On 9 May, Nikos and Nicolette Kostalas, niece of John Eayrs from Fochville, brought the 135-year-old Vermaas family Bible back home to the Waenhuis Country Guesthouse near Fochville.

According to Ms Madelene Kleu, great-granddaughter of B.J.J. Vermaas, the final leg of this incredible journey started in the rustic village of Marnhull, near Winchester in England, when Mr Iain Hirons, an avid treasure hunter, discovered the Bible in a local bookshop in Stuminster, Newton. He noticed the inscriptions in the Bible and took it upon himself to return the Bible to the Vermaas family.

The Vermaas family Bible was a gift from a father, Mr B.J.J Vermaas, to his son, Mr P.A Vermaas, on the day of his birth on 12 September 1889. Mr Vermaas paid a hefty one pound and a few pennies for this Bible, which must have been a sizeable amount.

Vermaas purchased the farm where the Waenhuis Guesthouse is now for 100 gold coins, loaded into a wagon chest. He then built the original farmhouse at the Waenhuis Guesthouse. Two other noteworthy heirlooms, a sideboard and an organ (traporrel), are still in the original farmhouse. The current owners, John and Mel Eayrs, recall that Mel’s grandmother, Judith Magdelena, played the organ during a visit to the farm by former President Paul Kruger. Vermaas is Mel’s grandfather.

“One can only wonder what journeys this family Bible may have taken over the past 135 years. One inscription indicates that someone had discovered it on a Boer’s farm near Springfontein, a small town near the Gariep dam. Rumour has it that the Bible made it to Port Elizabeth, where Mr and Mrs Herbert bought it at a charity shop before immigrating to England,” says Kleu.

At the passing of Mr Herbert in 2018, Mrs Herbert cleaned her house and sold the Bible to a bookstore owner in Sturminister, Newton. It is there that Iain Hirons discovered it. As he paged through the aged pages, the notes and inscriptions set his inquisitive mind alight, and he decided to follow the trail of breadcrumbs. Tony, the bookstore owner, provided contact details of Mrs Herbert, who lived in a little cottage in Lydlinch. Iain visited her, and she confirmed that the Bible originated from South Africa.

Iain, an avid adventurer, then enlisted the assistance of the son of an old friend who lived in Rondebosch, the 16-year-old Cullum Jenman. Cullen researched the Vermaas family extensively and traced the Bible back to John and Mel Eayrs, who now live in the house Vermaas had previously built.

Another clue in the Bible’s travels indicates that it had taken a voyage on the open seas. A hastily scribbled note details the names of a group of fishermen, E.M. O’Duffy, P.P. Melroin and Joseph James Mooney and their catches of the day being a shark and a whale.

The following inscription refers to an Inter Sports week in June 1931.
“Wherever it may have travelled, this beautiful leather-bound Bible must have comforted its keepers who have contributed to maintaining its mint condition. It is written in Dutch and contains the Old and New Testaments. What makes this Book of Scripture unique is that all the Psalms also contain the music written for them,” says Kleu.

After careful consideration, John and Mel Eayrs have decided to gift the Bible to Mr Dré Schalekamp, the fourth-generation grandson of Mr Vermaas.