ROYAL MASONIC INSTITUTION FOR GIRLS school (RMIG) - two vintage enamelled Steward badges 1958 & 1966

Postage is extra.

Buy both together for €14.00 + postage
OR
Buy individually for €10.00 each + postage.

Postage the same whether one or two badges are posted the same time.

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For sale are two Masonic Steward badges issued for the ROYAL MASONIC INSTITUTION FOR GIRLS (RMIG) in Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire. These Steward badges were issued at the Masonic 1958 and 1966 annual festivals for a minimum donation. The badges display the Provincial Lodge coat-of-arms from where the festival was held.

The RMIG was a charitable girl’s school established in 1788 for the “daughters of deceased and distressed Freemasons”. In 1868, the school was renamed as the Royal Masonic Institution for Girls and is today an independent fee-paying secondary school called the The Royal Masonic School for Girls. In 1934 the RMIG school was moved to Ricksmanworth and since 1978 have taken in pupils from non-Masonic families as well. A similar institution for boys was established in 1798 which eventually became the Royal Masonic Institution for Boys (RMIB) but the junior RMIB closed in 1970 and the senior RMIB closed 1977.

Money to run these Masonic charitable institutions (RMBI, RMGI, RMBI) was raised through organising annual festivals and social events. Their first annual fund-raising event took place in 1789 and by the latter part of the 19th century these had become formalised into "Festivals". Masonic and non-Masonic attendees who gave a defined minimum donation or more were titled ‘Steward of the Festival’ and awarded a Steward’s jewel in the form of a medal or badge (without a ribbon). Freemasons were permitted to wear the Steward’s jewel as part of their regalia for a maximum of one year, hence Steward’s medals show their year of issue. Also, each year the Steward jewel or badge would feature a different design which incorporated the coat-of-arms of the Masonic Province(s) involved in organising the year’s Festival.


https://www.rmsforgirls.org.uk/ (Royal Masonic School for Girls at Rickmansworth website).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Royal_Masonic_School_for_Girls (Royal Masonic School for Girls, Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire).

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DESCRIPTION:
Size (1958 badge): about 1 1/2" width (38mm).
Material(s): brass with enamels.
Finish: gilt on the 1958 badge & tin plating on the 1966 badge.
Fitting: pin.
Imprint: None. 1966 badge may have been made by J. R. Gaunt & Son Ltd of London.
Approximate age: 1958 & 1966

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CONDITION:
Very good condition. No damage. Pins in working order. Some minor scuff markings on the tin plating of the 1966 badge.
Please see photograph(s), these form part of the description.

POSTAGE:
* Postal costs are extra, additional to the Asking Price.
* I always get a proof-of-posting certificate.
* I combine postal costs for multiple items when these are paid for and posted the same time.

RETURNS:
* Return accepted if the item(s) is returned in same condition it left me, then the full Agreed Asking Price will be refunded. Postal costs are not refundable.
* Buyer pays the return postal costs - unless agreed otherwise.

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