Bible Society of Victoria

The experience of a 15-year old Welsh girl, Mary Jones, is at the heart of the founding of the initial founding of Bible Society and the global network that now exists.

Her commitment to have the Bible for herself contributed to the inspiration behind Bible Society’s aims today.

Who was Mary Jones?
Mary Jones was born in December 1784 into a poor Welsh family. Her father was a weaver.

Her parents were Calvinistic Methodists and Mary herself became a Christian aged eight. They lived at the foot of the Cader Idris mountain, in Gwynedd, North Wales.

Longing for a Bible
Mary learned to read in schools organised by Thomas Charles, a preacher from nearby Bala, who had a passion for teaching children from poor families.

Mary used to visit a farm two miles from her home to read a copy of the Bible there. But it became her burning desire to possess a Bible of her own.

It was a vain hope. Money was scarce and Welsh Bibles were hard to come by. The nearest place to buy one was Bala, 25 miles away. And it was not even certain that a copy could be bought there.

But Mary saved money for six years. And eventually she had enough money to buy a Bible.

Her journey
One morning in 1800 at age 16, Mary set out to buy her Bible. It was 25 miles to Bala, and she was barefoot, as usual. Her journey took her through valleys, across streams and around mountains.

Eventually, she came to Bala and to the home of Mr Charles – the only man with Bibles for sale in the town. But all the copies Mr Charles had were either sold or spoken for.

Distraught and heartbroken, Mary wept. Her despair touched Mr Charles, who sold her one of the copies already promised to another.

The impact
Mary’s visit profoundly impacted Thomas Charles. He began to wonder what could be done for others such as Mary – for people who long for the Bible around the world.

He proposed to the Council of the Religious Tract Society to form a new Society to supply Wales with Bibles. And, in 1804, the British and Foreign Bible Society was established in London.

Mary’s Bible
Mary Jones died in 1864 and was buried at the graveyard of Bryn-crug Calvinistic Methodist Chapel.

The Bible she walked 25 miles to buy is now owned stored in Bible Society’s archives in Cambridge University Library.

It is a copy of the 1799 edition of the Welsh Bible and also contains the Book of Common Prayer in Welsh.