the term—though he was an administrator rather than a statistician. The first modern actuary, William Morgan, was appointed in 1775 and served until 1830. In 1776 the Society carried out the first actuarial valuation of liabilities and subsequently distributed the first reversionary bonus (1781) and interim bonus (1809) among its members. It also used regular valuations to balance competing interests. Its products therefore met the description of a modern with-profits policy. The Society sought to treat its members equitably and the directors tried to ensure that the policyholders received a fair return on their respective investments. Throughout the Society's history, the allocation of bonuses (at regular intervals of up to five years) was a carefully thought-through decision based on actuarial advice, designed to promote fairness and equity between different groups and generations of policyholders. Its methods were successful enough for it to be able to reduce its premiums by 10% in 1777, and there was a further reduction in 1781. By 1799 the Society had assets of £4m and its 5,000 membership subsequently doubled to 10,000 in 1810. Famous 19th-century policyholders included Samuel Taylor Coleridge, William Wilberforce and Sir Walter Scott. In 1870, the Life Assurance Companies Act was passed, "requiring all life offices to publish financial data on the lines so long followed by the Equitable." In the 20th century, Henry Manly devised the concept and theory of staff pensions, which the Society marketed from 1913. Pensions became available to the self-employed in 1957 when the Society launched the Retirement annuity plan. Corporate pension scheme members included employees of the NHS, Unilever and the Post Office. Organisation The Society's first offices were in the parsonage of St Nicholas Acons in Nicholas Lane, London, moving to Blackfriars in 1774. Approval of policies, the main business of the Society, was undertaken by the Court of Directors; whilst resolutions had to be approved at two meetings of the General Court which all members were entitled to attend. From 1786 this court also dealt with grievances, and there was early tension between initial subscribers wanting a return on investment and those wanting to recruit new members. In 1816 a waiting period was introduced for new members, and only the oldest 5,000 policies were entitled to bonuses. In 1893 the Memorandum and Articles of Association were adopted, incorporating the Society as "The Equitable Life Assurance Society" and transferring power to the directors; the 1816