Mary Jones (Bible)
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-
For other persons of the same name, see Mary Jones.
| Beibl i bawb o bobl y byd
(Roughly: "A Bible for all the world's people") |
| -- Welsh saying |
Mari Jacob Jones (December 16, 1784 – December 29, 1864) was a Welsh Protestant Christian who, as a young girl of sixteen, inspired the founding of the British and Foreign Bible Society by walking twenty-five miles across the Welsh countryside to buy a copy of the Bible because she did not have one.[1]
Contents |
[edit] Her journey
Mari Jones was a poor Welsh girl, the daughter of a weaver, who lived at the foot of Cader Idris, Llanfihangel-y-Pennant, Merionethshire (now part of Gwynedd), near Dolgellau, who had some knowledge of the Bible, which made her want to possess a Bible of her own. The nearest copy of it was at a house two miles distant from her little home, and there was no copy on sale nearer than Bala – 25 miles away; and it was not certain that a copy could be obtained there. Welsh Bibles were scarce in the year 1800. Having saved a little money to pay for the book, she started one morning for Bala, and walked the 25 miles with bare feet. The following morning she called upon Rev. Thomas Charles, the only individual with Bibles for sale in the area. To her dismay, Mr. Charles told her that all of the copies which he had received were sold or already spoken for. Mari was so distraught that Thomas Charles spared her one of the copies already promised to another. Mari was overjoyed to make the purchase and started on her return journey with the book. It was this incident that impelled Thomas Charles to propose to the Council of the Religious Tract Society to form a Society to supply Wales with Bibles.
Mari later married a weaver of Bryncrug named Thomas Lewis. She was buried at the churchyard of Bryncrug. Her Bible is now kept at the the British and Foreign Bible Society's Archives in Cambridge University Library.[2] It is a copy of the 1799 edition of the Welsh Bible, ten thousand copies of which were printed at Oxford for the Society for the Propagation of Christian Knowledge. In addition to the Old and New Testaments and the Apocrypha, the volume contains the Book of Common Prayer (in Welsh) and Edmwnd Prys's Welsh metrical Psalms. Mari Jones wrote the following (in English) on the last page of the Apocrypha (spelling is her own):
“Mary Jones was born 16th of December 1784. I Bought this in the 16th year of my age. I am Daughter of Jacob Jones and Mary Jones His wife. the Lord may give me grace. Amen. Mary Jones His [is] The True Onour [owner] of thie [this] Bible. Bought In the Year 1800 Aged 16th.”
A "Mary Jones Walk" was held in the year 2000 to commemorate Mari's original feat, and has been repeated several times.
[edit] Memorial in Llanfihangel-y-Pennant
Incised on front lower part of a memorial obelisk erected over the ruin of the cottage where she lived (near north end of Pont Ty'n-y-fach) is this inscription:
“ER COF AM MARI JONES
YR HON YN Y FLWYDDYN 1800,
PAN YN 16 OED A CERDDODD OR / LLE HWN I'R BALA, I YMOFYN BEIBL
GAN Y PARCH. THOMAS CHARLES, B.A.
YR AMCYLCHIAD HWN FU
YR ACHLYSUR SEFYDLIAD Y
CYMDEITHAS FEIBLAIDD
ERUTANAIDD A THRAMOR.
IN MEMORY OF MARY JONES, WHO IN
THE YEAR 1800, AT THE AGE OF 16 WALKED
FROM HERE TO BALA, TO PROCURE FROM THE
REVD. THOMAS CHARLES, B.A.
A COPY OF THE WELSH BIBLE. THIS INCIDENT
WAS THE OCCASION OF THE FORMATION OF
THE BRITISH AND FOREIGN BIBLE SOCIETY.
ERECTED BY THE SUNDAY SCHOOLS OF MERIONETH”
Inscribed on the outer wall is
“'Tyn y Ddol. Cartref Mari Jones'”
[edit] Further reading
- The Story of Mary Jones and Her Bible; M. E. Ropes 1882
- To Bala for a Bible; Elizabeth Williams ISBN: 1 85049 050 3
- ALLCHIN, A. M.: ‘Companions on the Way: Mary Jones, Ann Griffiths and Ruth Evans’, Resurrection's Children, Norwich: Canterbury Press, 1998 ( SCM-Canterbury Press Ltd ).
- JAMES, E. Wyn: 'Ann Griffiths, Mary Jones a Mecca'r Methodistiaid', Llên Cymru, 21 (1998) (Gwasg Prifysgol Cymru/University of Wales Press ).
- JONES, Roger: 'Greater than Gold'. A musical/dramatic presentation of the story of Mary Jones.
[edit] References
- Canton, William (1904). A History of The British and Foreign Bible Society. London: The British and Foreign Bible Society.
[edit] Notes
[edit] External links
- Painting of her house in the Welsh countryside
- History of Mary Jones and her Bible
- Bala and the Bible
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| NAME | Jones, Mary |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Jones, Mari Jacob; Jones, Mari |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | 18th century trigger for foundation of British and Foreign Bible Society |
| DATE OF BIRTH | December 16, 1784 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Llanfihangel-y-Pennant, Wales |
| DATE OF DEATH | December 29, 1864 |
| PLACE OF DEATH | Bryncrug, Wales |
