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Front page of King James Bible of 1701

At some point in the late 1970s, the librarian of Trenton Public Library, Dorothy Davies (1934-2020), purchased a copy of a King James Bible that had been published in London, England in 1701. The volume has recently been donated to the Community Archives by the Quinte West Public Library and will be on display in the Gerry Boyce Reading Room during December 2024. It is a large and impressive item, designed to be read at the pulpit of a church.

Dorothy Davies (later Dorothy Flindall) was an active member of the Anglican church, receiving the Anglican Award of Merit in 2007. This involvement gives us some insight into her motives for purchasing the volume, which, as far as we know, had no previous local connection to Trenton or Hastings County.

When purchased, the bible was in poor condition: in around 1979, Dorothy sent it to Ivar and Margit Heissler at the Crown Bindery Service in Frankford. They reported that the spine was "broken, the cover completely worn out and many pages torn and creased."

Bible during restoration process, being re-sewn.The Heisslers restored the bible by cleaning and repairing the pages, re-sewing the sections and covering the original boards of the volume with new leather. These steps were recorded in a comprehensive set of photographs and notes which were received with the book and which can also be seen as part of the Reading Room display. With the Heisslers' permission, we have also shared these images and accompanying notes on Flickr.

List of children born to Francis and Juline Moore

The bible did not arrive at the archives with any information about its history, but the volume does contain some tantalizing clues. On the page before the beginning of the New Testament are some family names, listing the births of ten children of the Moore family. Their parents were Francis Moore (born  in 1687) and Julines (born 1690). They were married on 12 April 1705 and their children were born between 1706 and 1723. Research online suggests that the eldest children were born in the parish of Vere in Jamaica. The asterisks by the names of Elizabeth and Julines lead to another note, stating that these two children died of smallpox in February 1723.

There is a baptismal record for an Elizabeth Moore in the church of St. Andrew Undershaft, London, on 23 November 1723 which seems to match the tenth Moore family child. Perhaps Francis and Julines moved back to England after the loss of their two youngest.

From its publication in London in 1701, this bible seems to have travelled extensively! How it came to Canada is as yet unknown, but we hope that perhaps a member of the Moore family will be able to fill in the blanks one day.

The oldest items in the Community Archives prior to the addition of this bible were some American Revolutionary dollar bills found among the records of Sir Gilbert Parker. The bible takes our holdings further back in time by 75 years!
Three dollar bill from the American Revolutionary period.