The story of the first Bible Society started over two hundred years ago with a little girl called Mary Jones.

Mary was an ordinary girl who lived on the edge of a village in Wales. She spoke the Welsh language but in those days there were no schools and few people could read and write. But one day, a school was opened in the village and Mary had the chance to learn to read, and each week, a family nearby allowed her to come to their house to read their Bible.

She badly wanted to have a Bible of her own but they were very expensive and very few people could afford one. But every week, Mary kept any coins she had been able to save from selling eggs and doing chores. Finally, in 1800, after over 6 years, she had enough money – but where was she to get a Bible from? In her village of Abergynolwyn she was told that the nearest place was Bala, 25 miles away. Even for a sixteen-year-old, it was a very difficult cross-country journey to take on foot.

It took her all day and she was quite exhausted when she arrived at Bala at the house of a friend. Next day, her friend took her to see Mr Charles who had just received a parcel of Welsh Bibles from London. Mary was delighted to receive the last one and immediately set off home carrying her new Bible with pride. Now she was able to read about Jesus in her own language, but from her very own Bible!

But that is just the beginning of the story because the man who provided Mary with her Bible told her story to a group of important people at a meeting in London in March 1804. They decided to form a society to provide Bibles for people in every language in the world. And so the first Bible Society was founded in London. Just two years later, in 1806, the Bible Society in Ireland began its work.

Today a complete Bible is available in over 400 languages but there are thousands of languages and millions of people without even a verse of Scripture that they can use.

The wall hanging inside the Presbyterian Chapel in Bala, showing the Rev Thomas Charles handing a Welsh Bible to Mary Jones.

Mary Jones Bible

Two girls look at the grave of Mary Jones in the churchyard at Bethlehem Chapel in Bryncrug. The inscription on the gravestone reads, "In memory of Mary Jones, who in the year 1800, at the age of 16, walked from Llanfihangel-y-Pennant to Bala to procure a copy of a Welsh Bible from the Rev Thomas Charles, BA. This incident led to the formation of the British and Foreign Bible Society in 1804."

A prayer:
Lord, we thank you for the memory of Mary Jones and how she loved the Bible so much. We give thanks for all those people over the years who have brought the good news about Jesus to us. Help us to love the Scriptures, and to read and understand what you have to say to us so that we can love you more. Amen.