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.

Documentation

• Books and papers on actuarial history. Reading list of books and paeprs written by members of the UK actuarial profession [pdf]
• Support for research from the Profession's libraries [pdf]
• Applying for a research grant 

History of the actuarial profession

• Actuaries on their history. Selected papers written by members of the UK actuarial profession
• History of the actuarial profession, by Chris Lewin
• Reading list on the history of the actuarial profession [pdf]
• 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