Historic Bible taken to New World by Axminster woman sold at auction for £20,000

A rare copy of the Bible, thought to be taken to new America by Axminster woman Elizabeth Pole in the 1600s, has sold at auction for £20,000.

The Geneva Bible, believed to date back to 1615, attracted huge interest from both sides of the Atlantic when it was sold at Bloomfield Auctions in Belfast this week, raising almost twice its asking price. 

The book is thought to have been taken to what is now Massachusetts in the US by Elizabeth Pole, who lived in Shute Barton, near Axminster.

She left England for the New World on the Speedwell pilgrim boat, leaving from Plymouth in 1633, and went on to found the town of Taunton, Massachusetts, believed to be the first woman to establish a town in North America.

Auctioneer Karl Bennett described Pole as an "inspirational woman" and said the interest in the Bible was testament to her "extraordinary life".

Pole was born in 1588, the daughter of Sir William Pole, who was knighted by James I in 1601, and Mary Peryam, the daughter of Sir William Peryam, Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer.

Their descendants continued to live at the National Trust property Shute Barton until 2009.

Pole sailed from Plymouth with two friends, 14 servants, goods and 20 tons of salt for fishing provision, intending to form a settlement and convert the Native Americans to Christianity. 

Together with her brother William Poole, she acquired a large section of land from the native Wampanoag in 1637, which led to the development of the Taunton settlement the following year. 

She died in 1654 as a wealthy spinster who had built her own house with an orchard, occupied by her brother, as well as owning a second home purchased from Robert Thornton. 

She was one of the few women at that time who left a will, leaving her property, including a 40-acre meadow, to her nephew John Poole, a merchant in Boston.

The Geneva Bible has been described as one of the most historically significant translations of the Bible.

It was the first mechanically printed, mass-produced Bible available to the public and pre-dates the King James Bible by 50 years.

The Bible was presented to Elizabeth's father, Sir William Pole, by the Archbishop of Canterbury in recognition of his services to the church and the poor of Devon.

When Elizabeth died, the Bible was returned to her family in Devon and it remained in their possession until the mid-20th century when it was sold to a collector from Northern Ireland.

It was sold this week as part of a private collection.