Fire Marks - Church Way, Thorpe Malsor, Northamptonshire, UK
Posted by: 
Dragontree
N 52° 24.158 W 000° 46.453
30U E 651416 N 5808152
These two fire marks appear on a private house in the centre of Thorpe Malsor.
Waymark Code: WMBNWV
Location: East Midlands, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 06/07/2011
Views: 3
The sun image belongs to the SUN FIRE OFFICE (1706-1959) and the other image is of figure of Britannia with a shield and lion belonging to the COUNTY FIRE OFFICE (1807-1906). They are high on the wall of this building.
The Sun Fire Office is described on The National Archives website:
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'The Sun Fire Office originated in a business established by Charles Povey in 1708 and known as the Exchange House Fire Office. This office used the Sun symbol as its firemark and became commonly known as the Sun Fire Office. The business was taken over by the Company of London Insurers in 1710 and formally constituted as a partnership known as the Sun Fire Office.
The company has had a number of addresses within the City of London. Initially the business of the new company was conducted from a room in Causey's coffee house in St Paul's Churchyard, moving to an office in Sweetings Rents near the Royal Exchange in 1711. The city office subsequently moved to Threadneedle street (1727 - 1763), Cornhill (1763 - 1766), Bank Street (1766 - 1843 and Bartholomew Street (1843 onwards). In 1726, the Craig's Court branch in Charing Cross was opened to deal with business in the west of London. In 1793 a separate department was set up at headquarters to deal with country policies. Some of the records reflect these divisions.
The company set up its first foreign agency in 1836 and its first major overseas market was in Germany. It expanded its business outside Europe with the setting up of an agency at Smyrna in Turkey in 1863. Business also expanded to include India, the Far East, China, Australasia, the United States, South Africa, the West Indies, South America and Canada.
In 1891, the office changed its name to Sun Insurance Office ltd. It merged with the Alliance Insurance Company in 1959 to become part of the Sun Alliance Group. Since 1996 has been part of the Royal and Sun Alliance Group plc.'