Royal Literary Fund (active 1790)

The Literary Fund was established in 1790 by David Williams, a philosopher, former dissenting minister and educationalist, in order to, in the words of an early advertisement, ‘withdraw those apprehensions of extreme poverty, and those desponding views of futurity, which lead Genius and Talent from the path of Virtue, prostitute them to pernicious factions, and convert the Liberty of the Press into a detestable and unsufferable license.’ Williams had floated the idea of an organisation to aid impoverished authors anonymously as early as 1773, but after failing to attract an influential patron had not pressed ahead until spurred on by the death of an acquaintance, the Plato scholar Floyer Sydenham, who had died after being imprisoned for a small debt in 1787. The Literary Fund was awarded a Charter in 1818 and permitted to add 'Royal' to its title, thanks to the enthusiastic support of Prince Albert, in 1842.

The Fund assists published writers, who apply confidentially, by providing grants to assist those judged by the Fund’s Committee to be in genuine difficulties and to have produced books of literary merit. Since 1955 the Fund has also awarded pensions, renewable every five years. Applications are considered in monthly meetings by the Committee, with the assistance from 1800 of the Clerk, replaced in 1836 by the Secretary. The Fund has aided over 5500 writers since its foundation – the case files for the first 3060 of these are available for research purposes as part of the archive, along with the minutes of the Committee’s meetings from 1790 to 1936 (Loan 96 RLF 1 and Loan 96 RLF 2).

Initially funded by a small group of Williams’s friends and acquaintances, the Fund acquired a larger and more exalted list of subscribers as it became more established. It raised its profile by hosting lavish Anniversary Dinners in most years between 1792 and 1939. These were major occasions in the social calendar at which many of the most respected writers, politicians and public figures of the times spoke. Details of the dinners can be found in the Fund’s Annual Reports (reports ranging from 1792 to 1920 are deposited in the archive - Loan 96 RLF 3). The Fund has also been the beneficiary of numerous estates, and during the twentieth century the proceeds of such legacies and of interest on the fruits of past fundraising became its main source of income.

The Fund still operates today and as a result of a series of major bequests from authors has recently expanded its operations to include a fellowship scheme which places writers in universities to give students one-to-one writing tuition.