Genealogy Chat

Hello everyone A rather topical request for all you lovely people who do so much to help us in need ... My father has an old little leather purse with some coins in which according to family history is Maundy Money. The date is 1898 (I think, from memory) and are all low denominations of consecutive value. No real worth, but all the same year. (Sorry, I don't have them to hand as my parents now live abroad). Now I have never questioned it before but seeing it on the news has made me wonder - who in my family were they given to? Is there any list of who was given Maundy Money and in what year that I could check through? As always, thanks very much in advance for any advice / help you can offer. It is very much appareciated. Jo P.S. I don't think my dad knows which side of the family it comes from either ...I would like to know who the good-deeder was in my family!

Cor! I haven't heard Maudy Money being mentioned in absolute years:) it reminded me of when I was a Good Mum and took my kids to Church in the 1980's 1990's, at Easter when parishers were leaving church the Nuns used to hand out these small envelopes with £10 in them and My children always stood in front of a nun in the hope they would be choosen, always made me laugh, Unfortunately and No offence meant to any one but we never were presented with one. Carrie I'll mention it this sunday when the Boys all come around, bet they have a good laugh too..

What a lovely find. There is Maundy money on e bay at the moment. I wouldn't want to part with them if they were in my family. I think they are uncirculated coins that are minted that year. Somewhere I have a book, which I bought after listening to an interesting talk on the subject.. If I come across it, I will send you a message if there is anything to help. Gwyn

The Royal Maundy is an ancient ceremony which has its origin in the commandment Christ gave after washing the feet of his disciples on the day before Good Friday. The commandment, or mandatum, 'that ye love one another' (John XIII 34) is still recalled regularly by Christian churches throughout the world and the ceremony of washing the feet of the poor which was accompanied by gifts of food and clothing, can be traced back to the fourth century. It seems to have been the custom as early as the thirteenth century for members of the royal family to take part in Maundy ceremonies, to distribute money and gifts, and to recall Christ's simple act of humility by washing the feet of the poor. Henry IV began the practice of relating the number of recipients of gifts to the sovereign's age, and as it became the custom of the sovereign to perform the ceremony, the event became known as the Royal Maundy. In the eighteenth century the act of washing the feet of the poor was discontinued and in the nineteenth century money allowances were substituted for the various gifts of food and clothing. Maundy money as such started in the reign of Charles II with an undated issue of hammered coins in 1662. The coins were a fourpenny, threepenny, twopenny and one penny piece but it was not until 1670 that a dated set of all four coins appeared. Prior to this, ordinary coinage was used for Maundy gifts, silver pennies alone being used by the Tudors and Stuarts for the ceremony. Today's recipients of Royal Maundy, as many elderly men and women as there are years in the sovereign's age, are chosen because of the Christian service they have given to the Church and community. At the ceremony which takes place annually on Maundy Thursday, the sovereign hands to each recipient two small leather string purses. One, a red purse, contains - in ordinary coinage - money in lieu of food and clothing; the other, a white purse, contains silver Maundy coins consisting of the same number of pence as the years of the sovereign's age. Maundy money has remained in much the same form since 1670, and the coins used for the Maundy ceremony have traditionally been struck in sterling silver save for the brief interruptions of Henry's Vlll's debasement of the coinage and the general change to 50% silver coins in 1920.

Hi Thanks for the replies. The leather purse we have is the white one I guess, although from memory it was more of a natural colour. Definately not red. I always assumed thre coins were freshly minted as they don't look as if they had been used and were all the same year. Now all I need to do is find out who they were given to! Thanks again Jo

Find out where they were given. I'm not sure that the ceremony was in various parts of the country as it is these days. I would imagine that the recepient wouldn't have travelled very far.... -I could be quite wrong though.

Hi Gwyneth I think it is very likely that it was Southwark cathedral. Both sides of my dad's family was from the Bermondsey / Deptford area. Do you think there will be a list of recipients anywhere? Jo

I've been trying to find something by looking on Google. ...I think the ceremonies used to be at the Chapel Royal, Whitehall or at Westminster Abbey. I imagine there must be a list somewhere. Perhaps archives in those areas would be the place to look. Gwyn

Hi, The Queen's doing Maundy Money today at Guildford catherdral. There must be a record of who gets it over the years as the Church is keen on keeping records. ISome more info to hunt for! Karen.