Regular Widows' Fund and Elders' (or Extra) Widows' Fund

Regular Widows' Fund: For pension payment books 1817-1835 see the series IOR/L/AG/21/1. For pension payment books 1835-1860 see the series IOR/L/AG/9/4. For pension payment books 1860-1955 see the series IOR/L/AG/21/23. For pension payment books 1955-1966 see IOR/L/AG/21/24/13. Elders (or Extra) Widows' Fund: For pension payment books 1817-1835 see the series IOR/L/AG/21/1. For pension payment books 1835-1860 see the series IOR/L/AG/9/4. For pension payment books 1860-1955 see the series IOR/L/AG/21/23. For pension payment books 1955-1966 see IOR/L/AG/21/24/13.

Unrestricted

Established 1816, closed to new subscribers c 1862. Provided pensions for the widows and children of staff of the East India Company's Home Establishment in London. The histories of the two funds, Regular Widows' fund and Elders' Widows' Fund, were so closely intertwined that they came to be regarded as one joint fund for the purposes of payments and administration. Membership of the Regular Widows' Fund was compulsory for established clerks, those promoted from the Extra Establishment who were not already members of the Extra Fund and for persons holding senior posts on a full-time basis. The Elders' Widows' (or Extra) Fund was compulsory for established Elders, doorkeepers, porters and warehousemen, and optional for non-established staff (including writers and extra clerks). An unusual feature common to both funds was that subscribers were not obliged to report domestic events as they occurred - on his death a subscriber's family would be required to produce documentary evidence in support of their claims to pension. If a subscriber did not leave a widow he was allowed to nominate a female dependent relative for pension.