Sir Hugh Beaver, managing director of the Guinness Brewery, got into an argument with some mates at a party one evening.
The argument erupted over which game bird in Europe flew the fastest. No one really knew, and even the reference books couldn’t settle the argument, so they had to leave with no winners from the pub dispute.
Sir Hugh later had the brilliant idea of producing a book that would settle pub arguments – and the Guinness Book of Records was born.1
The first edition was published in 1955 and quickly became one of the top-selling books in publishing history, with yearly sales today averaging 3.5 million copies.
Had the books been in publication thirty years earlier the name of Nevill Westwood, a young West Australian Adventist colporteur, would most certainly have been included as the first person to drive right around Australia. He hadn’t intended on setting any records in 1925, but his zeal for selling books gave him the opportunity to enter the halls of fame.
Nevill Westwood had always been an adventurer. He grew up in Lancefield, West Australia, a bustling stopping place for gold diggers on their way to the northern goldfields. When he was 18 he attended a Bible Prophecy Seminar in the tourist town of Cottesloe, and was fascinated with the prophecies presented by Pastor H. Harker.
Studying the Bible changed Nevill, and he became a committed and enthusiastic Christian. He was baptised and enrolled as a member of the original Cottesloe Seventh-day Adventist church. 2
Nevill was a passionate new Christian, eager to tell others of the things he had learned..
He enrolled as a student at the Darling Range Bible School (now Carmel College) and as part of his course he began selling religious books that explained the Bible and its teachings. 3
He attended a Bible camp in 1924 and one of the presenters threw out a challenge to the young people. Would someone travel through the northwest of West Australia and sell the book Our Day in the Light of Prophecy? Nevill jumped at the chance. He didn’t own a car, but that didn’t worry him. He would walk or ride a bicycle!
He set off for Murchison carrying his bedding and books on the back of his pushbike, and travelled over 1,600 kilometres, selling the book from town to town. He managed to get orders for 500 pounds worth of books, as well as collecting funds for The Appeal for Missions. Money for the Appeal was used to improve the health and
education of people in third world countries, and Nevill came back with donations amounting to 70 pounds. 4
Nevill had some interesting experiences on this trip. In Yalgoo he was astonished to meet a lady who had been keeping the Sabbath by herself for ten years. Through her Bible reading she had become convinced that Saturday was the Bible Sabbath and began observing the day, even though she knew no one else who believed as she did.
At one of the stations Nevill visited he showed his book to the bookkeeper, who was interested, but said he would talk to the overseer, thinking they might go halves in a book. The overseer was impressed with the book and told the bookkeeper he wasn’t going halves – he wanted the book all to himself. In fact he wanted to buy another one as a gift for a friend, and told the bookkeeper he should do the same!
Nevill was walking on air as he left the station with orders for over 15 pounds worth of books. In the space of three weeks, he had travelled over 1,450 kilometres on a pushbike! He returned to Perth, eager to stock up and set out again on more adventures for God.
REFERENCES:
1. Although the first book never did answer this original question, the red-breasted merganser is now recorded in Guinness World Records as the fastest game bird; it is fully migratory and still occasionally hunted. Retrieved from the ‘Guinness World Records’ website.
2. Australasian Record. March 26, 1979. Vol 84 No 13.
3. Australasian Record. February 4, 1924. Vol 28 No 5.
4. Australasian Record. December 14, 1925. Vol 29 No 50.
