Royal Society of Musicians

A charitable society founded in 1738 as the Fund for Decay’d Musicians by professional musicians including Michael Festing, Thomas Arne, William Boyce, and George Frideric Handel, to provide financial assistance to musicians and their families in distress. It received a Royal Charter in 1790 and became known as the Royal Society of Musicians. The Society of Female Musicians merged with it in 1866. It continues to support professional musicians and their dependants affected by illness, accident, or old age.