Family Bibles

Who do you think you are?

Nick Ware

No reason why any of you should be interested, but hey….

I have a family Bible dated 1611 that has been passed down my Mother’s side of our family since the day it was printed. Of course no-one takes what’s written to have much relevance in today’s thinking, but what’s fascinating about this one is that down the generations, what blank space there is, has been used by various ancestors to practice their signatures, handwriting skills etc. Presumably because most folk didn’t have parchment to write on.

The result is that, should I ever be on "Who Do You Think You Are" as a token non-famous person, it’s all there to trace at least my Mother’s side of the family. My Father’s side of the family has a similarly well documented past.

Not that I’m particularly a believer per-se, but this Bible is my most treasured possession

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Geoff Fletcher

Fantastic! What a priceless treasure to own!

Peter Cook

I agree – especially because ancestry is so much more difficult to trace on the female side of a family.

Dave Mundy

We have a family bible as well,  in which various generations have added the ‘hatch, match and despatch’ entries over the years, very useful when working out the family tree.

Bernie Newnham

We have a family bible with 19th century genealogy in it – but it set us on researching Newnhams back as far as we could. It turns out that we were peasants in the Brighton area. One of the earliest entries we found was "Elizabeth Newnham her mark    X"

My daughter and I compiled a book given to each member of the family. It ends –

"This research is contained in a loose leaf folder with a number of empty pages. The intention is that each one grows with whatever history you write, and that it’s passed down for your descendants to add to as well. Don’t forget that William Newnham was your great-great-great-great-great-great grandfather. It would be good to think that one day this might be read by someone to whom you have that same relationship. To them – hello from history."

 

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