Summary

'The Comprehensive Bible', English edition, published by Samuel Bagster, Paternoster, London, England, 1827. The Bible belonged to the Wallen family and the endpapers of the bible record the births, deaths and marriages in the Wallen family of Francis Robertson Wallen 1791-1886, his wife Catherine 1812-1897, their fourteen children and some of their marriages. Their children include Robert Elias Wallen, the first chairman of the Melbourne Stock Exchange.

Another of the children, Eliza Bushe Wallen, died at 17 in 1854, soon after the family arrived from England in 1852. The Bible records the verses read to her as she lay dying, and her last words. Also in the Museum's collection are a portrait of Eliza Wallen (HT 54014) and a mourning box containing a lock of Eliza's hair (HT52124) which were previously donated by the family.

The Bible has been a deeply personal item within the family who treasured it along with the mourning box and portrait of Eliza for many years before they were donated to the Museum by the Knaggs family.

Physical Description

Bible is a single leather bound volume, repaired at some point in the past. Endpapers have been trimmed, which has removed some of the text in the 'margins'.

Significance

Bibles were commonly used by generations of one family to record their family trees, dates of members' births, marriages and deaths, and so become precious family heirlooms passed down through the generations.

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