their expenditure,a system out of which arose what is known as the "civil list," a term originally used to designate the sources of revenue appropriated to produce a fund to be devoted to the king's personal expenses, the support of the royal household, and to the payment of certain civil officers and pensions embraced in a list that was laid before the house. (Emphasis added.)

Additionally, an exhaustive discussion in the Encyclopaedia Britannica, Vol. 6, page 410 (11th Ed. 1910) explains the history and nature of the civil list:
. . . Moreover, pensions [after the Civil List Act of 1782] were only to be bestowed in the way of royal bounty for persons in distress or as a reward for merit. Another very important change was made by thisact: the civil list was divided into classes, and a fixed amount was to be appropriated to each class. The following were the classes:(Emphasis added.)

6. Pension list. (Emphasis added.)

The nature of the civil list during Queen Victoria's reign is explained:
. . . In addition the queen might, on the advice of her ministers, grant pensions up to £1200 per annum, in accordance with a resolution of the House of Commons of February 18th, 1834, "to such persons as have just claims on the royal beneficence or who, by their personal services to the crown, by the performance of duties to the public, or by their useful discoveries in science and attainments in literature and art, have merited the gracious consideration of the sovereign and the gratitude of their