Finding my family bible

[organicgardener]

As a child I used to spend hours looking at a leather bound bible that my grand mother always had in her dresser. In the middle were the names and dates of birth of family members. It has been missing or thrown away for years now but I would love to find it again the names would have been Eckersley or Onions not sure which one it was.

[panda40]

In my family the bible has been handed down eldest son to eldest son. It might be worth trying to see if it has been given to the eldest daughter or son and so on in the family.
Good luck in your quest.
Regards
Panda

[organicgardener]

I have asked my mum but she did say it was never at our house but I remember sitting and looking at all the names in it. My mum threw everything out when my Gran moved to Australia and had no interest in family history. I was hoping someone might have bought it and recognised the names. My brother hasn't got it and he cleared out mums house when she died. I am the eldest child and the only daughter but although I have some of my grandmothers stuff I would love the family bible for family history.

[tillypeg]

In our family it is believed that the second wife of my grandfather "disposed" of the family bible following their divorce.  Eventually it found its way to an auction house and just by chance a friend of one of my cousins was attending the auction on the day this bible came up for sale.  He recognised the family surname and quickly contacted my cousin.  She asked him to bid on her behalf and I believe she had to pay about £300 to secure it.  The following summer my cousin organised a family reunion and the bible was on display for all to see.  She had the names & dates pages copied and laminated and these were handed out to family members.

If only everyone's family bibles turned up out of the blue like this!

[organicgardener]

That is an amazing story but it's a pity it ever left the family in the first place.

[Jebber]

Every so often I do a random Google search on some of my family names, this  has resulted in some surprising finds. One search threw up a family Bible in an antiquarian book shop in Wales, how it found it's way from Hampshire I will never know, it is now back with that branch of my family.

I have also come across legal documents which I have managed to purchase.

So you never know what you may find if you are lucky.

[Mowsehowse]

It is a great pity these things are not always revered.

When my late FiL remarried he insisted a large bag of family photos should be taken to the tip.

These included baby photos of his late sister, wedding photos etc, etc.

I could never understand why not one of his 3 children quietly claimed ownership. 

Ah well.... too late now. 

[Ruskie]

If I were you, I would add the main surnames to the subject heading, plus include any other possible surnames, dates, and locations where the families lived, plus the last location of the bible.

If it survived, anyone who has it, and googles the names and locations, may stumble across this thread.

I wouldn’t hold my breath, but you may be lucky like Tilly has been.

Added: another success story from Jebber. 

[Ayashi]

We are privileged enough to have our family bible. My mother's cousin, when she found out, responded "Why do YOU have it?" Well, funnily enough, we are descendants as well...

Nothing much written in it admittedly, certainly nothing we didn't already know.

Best of luck to you.