Drury Lane Theatrical Fund
Theatre Royal Drury Lane, Edmund Kean, Mdlle. Palmyre Anato performing at TRDL in 1849, Joseph Grimaldi

 

   

Drury Lane Theatrical Fund was set up 242 years ago, by the Great Actor Manager David Garrick to provide Annuities for Actors, Singers, Dancers and Stage Managers working at Theatre Royal Drury Lane. Those eligible to become Subscribers pay an annual subscription for a number of years and on retirement are able to receive an Annuity and other benefits. Theatre Royal Drury Lane has a rich history in the annals of the theatre but the life of an actor continues to be precarious and the Fund is as relevant today as it was in Georgian or Victorian times. As well as giving Annuities to Subscribing Members, the Fund is able to make small discretionary grants to non members in need who have a link to Theatre Royal Drury Lane.

Here you will be able to find out about the History of our Fund and some of the interesting actors and actresses who have been involved with it during the last two centuries. There is also a page about Robert Baddeley and his Twelfth Night Cake, probably the oldest theatrical ceremony in existence.

You can also browse through our unique Greetings Cards which we sell to help with the charitable work we continue to do, as envisaged by the David Garrick in 1766.

 

David Garrick


The Fund has 13 Directors who are all Members. The present Master of the Fund is Mr Nick Bromley, only the 12th Master in over two centuries. The Secretary is currently Mrs Miranda Fellows and the Treasurer Mr Michael Lessiter.

 

Directors List

 

Contact address:

The Secretary
Drury Lane Theatrical Fund
18 Dudley Road, Wimbledon
London SW19 8PN

e-mail: drurylanefund@tiscali.co.uk

 

Registered Charity No. 209046