Our story began almost 100 years ago!
Frank Chorley (a salesman and a ley preacher) met Fred Hawkins (a railway inspector) under Cowick Street bridge in Exeter on a Summer evening in the late 1920s. At this time the life expectancy of the average man was just 58 years old, due to the lack of access to healthcare and hospitals. Frank and Fred decided that something had to be done about it and started the Exeter Hospital Aid Society, with the aim of bringing healthcare to working classes. Within three years, they were helping more than 8,000 members.
Have a look at this gem from the archives.
This lovely bunch were the team responsible for collecting our member’s premiums in and around the 1950s! So, if you happened to have a policy with us back then, you could have expected a knock at the door from one of these friendly faces.
We’ve hit a lot of big milestones since then. To put them into perspective, here’s some world events that were happening around the same time.
1927
The Exeter (then known as Exeter Hospital Aid Society) was officially registered as a friendly society.
In the same year, the world population reached 2 billion!
1940s
In the midst of WW2, Exeter Hospital Aid Head Office was destroyed in an air raid on the city centre. Most records were destroyed.
Later in the decade, the NHS was created and therefore we had a sharp fall in membership from over 110,000 to 31,000.
1960s
In the 1960s we were back up to 39,000 members. That same decade, Neil Armstrong was the first man to walk on the moon and the 1st human heart transplant was performed!
Today
As you can see, we’ve been around for a while.
Fast forward to today, after rebranding to The Exeter 10 years ago, we have over 145,000 members (including you!) that we proudly provide with life insurance, income protection & health insurance.
We want to thank you as always for being a valued member of The Exeter, and in turn, contributing to our history.