Fire Marks

Fire marks were used as a way of telling the insurance company which buildings and houses were insured. In the early days houses were not numbered and they had very little formal "addressing system" these marks ensured that the company could tell at a glance if the building was insured and with who. No insurance often resulted in no help if there was a fire!

Before the days of the local fire brigade the insurance companies often organized there own response teams (or private brigades) in areas where they had buildings insured.

When these private brigades turned up to a fire they looked for their mark.If their mark was present then they set straight to work with the help of bystanders who were given arm bands and all the beer they could drink in return for manually pumping the water. On return of the arm band the next day they were given a small monetary payment. If it was not present then a quick deal may have made with the owner or they would have stood back and watch it burn.

The insurance companies also insured themselves and a fee of £100 was required by from each fire man as a promise of good behavior, looting was a popular pastime to many!

Eventually the fire teams and insurance companies decided to work together and out of this came the municipal brigades. Even today in some countries marks can still be seen and the superstitious amongst them feel safer if their houses still have the fire mark attached to it.

The last building in Port Glasgow to still show it's fire mark was that of East Yard office building belonging to Lithgows shipbuilders.
The building was at one time a mance and had been insured even before it's completion for £300.
The policy No: 278940 it was dated 28th December 1769.
It read "Premium 6/- Renewal date Christmas 1770. Agent:Buchanan, William Dunlop of Port Glasgow Shipmaster.On his tenement only Stone and slate situated on North side the road leading from Port Glasgow to Greenock Not yet finished Not exceeding £300.

The photgraph shown here dates back to 1962. This building is no longer standing.

Example of a Fire Mark

You can see where the mark was placed above the middle windows.

This page last modified on Tuesday, March 04, 2003

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