Museum's foundation. Published works Proposals for editing a family bible were made to Wellbeloved (14 March 1814) by David Eaton (1771–1829), then a bookseller in Holborn in succession to William Vidler. The prospectus (May 1814) announced a revised translation with commentary. Between 1819 and 1838 nine parts were issued in large quarto, containing the Pentateuch, Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Canticles. The text was reprinted, with Wellbeloved's revised version of Joshua, Judges, Ruth, and the Minor Prophets, in ‘The Holy Scriptures of the Old Covenant,’ 1859–62, 3 vols. 8vo. In 1823 he took up a controversy, begun by Thomas Thrush (1761–1843), with Francis Wrangham Sydney Smith wrote: "If I had a cause to gain I would fee Mr. Wellbeloved to plead for me, and double fee Mr. Wrangham to plead against me." As a sub-trustee of the Sarah Hewley Trust he was involved in the suit (1830–42) which removed Unitarians from its management and benefits. He was one of the founders of the York Subscription Library (1794), the Yorkshire Philosophical Society (1822), and the York Institute (1827), and devoted much time to the archaeology of York. His archaeological work included excavation in advance of the construction of the Yorkshire Museum and Gardens, the history of which is published in A Handbook to the Antiquities in the Grounds and Museum of the Yorkshire Philosophical Society. After the fire of 2 February 1829 he took a leading part in raising funds for the restoration of the minster, and in opposing the removal of the choir-screen. The description of the minster in Lewis's Topographical Dictionary, the article 'York' in the Penny Cyclopædia, and a Guide (1804) to York Minster are from his pen. His Eburacum, or York under the Romans (York, 1842, 8vo), gives the substance of his previous papers and lectures on the subject. Besides the works mentioned above, and single sermons and pamphlets, he published: Devotional Exercises, 1801, 12mo; 8th edit. 1832. Memoirs of … Rev. W[illiam] Wood, 1809, 8vo. Regarding the botanist, minister William Wood Three Letters … to Francis Wrangham, 1823, 8vo; 2nd edit. same year. Three Additional Letters, 1824, 8vo. Memoir’ prefixed to ‘Sermons, 1826, 8vo, by Thomas Watson. Account of … the Abbey of St. Mary, York, in Vetusta Monumenta, 1829, vol. v. fol. Memoir of Thomas Thrush, 1845, 8vo. Descriptive Account of the Antiquities in the Museum of the Yorkshire Philosophical Society, 1852, 8vo; 3rd edit.