Some families are fortunate in that they have a bible that has been passed on down through the family. Quite often the bible has birth and baptism information over several generations. This information is usually entered in the front of the bible by a family member.

The Henderson family have at least three very old family bibles.Two of the bibles are still kept by family members. The third has gone missing. It is more than likely still with a family member. The problem is I haven't been able to find out which family member. This was the bible I saw when I visited Jeff Henderson at his home in Essendon around 1986. If I remember correctly it stood on a stand in the hallway. It had a red cover and was one of the biggest bibles I have ever seen. Before I left, Jeff gave me 2 photocopied pages of birth and baptism dates. They were for Thomas and Sarah Henderson and their eleven children. I don't recall asking Jeff where the pages were copied from.

Some years later I decided to contact Jeff and ask him if I could take a photo of the bible. When I rang I spoke to his wife Ina. She told me that Jeff had passed away and she no longer had the bible and had no idea what had happened to it. This was disappointing as it was a most impressive looking bible.

It wasn't until 2003, when out of the blue I got an email from Allyson Watts. Allyson is a grand-daughter of Jeff and Ina Henderson. Her mother is one of Jeff's daughters. I told Allyson about the bible I had seen at her grandfather's home all those years ago. And my disappointment at not being able to find out what had happened to it. I asked Allyson if she would check with her family to see if any of them had the bible. None of them did.

In fact, no-one knew anything about it. It would seem that the bible didn't belong to Jeff because no-one in his family was aware of it. Some time prior to Jeff's death in 1988 or not long after, the Henderson bible was returned to who ever had lent it to him. Allyson's mother later contacted Bert Henderson, Jeff's cousin. Bert said his son Daryl had a very old Henderson bible. The bible had once belonged to Bert's father, and his father before him. At last we had found the missing bible. Or so I thought. When Daryl described the bible to me it didn't sound anything like the bible Jeff once had. Allyson told me that around the time I visited her grandfather, he was putting together an audio tape of the family history. Jeff may have borrowed the larger, red covered bible to help him with his family research. It may then have been returned to the owner.

My efforts in trying to find the bible that I saw at Jeff Henderson's home did have two positive outcomes. They were, the discovery a second Henderson bible, and the source of the 2 photocopied pages that Jeff had given me with the baptism dates. The pages had been copied from Daryl's bible. I suspect that this bible may have belonged to Thomas and Sarah Henderson nee Hamilton. It has Thomas and Sarah's birth and baptism dates in it, along with the birth and baptism dates of their eleven children.The bible is 225mm wide, 275mm long and 75mm high. It was published in 1822.

The third Henderson bible was given to Agnes Henderson by her mother Jane Grayling nee Ludden in 1893. In the bible are the birth dates of Thomas and Agnes Henderson and their eleven children. This bible is also very old. It was published in 1830.

To view the bibles, click on bible images above.