Watch and Clock Makers' Pension Society

The Queen Adelaide Fund was established in 1835 by Col. Clitherow, Chairman of the Committee of Visitors for Hanwell Asylum, for the assistance of patients discharged cured from Hanwell Asylum in Middlesex, "to enable them to make a fresh start in life". It had come to the attention of the chairman of the Asylum, Colonel James Clitherow, that when cured patients were discharged from the asylum many of them were forced to enter the workhouse as their furniture, tools and even clothes had been sold to support their families while they were being treated. The Fund provided such patients with a grant to enable them to resume their jobs and reunite their families. The fund was supported by Queen Adelaide, consort of William IV, who was also a patron of the Hanwell Asylum. She was the first subscriber to the Fund, donating £100 as well as her name.

The Fund was expanded in 1840 and from 1852 it assisted and administered the similar Queen Victoria Fund for Colney Hatch Asylum patients. In 1889 the Queen Victoria Fund was formally consolidated into the Queen Adelaide Fund.

On the formation of the Middlesex County Council and London County Council, two Trustees were appointed from the Councillors of each County Council. However, the administrative and secretarial staff continued to be supplied by the Asylum, and later by Middlesex County Council. The Clerk to the Committee for Hanwell Asylum was originally also Clerk to the Trustees of the Queen Adelaide Fund, but later this position was taken by the Clerk of the Middlesex County Council.