A heavy Mid-Victorian leatherbound Family Bible with aristocratic provenance, presented to Mrs Fryer "by the inhabitants of All Saints, Newmarket as a memorial of the benevolent and unwearied labours of the late lamented Col. Fryer ".

The Bible includes an extremely detailed family register covering 5 pages, 28 individuals and 5 generations, and spanning over 160 years from the birth of Harriette's grandfather in 1733 to her own death in 1901. As well as listing her grandparents and parents, the Bible lists her husband's parents, as well as their marriage, their six child and their marriages and issue.

Clearly a family of some social standing, there are various inscriptions witnessing the family's high status. For example, pertaining to the marriage of their son Cecil Robert Fryer to Margaret Fanny Eliot: "On Wednesday June 1st 1892 were married at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle by special permission of Her Majesty Queen Victoria".

Their second son - Frederick Fryer - had four children, all of whom were born at 12a Kensington Palace Gardens, then, as now one of the most expensive streets in the World. 12a Kensington Palace Gardens is now the Nepalese Embassy. At the time of writing, the average cost of a house in Kensington Palace Gardens is around £20,000,000.

A further inscription shows some aristocratic connection: "Millicent Julia Fryer married Henry James Moncreiff [...] eldest son of The Right Honourable Sir James Moncreiff, created Baron Moncreiff of Tullibole, 1874".

There is also a military connection: Frederick Daniel Fryer, is listed as being the Colonel of the Cambs Rifle Volunteers.

The Bible itself demonstrates the wear typical of the Bibles of this era. The hinges were invariably unable to cope with the weight of the boards, and these are both detached. The leather binding is scuffed and worn, but the pages are unusually clean and the binding is generally tight. We are as always able to provide competitive quotes for repair of complete restoration.