On June 25, 1613 the first neighborhood insurance company is formed by the Garducci family, recent Sicilian immigrants to the Southwark Bridge Road Neighborhood. On June 28, Antonio Garducci went to the majority shareholders (brothers Richard and Cuthbert Burbage) of the “Lord Chamberlain’s Men” the company that owned the Globe Theatre. William Shakespeare, a minority owner of the Globe Theatre and Thomas Brend, owner of the land on which the theatre was located was also there. When Antonio”Little Joey” Garducci offered “A deal you really shouldn’t refuse”, the Burbage brothers laughed him derisively out of the room and were quoted as saying, “Our father James built this Theatre with the latest technology of the 17th Century! There is nothing that can go wrong and we don’t need your new-fangled insurance!” Shakespeare voiced the opinion that Garducci should have been questioned more thoroughly about this “insurance” and that the Burbages had more hair than wit.
On June 29th, the Globe Theatre burned to the ground during a performance of Henry VIII when a theatrical cannon misfired and ignited the wooden beams and thatching. According to the records of that time, the only person injured was a Antonio “Matches” Garducci, whose burning britches were doused with a bottle of ale.
In 1614, the Theatre was rebuilt and the “new-fangled” insurance was purchased.
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