Thomas Bignold

Thomas Bignold (1761–1835) was an English businessman. He was the founder of Norwich Union, now known as Aviva plc, one of the United Kingdom's largest insurance businesses.

Career Born in Westerham, Kent, Thomas Bignold worked as an exciseman before moving to Norwich in the early 1780s. He became a wine and spirit merchant in 1785. In 1792, he was appointed secretary of the Norwich General Assurance Company. and claims against the Society increased and he initially resisted many of those claims — some legitimately but others not. Eventually, his sons collaborated with the other directors to force him to retire. "Bignold's situation had deteriorated and his eccentricity may have crossed the border with insanity. He had been made bankrupt and incarcerated in a debtor’s prison. He had taken an interest in the shoe industry, patenting the invention of revolving heels for ladies' shoes."

He was a churchwarden and freeman grocer. He died in 1835.