Artists' Annuity and Benevolent Fund

The Artists' fund was established in 1810 for the protection and relief of artists engaged in painting, sculpture, architecture and engraving, and of their orphans and widows. All artists of merit, female and male, were eligible to become members, though most members were from London or the immediate surroundings. The fund was incorporated by royal charter in 1827 as the Society for the Management and Distribution of the Artists' Fund.

The fund was divided into two distinct branches. The annuity fund was maintained by members' subscriptions as an insurance fund for the payment of benefits on the sickness or death of subscribers. Each subscriber to the annuity fund was automatically a subscriber to the benevolent fund, which was for the exclusive relief of widows and orphans of subscribers to the annuity fund. For a time the benevolent fund was maintained not only by subscribers to the annuity fund, but also by means of appeals to the general public, but the latter method of raising money later declined.

Meetings of both branches of the fund were originally held in the Freemasons Tavern, Great Queen Street, but premises were eventually acquired in Suffolk Street, SW1 (ca. 1910). The registered office of the fund at the time of the records' deposit (1988) was 1 Serjeants' Inn.