ROYAL HISTORICAL SOCIETY

Registered charity 206888 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register

The Royal Historical Society promotes and defends the scholarly study of the past through its lectures and publications, and speaks for the interests of history and historians. It offers grants to support research training and prizes for historical publications.

Causes: Education/training · Arts/culture/heritage/science · Grant history (this charity is a funder) · website · Get email alerts

Latest income

£684k

Latest spending

£790k

Registered

1962

Accounts read

FY2025

Financial health, per its FY2025 accounts

The accounts state that the Society recorded a net loss of £170,000 on unrestricted funds for the year ended 30 June 2025, driven by a £97,000 operating deficit and a £64,000 fall in investment value. Per the trustees' report, unrestricted assets held as at 30 June 2025 were £4.40 million, which the Trustees consider sufficient to meet ongoing commitments despite the current deficit. The Trustees plan to reduce expenditure on administration in the coming year to move closer to a balanced budget.

Automated summary of the FY2025 accounts; the evidenced findings below carry the verbatim passages.

What the accounts disclose

Highest-paid employee band: £60,001 - £70,000 — above the median for charities its size (£60k)

“The number of employees whose annual remuneration was more than £60,000 is as follows: 60,000 - 69,999” — page 51

Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Employees paid over £60,000: 2

“The number of employees whose annual remuneration was more than £60,000 is as follows: 60,000 - 69,999” — page 51

Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Largest income source: Membership subscriptions (58% of income)

“In the year covered by this report, the Society received 58% of its funds from Fellowship and Membership subscriptions.” — page 25

Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Reserves policy: 6 months of budgeted operating costs (held: £4.4m)

“The Trustees consider it appropriate to hold cash reserves equivalent to 6 months of budgeted operating costs, with an upper tolerance of 8 months, and a lower tolerance of 4 months.” — page 32

Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Accounts audited by Hakim Fry Chartered Accountants. Discloses 6 of 6 completeness components.

In the news

Recent coverage mentioning this charity by name (automated match; headlines belong to their publishers).

Primary source volumes from the Royal Historical Society’s Camden Series cambridge.org · 27/07/2018

Public fundraising profile: JustGiving — Royal Historical Society (matched by registered charity number).

Funders the charity credits

Named as funders/supporters on the charity’s own website (the charity’s claim, distinct from accounts-verified grants).

Scouloudi Foundation — “The Fellowships are generously supported by the Scouloudi Foundation.” (source page)

Structured financials (annual return, FY ending 30/06/2025)

Total income

£684k

Total spending

£790k

Cost of raising funds

£11k

Reserves (reported)

£4.4m

Employees

Reported reserves equal ~66.9 months of spending — in the top quarter for charities its size (median 5.2 months; benchmarks).

Per its annual return, largest income source: Charitable activities (71% of income) — components as reported reconcile to the return’s total income; not from the accounts narrative.

Per its annual return, cost of raising funds: 1.6% of total income — below the median for charities its size (4.9%) (benchmarks).

Trustees · trustee networks

Professor Lucy Noakeschair · trustee of 1 other charity
Dr Adam Budd
Dr Catherine Clare Feely
Dr David John Hitchcock
Dr Emilie Murphy
Dr Helen Julia Paul · trustee of 1 other charity
Dr Jesus Sanjurjo-Ramos
Dr Katharine Marie Bradley
Dr Stella Ruth Fletcher
Professor Barbara Bombi
Professor Catriona Louise Pennell
Professor Clare Victoria Joanne Griffiths
Professor Iftikhar Haider Malik
Professor Karen Louise Harvey
Professor Mark James Knights
Professor Matthias Neumann · trustee of 1 other charity
Professor Olwen Ruth Purdue

Trustee list from the Charity Commission register (current, not historical).

Operates in: Throughout England And Wales

Income and spending

Financial year end	Income	Spending
30/06/2025	£684k	£790k
30/06/2024	£610k	£669k
30/06/2023	£580k	£575k
30/06/2022	£563k	£482k
30/06/2021	£506k	£427k

Common questions

Is ROYAL HISTORICAL SOCIETY financially healthy?

Per its FY2025 accounts: The accounts state that the Society recorded a net loss of £170,000 on unrestricted funds for the year ended 30 June 2025, driven by a £97,000 operating deficit and a £64,000 fall in investment value. Per the trustees' report, unrestricted assets held as at 30 June 2025 were £4.40 million, which the Trustees consider sufficient to meet ongoing commitments despite the current deficit. The Trustees plan to reduce expenditure on administration in the coming year to move closer to a balanced budget. Its FY2025 accounts were audited by Hakim Fry Chartered Accountants.

What does the highest-paid employee of ROYAL HISTORICAL SOCIETY earn?

Per its FY2025 accounts, the highest-paid employee was in the £60,001 - £70,000 band, and 2 employees earned over £60,000.

Who funds ROYAL HISTORICAL SOCIETY?

Funders whose own accounts filings name ROYAL HISTORICAL SOCIETY as a grant recipient include SCOULOUDI FOUNDATION, MARC FITCH FUND.

Known funders

Grants to this charity found in funders’ own accounts filings.

Funder	Year	Amount	Purpose (as stated by the funder)
SCOULOUDI FOUNDATION	FY2025	£25k	History
MARC FITCH FUND	FY2023	£2k	The Rise of the Modern Historical Profession

Government & lottery funding

Grants to this charity published as open data by government and lottery funders (360Giving).

Funder	Date	Amount	Purpose
ARCADIA	25/12/2023	£5k	Towards core costs
ARCADIA	01/12/2022	£5k	Towards core costs
ARCADIA	15/12/2021	£5k	Towards core costs

Funders of similar charities

Funders whose accounts show grants to charities similar to this one (and no recorded grant to this charity) — a starting list for fundraisers.

Funder	Similar charities funded	Amount to them
THE HEALTH FOUNDATION	1	£150k
THE NUFFIELD FOUNDATION	1	£66k
THE POLONSKY FOUNDATION	1	£35k

Charities like this

Semantically similar by activities and financial character, from our analysed corpus. Compare with ECONOMIC HISTORY SOCIETY.

ECONOMIC HISTORY SOCIETY income £397k
THE PAST AND PRESENT SOCIETY income £387k
THE ROYAL PHILATELIC SOCIETY, LONDON income £803k
THE SOCIETY OF ARCHITECTURAL HISTORIANS OF GREAT BRITAIN income £129k
THE ROYAL ECONOMIC SOCIETY income £2.4m
THE ROYAL ARCHAEOLOGICAL INSTITUTE income £143k

Side by side with its peers

Charity	Income	Top pay band	Staff >£60k	Reserves vs policy	Fundraising cost	Going concern
ROYAL HISTORICAL SOCIETY	£684k	£60,001 - £70,000	2	above	—	no doubt
ECONOMIC HISTORY SOCIETY FY2025	£397k	—	0	unclear	—	no doubt
THE PAST AND PRESENT SOCIETY FY2024	£387k	—	0	above	—	no doubt
THE ROYAL PHILATELIC SOCIETY, LONDON FY2024	£803k	—	0	unclear	—	no doubt
THE SOCIETY OF ARCHITECTURAL HISTORIANS OF GREAT BRITAIN FY2024	£129k	—	0	above	—	no doubt
THE ROYAL ECONOMIC SOCIETY FY2024	£2.4m	—	—	above	—	no doubt

Each row is that charity’s latest analysed filing; every value is quote-backed on its own page.