Recorded in a number of spellings as shown below, this is an English surname, but possibly of pre 10th century Old French origins. It derives from the words mande or maund, a word which seems to have been introduced into the British Isles after the Norman Conquest of 1066, and meaning a basket or cask. As such the surname is a metonymic for a maker of such baskets. This was a very important industry right through to the 20th century, and this importance may have been recognised in the fact that the medieval word "comaunder", meaning literally to command, may also be the source of some nameholders. The surname spelling forms include Mander, Maunder, and Maunders. A coat of arms was granted to a family of the name in Dublin in 1810, being an ermine field, a red saltire charged with five gold bezants. The motto is "Pro omnibus laus deo", or Praise God for all things. Examples of the name recordings include: Hannah Maunders, who married John Burton, at the Church of All Hallows, London Wall, on August 21st 1716; and William Maunders, who married Mary Anne Dinnes, at St. Neot, Cornwall, on June 3rd 1837, in the first year of the reign of Queen Victoria. Possibly the first recorded spelling of the family name in church registers is that of Alice Maunder. This was dated September 23rd 1582, when she was christened at St. Andrew's by the Wardrobe, in the city of London, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth 1st, Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was sometimes known as the Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

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