This Bible belonged to Miss Jane Williams, who was Captain John Macgregor Skinner’s housekeeper at Stanley House in Holyhead. It is signed 1823.

After fighting with the loyalists in the American Revolutionary War, Captain Skinner’s property in New Jersey was confiscated and he was forced to flee. After serving some years in the Royal Navy he joined the Post Office and eventually settled in Holyhead. He lived and worked there for at least 33 years, and became master of packet ships on the Irish Sea.

In the 1820s, Captain Skinner had another brush with history, when King George IV was stranded in Holyhead in stormy weather. The royal fleet remained behind, while Captain Skinner skippered a steam packet to Ireland with the King aboard. A modest man, he turned down the King’s spontaneous offer of a knighthood.