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Drake, Bart. in whose family it still re-
mains.
Amicable Society, in Serjeants-inn
Fleet street, was incorporated by a charter
granted by Queen Anne, in the year
1706, for a perpetual Assurance-office
for the purpose of making a provision
for their wives, children, and other re-
lations, after an easy, certain and advan-
tageous manner, with power to purchase
lands, &c. and to have a seal, which is
a dove standing upon a serpent, and a-
bove in a scroll the motto Prudens
Simplicitas. The number of persons
to be incorporated was not to exceed
2000. After paying the charges of
the policy, and 10s. entrance-money,
each person was to pay 6l. 4s. per an-
num, which annual payments have since,
by the increase of the Society's stock,
been reduced to 5l. a year, payable quar-
terly, and from these payments the divi-
dends to claimants are to arise.
That this Society has been great-
ly beneficial to the public, evidently
appears from a state of their yearly
dividends from Lady-day 1710, to
Lady 1757, during which each claim
amounted upon an average to 106l. 1s.
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| A M I | 165 |
4d. but taking the computation only
for these twenty-three years last past,
viz. from the year 1734, (when by an
order of the general court, a part of
their yearly income was appropriated for
augmenting their claims whenever they
should happen to be under 100l.) the
quantum of such claims from the year
1734 to 1757, have amounted upon an
average to 120l. 9s. 1d. and so con-
siderable has been the increase of the
dividends for these nine years last
past, that each claim, during that period,
has been advanced upon an average to
142l. 6s. 5d.
However, at a general court held
May 12, 1757, an order was made for
farther augmenting the dividends on
claims, so as that for the future they will
not be less than 125l. each claim, but
yet may happen to be considerably more,
which has been the case of several for-
mer years.
The advantages from becoming mem-
bers of this society are such as follow:
To clergymen, physicians, surgeons,
lawyers, tradesmen, and particularly
persons possessed of places or employ-
ments for life: to such parents, hus-
bands, or wives, and other relations,
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