Institute List of Members, JIA, TFA, BAJ and The Actuary
• Members of the Institute of Actuaries who attained their present status of membership before 1951 [pdf]
• Past Presidents of the Faculty of Actuaries [pdf]
• Past Presidents of the Institute of Actuaries [pdf]
• Awards of Institute Gold Medals, Silver Medals and Finlaison Medals

History of Staple Inn

• History of Staple Inn - some further reading [pdf, 88 kb]

Links to other sites

• The MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive at St Andrews University
  includes biographies
• Actuarial history website
  Compiled by Henk Wolthuis, University of Amsterdam