Following on from Lady Di’s find of a book she would like to go back to the original family, I thought for my thousandth posting, I'd pose this problem to RootsChatterers ! And hopefully restore these items to the families ... if they want them !
I have a large leather bound Bible, printed MDCCLXXIII (1773) of the size which might be read in church … 3” thick, and approx 11” x 14” in size.
On the fly-leaf it says “Richard Griffiths entered his quarter the 21st of Janry 1799”. Unfortunately there is nothing more … no family details, no family tree ... nothing.
HOWEVER, when I found this in an antique shop and bought it, there was tucked inside several interesting documents, which I list:
1. United Kingdom Band of Hope Union Certificate of Merit awarded to Thomas Humphreys (for excellence in reporting a lecture on ‘Alcohol and the Human Body’ ) dated June 5th, 1894
2. Department of Science and Art of the Committee of Her Majesty’s Most Honourable Privy Council on Education … certifying that Thomas Humphreys passed with credit an examination in Drawing, Standard VI at the Hadley Road Elementary School, 1896.
3. Two certificates from the same Department of Science and Art of the Committee of Her Majesty’s Most Honourable Privy Council on Education certifying that Herbert T. Humphreys obtained satisfactory passes in Geometrical Drawing, and Freehand Drawing of Ornament, dated April and June 1897.
4. Five and a half foolscap pages of what looks like it might be a running debt, or possibly accounts from 1918 to 1925, totalling by then £51 13s 5d. At the top it has stamped “PRESTON WELLINGTON SALOP”, then written “Mr H Humphreys”, then stamped “Dr to Humphreys, Shoeing and General Smiths, Wheel-wright, carpenter, wagons, carts … “ and so on. The first item written, is ‘work done for Preston Rectory’; other names/items mentioned are ‘Mr Sankeys cart’; ‘Mr Blackleys’ doors’; ‘Mr Woods cart’ … and so on.
I’m assuming from the evidence that T. (or H.T.) Humphreys was good at art when he was at school, then went on to becoming a blacksmith.
It would be good to find the Humphreys family, and the Griffiths family of the Bible … (are they branches of the same family, or are the inserts in the Bible just coincidence)?
Over to you RootsChatterers …
