Rhode Island Stampless Covers & Letters
1817 Cover from Lloyds of London with Lloyds Seal
To Brown and Ives - Providence, RI - Via the New York Packet
(18 Cent Rate from Port of Entry - New York to Providence, RI)

Letter Affirms Brown and Ives as the agents for Lloyds in Rhode Island
(Scroll Down for Background Information, History and Full Text of Letter)

A small case was previously sent by Msrs Dickason, the Brown and Ives factor in London, via the ship "Galen," however the documents in the case were incorrectly filled out as stated in this letter.

The history of Lloyd's begins in 1688 when Edward Lloyd ran a coffeehouse on Tower Street in London.  Merchants, bankers, and seafarers assembled in Lloyd's to informally transact business. The coffeehouse became a popular meeting place for underwriters, who would accept insurance on ships for the payment of a premium. Edward Lloyd moved his coffeehouse to Lombard Street in 1691 and for a short period, beginning in 1696, he published Lloyd's News, containing the news of shipping movements and other matters of interest; this was the forerunner of Lloyd's List, first published in 1734.
 

Gradually, the underwriters at Lloyd's formed an association and in 1771 the first committee was formed. In 1774 the committee moved their operations to the Royal Exchange. 

Shortly before this letter was written in 1811, Lloyd's adopted a constitution which regulated admission to Lloyds more strictly.

In 1871 control over the affairs of the association by its committee was consolidated by an act of incorporation (Lloyd's Act, 1871), which gave it the power to make its own bylaws, to acquire real and personal property, and to perform all acts in its corporate name. By the act of 1871 the association was restricted to marine insurance. In 1911 an act was passed that allowed Lloyds to issue insurance of every description.

In 1928 Lloyd's moved to Leadenhall Street and, in 1957 they moved to a new building on Lime Street. In 1986 Lloyd's moved once again  to a new building adjoining Leadenhall Market.