Director of Moreanum. 15 th July 1979

This address responds in some detail to the place and to the date of its delivery. It was on July 15 th (1896) that Chelsea acquired the German statuette of More, which was unveiled in the Public Library on the 23 rd : the then Vicar of Chelsea Old Church was one of the contributors to the purchase. Thomas More, a model parishioner, loved that church, embellished it, treated it as the heart of his family’s prayer life, and took an active part in its liturgies. He had his first wife’s mortal remains buried there and his own epitaph carved above her tomb. He often dated events by the Christian calendar . If he wished to die on July 6th, it was to unite his martyrdom with those of St Peter and St Thomas Becket. The month of July is exceptionally rich in Morean anniversaries: from the day of More’s trial on the 1st, the beautiful prayer he penned between his condemnation and his execution, the marriage of his beloved daughter, Margaret, on the 2nd. July 6th saw the accession of Queen Mary Tudor, which made it possible to publish the prison writings of More, and it saw the death in exile of Margaret Giggs, More’s adopted daughter. Erasmus, who died on July 12 th , had been his first biographer through an open letter signed July 23 rd (1519). It was in July that More assumed, and later resigned, the office of Undersheriff. In July the Chelsea Old Church was rededicated and the statue, bought by public subscription, was inaugurated on the Chelsea Embankment. More’s own voice joins our service through quotations from the prayer he composed in July 1535

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