The History of the Early Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Preston, Lancashire, England
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Brigham Young University BYU ScholarsArchive Theses and Dissertations 1989 The History of the Early Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Preston, Lancashire, England Paul Floyd Smart Brigham Young University - Provo Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd Part of the Missions and World Christianity Commons, and the Mormon Studies Commons BYU ScholarsArchive Citation Smart, Paul Floyd, "The History of the Early Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Preston, Lancashire, England" (1989). Theses and Dissertations. 5114. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/5114 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by BYU ScholarsArchive. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of BYU ScholarsArchive. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. THE HISTORY OF THE EARLY MEMBERS OF THE CHURCH OPOFJESUS CHRIST OF LATTERDAYLATTER DAY SAINTS IN PRESTON lancashire ENGLAND A thesis presented to the department of history brigham young university in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree master of arts paul F smart 1989 by paul floyd smart december 1989 this thesis by paul floyd smart is accepted in its present form by the department of history of brigham young university as satisfying the thesis requirement for the degree of master of arts daviddavidh jvH pratt comcommitteeaittmitt chairman q ct ronarfdd W walker committee member 6ecbecdecdedb46c faf9s9 date david C montgomeryttaduate rdinatorruinator ii TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES iv chapter I1 PRESTON BRANCH 183718511837 1851 1 11 II BRITISH LDS RECORDS 183718511837 1851 a a a a a m a a a a a a m a a a 2828.28 liiilllilIII111 socialeconomicsocialaconomicSOCIAL ECONOMIC MOBILITY AND background 3939.39 IV RELIGIOUS background 60go60.60 V conclusions 7676.76 APPENDIX 1 EARLY BRITISH missionarieschurchmissionarievchurchMISSIONARIES CHURCH LEADERS 8484.84 APPENDIX 2 BRANCH RECORDS SURVEY pre1851PRE 1851 8888.88 APPENDIX 3 WELSH BRANCH RECORD 8989.89 APPENDIX 4 1852 BRANCH RECORD 90go90.90 APPENDIX 5 PRESTON LEADERS 183718521837 1852 a 0 a a 0 a a a a a a a a 0 a a a a 9292.92 APPENDIX 6 EARLY PRESTON AREA CONVERTS 1837 c1852 9393.93 bibliography a a 0 a a 4 0 a a a a a 0 9 a a a a 122122.122s122 LIST OF TABLES table 1 iglg conference populations 184018481840 1848 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 4 0 6 8 6 6 0 6 6 0 19.19 2 LDS WORK FORCE occupations 4141.41 3 WAGE SCALECOST OF LIVING 5050.50 4 PLACES OF BIRTH OF THE EARLY LDS IN PRESTON 5555.55 5 RELIGIOUS persuasions OF THE EARLY PRESTON LDS 6868.68 iv CHAPTER I11 PRESTON BRANCH 183718511837 1851 mormonism officially known as the church of jesus christ of latterlatterdayday saints hereafter the LDS church was founded in the upstate new york during the first third of the nineteenth century joseph smith its founder was troubled over so many religions that seemed to be vying for support he felt that he was divinely directed to restore the church as it had existed at the time of jesus christ the church was officially organized on april 6 1830 with the founding of the restored church also came the charge to share the word that the church of jesus christ was again on the earth complete with authority principles doctrines saving ordinances and every other thing necessary for the salvation of the human ffamilyam i I1 y the word spread rapidlyrap i d I1 y iinn the eastern unitedun i ted states and soon intointo eastern canada some came iinquiringaqunqu i r i ng about the new foundf church but others were formallyformal ly charged by leaders of the church to spread the word such a calling was extended to heber C kimball and others in june 1837 however this invitation was to take the word overseas to england england was a land steeped in tradition and rich heritage however during the first half of the nineteenth century she was in a 2 state of reform the population of the country had doubled since the beginning of the century most of the people were on the move to the large cities where the effect of the industrial revolution was purportedpurportedly iyay providing work opportunities the elite standing of the welltodowell to do aristocracy was being challenged by the factory owners and other business entrepreneurs the comfortable easygoingeasy going village life style enjoyed by most of england during past centuries was now in a state of incertitude although the franchise had been somewhat extended in 1832 chartist movements and others were afoot to establish a truly democratic society 1 such were the conditions of the country and the city of preston lancashire where the restored gospel was first preached why preston was chosen over various other cities can be attributed to the ties that one of the missionaries had with family members much the same reason that the locations where most of the missionaries first served was based on their ancestral homes preston was close to liverpool where the missionaries first landed after their voyage across the atlantic the livelihoodlivelihoodof of the preston people came largely from cotton and linen manufacturing iron and brass foundries some sea trade and shipping from the ribble river brewing and soap making although preston was 217 miles northwest of london it was not far from other industrial population centers in the north leeds yorkshire fifty miles liverpool lancashire thirty miles manchester lancashire twentyseventwenty seven miles with improved access to travel on the river and the completion of several railway connections the import of needed resources and 3 export of products were greatly expedited by 1841 the population of preston just over 50000 had increased over three times since the turn of the century although not overly religious the people of preston supported the church of england baptists society of friends wesleyanswesleyannWesleyans primitive methodists unitarians independents roman catholics and by the end of 1837 a mormon congregation seven missionaries of the LDSL DS church arrived in liverpool on july 19 1837 2 after a voyage of eighteen days after resting for three days they were on their way to preston having left liverpool on saturday july 21 one of these missionaries was joseph fielding his brother james fielding was residing in preston as an itinerant minister while the other six missionaries found private lodgings in preston joseph spent a few days with his brother the day after their arrival the missionaries were invited to attend services with james fielding in his chapel at vauxhall road that sunday afternoon heber C kimball delivered the first LDS sermon in england at the vauxhall chapel followed by orson hyde in the evening john goodson spoke and joseph fielding bore his testimony james fielding again offered his chapel for wednesday evening where orson hyde and willard richards spoke to a group that seemed eager to receive the religious message they boreallbore allail except the leader of the group james fielding who began to be antagonistic toward the americans he never offered his chapel again for their use 4 on sunday morning july 30 after having spent a little over a vvk i i i I1 i I1 i weekafeevakwokmok inn preston the firstf rst baatbaptbaptismssassms took pplaceacenace ninen ne deoppeoplepeop e many iff not all being part of james fieldings congregation the following day joseph fielding baptized eight more three additional converts were baptized by heber C kimball on thursday jennetta richards later to be the wife of one of the future apostles and an early missionary willard richards was baptized on august 4 the next monday kimball again baptized one and orson hyde baptized six 3 most of these conversions were accomplished with only half of the missionary force on tuesday august 1 two of the missionaries were sent to bedfordshireBedfordshire and two others were off to cumberland the preston missionaries who remained were heber C kimball orson hyde and joseph fielding the preston branch or congregation was organized at the home of sister ann dawson at 21 pole street on august 6 1837 by mid august joseph fielding listed the branch population as near 404011 and meeting in the open air 4 in early september fielding reported ninety members with meetings being held in a large and convenient building known as the cockpit 5 and that nearly all his brother james congregation had joined the Morcormonsmormonsmons 6 at a church conference held at preston on october 8 heber C kimball indicated that there were five branches of the church in preston consisting of about 150 members and that the first priesthood ordinations had been administered to 7 eight individualindividualsS at the next conference held at christmas kimball stated there were 300 in attendance likely including members from surrounding branches and that they blessed 100 children 5 ordained seventeen to the priesthood and performed fourteen confirmations 8 the year 1838 saw the first excommunications in the preston branch and the first change in the leadership of the church in britain in april hyde and kimball returned to america leaving joseph fielding as the presiding high priest with willard richards and william clayton to assist him 9 joseph fielding felt the weight of leadership and the discouragement that oft times accompanies the role his tenure began with a reassessment of where the church stood he was concerned with financial matters and the lack of steadfastness in the church he stated no doubt we shall have a sifting