Discovering LDS Britain

Come to Zion - Parley P. Pratt style

2012-01-18T13:47:00.000-08:00

In 1849 Parley P. Pratt (early missionary, leader & Apostle) wrote the following encouraging letter to the saints back in England. He seems to be wanting to encourage the British to emigrate, and presents a very rosy, idyllic picture of life on the American plains. Other accounts and journals show that all was not so wonderful, but nonethelesss America did provide so many of the things he lists. Things that would have been merely a dream for those living in industrial Britain.

There has been no prevailing sickness of any kind and very few deaths. Everybody seems strong and healthy and full of activity. It is certainly the most healthy and delightful climate I ever lived in or read of.

...All is quiet - stillness. No elections, no police reports, no murders, no war in our little world. How quiet, how still , how peaceful, how happy, how lonesome, how free from excitement we live. Oh what a life we live. It is the dream of the poets actually fullfilled in real life. Here we can cultivate the mind, renew the spirits, invigorate the body, cheer the heart and enable the soul of man. Here no prisoners groan in solitary cells; no chains or fetters bind the limbs of man, no slave exists to tremble, toil and sweat for nought of fear and crouch , full two to please his fellow man. Here all are free to do right and are warned and chastened and corrected if caught in doing wrong.

Here, too, we are all rich - there is no real poverty, where all man have access to the soil, the pastue, the timber, the water power and to all the elements of wealth without money or prices. Who ever looks a few years ahead must see a great, a thriving and almost numberless people inhabiting these moutains and valleys so long desolate. And I can but hope they will be made up of the good, the great, the honest the noble, the true, the enterprising and industrious of all nations; and that Great Britain with her millions of brave, affectionate, industrious, intelligent population and with her arts and sciences will contribute her full share.

Did you note that last phrase:

that Great Britain with her millions of brave, affectionate, industrious, intelligent population and with her arts and sciences will contribute her full share.

I like him.

brave, affectionate, industrious, intelligent

Maybe I was wrong in suggesting his writing was a bit too rosy. He's obvisouly very accurate on this last statement. :0)

Source
from Millennial Star, January 15, 1849.
Parley left England February 1847 on the Ship Atlantic. He arrived in Winter Quarters 7 April.
The was written to England from Winter Quarters, USA

Remember, remember..

2011-11-11T02:49:00.001-08:00

Today is a big eleventh!
On the 11 hour, 11th minute, 11 seconds, 11th day of the 11th month of the 11th year.
11.11.11 on the 11.11.11

Today is a notable moment of memory in Britain as this is the day when the war ended and we remember those who sacrificed their lives for our freedom. I hope you enjoy this poem.

We keep forgetting all those who lived before us
We forget those who live and worked in our communities
We forget those who prayed and sung in our churches
We keep forgetting what our fathers have done for us

We commit the sin Lord, of assuming that everything begins with us.

We drink from wells we did not find
We eat from farmland we did not develop
We enjoy freedoms we did not earn
We worship in churches we did not establish
This day make us grateful for our heritage.

Author unknown

Images from 1934 and 1938

2011-10-14T03:25:00.000-07:00

Another series of photos from the past.

The Saints
1934

American missionaries created basketball and baseball teams as a means of breaking down barriers and removing false stereotypes. More details on this missionary movement will be in a future post.

Liverpool Branch Presidents
1934

Hugh B. Brown and Missionaries
1938

The First Presidency
1938
This is not a British shot, but I just like the informality of the image.

Photos like this were submitted from Saints around the world for inclusion in the Juvenile Instructor (an early version of The Friend which ran from 1866 to 1929 when it was refocused towards teachers and renamed The Instructor). The images were not part of any article - just there to brighten up the copy and demonstrate the worldwide nature of the church.

Source
From the Juvenile Instructor

Courtesy of Ardis Parshall
Visit her blog at http://www.keepapitchinin.com/

Images from a Bygone Time - Gold and Green Balls

2011-09-28T05:26:00.000-07:00

Gold and Green Ball

Leeds England

1934

Do you remember the good old Gold and Green Balls?

Some Stakes still hold them, but I imagine few modern participants know why they are called Gold and Green Balls, and even fewer remember the kind of scenes depicted here with the crowning of a queen.

Gold and Green Ball Queen

Merthyr, Wales

1934

In 1922 Gold and Green were selected as the official MIA colours, and that same year the first Gold and Green Ball was held.

The Church News gave this summary of the annual event:

Occasionally, one still hears of a Gold and Green Ball being held in one of the units of the Church, the last vestige of what was once a pervasive custom in stakes and wards. The balls were best-dress dances put on yearly. Within the confines of limited budgets, the best band available was hired and the cultural hall decorated as lavishly as possible. Sponsored by the MIAs, the dances typically attracted young and old. In later years, most people had forgotten the significance of the colors gold and green, but the dances continued to be popular until changing tastes in music and dancing made it somewhat difficult to put on a dance that appealed to both adults and youth.

"Actually," wrote Harold Lundstrom in the Jan. 26, 1949, Church News, "Gold and Green Balls were first introduced to the MIAs of the Church through a recommendation of Pres. Oscar A. Kirkham, then a member of the YMMIA general board. He proposed that each year the Mutuals sponsor a formal dance with the highest and most beautiful standards possible. Clarissa A. Beesley of the Young Women general board suggested using the names of the MIA colors, green and gold.

"These suggestions, adopted at the suggestion of Ellen Wallace Green, stands for youth and growth; gold stands for purity and perfection - combined, they symbolized the young men and women of the Church and their MIA program. Some years later, by official action of the general boards, the order of the words was changed from green and gold to gold and green so that they would be more euphonious." LDS Church News

Gold and Green Ball Queen

Nottingham, England

1934

I cannot find anything about this Queen of the Ball ceremony. How was she elected? Did they have a King of the Ball? Did the Queen have attendants? The picture above seems to suggest so. I remember seeing similar scenes of coronation at English town carnivals or in American Proms, but have no other information on its infiltration into LDS culture. American High School Proms always elected a Prom King or Queen, so I suspect this was just an American tradition that seeped into the MIA programme and came over to Britain with the strong American influence of the period. When did it stop? Do any stakes still do this? I doubt there are. So many questions! If you can shed any light please do let me know by commenting below or emailing me at peterf@btconnect.com

It appears from the next picture that a similar Queen crowning idea was in Primary as well. I can understand the historical connection here as electing a May Queen was, and sometimes still is, practised throughout Britain. May Queen traditions included dressing her in white, decking her with flowers, and allowing her to lead a parade or start a Maypole dance.

May Day Queen

Sheffield, England

1934

Sources:

Images from the Juvenile Instructor. Courtesy of Ardis Parshall. Keepapitchinin

Sheffield, Sheridan, Lloyd, R.Scott & Cannon, Mike. "Some things uniquely LDS", LDS Church News, Saturday, Jan. 25, 1992

Images of British Saints from a Bygone Age

2011-09-13T04:14:00.000-07:00

Another selection of faces from our British LDS past.

Bazaar

Rochdale, England

1915

Do you remember the days of market stalls, jumble sales, cake stands and fund raising for ward budgets etc. Do share your memory in the comments below or email me on peterf@btconnect.com

Primary Children

Handsworth, England

1921

All in their Sunday Best, all washed & scrubbed...except for that one boy sitting on the front step who washed his knees and hands spotlessly white, but forget his face. (Could be just the exposure of the camera?)

Beehive Girls

British Mission

1928

Missionaries enroute to Europe

on the Leviathan

1928

LDS Scout Group

Hull England

1934

Dib dib dob

Images Courtesy of Ardis Parshall
http://www.keepapitchinin.org/

Bygone days...

2011-09-06T15:04:00.000-07:00

A series of Photos from almost 100 years ago.

LDS units from around the country share their branch snapshots.

Courtesy of Ardis Parshall

Keepapitchinin

I love these old photos. They are all dead and gone now, but I stare and wonder who they were? What was the story behind the event? What were their struggles & triumphs? I always get that sense of "Seize the Day" as portrayed by Robin Williams in that trophy case scene from Dead Poet's Society.

Enjoy.

The Eastwood, England branch visiting High Park Wood, a remnant of Sherwood Forest

1913?

The day when no respecting man would be seen without a hat.

What....who is that hatless scoundrel on the back row, second from the left !

Local Priesthood Holders, Halifax England
1915
What's with the boy sitting on the floor at front?
A sailor? A boy Scout? The branch mascot (they couldn't find a goat or dog)?
Sitting on the floor as a punishment for forgetting his jacket?

Elders Working near Birmingham England
1913
I half expect Charlie Chaplin to walk on screen.

York, England
1914
Anyone from York know if the Ebor Hall still stands?
The man in the bottom right has a very fine set of whiskers or a bad case of the mumps.
I particularly like this shot. So many stories untold.

York Missionaries
1915
I can't work out if the Elder third from the right is wearing cool sunglasses or if his eyes are just in the shadow.
Don't you just love how the trousers are tightly wrapped in the socks.
I'll go where you want me to go dear Lord, by Mountain or Bike or sea.

There'll be more of these British saints images to follow. Stay tuned.

Marion Hanks - British Mission President

2011-08-11T06:39:00.000-07:00

The Deseret News (5 August 2011) reported last week that Marion Hanks died at the age of 89.

In the early 1960s, Elder Hanks served as president of the British Mission. Among the missionaries he mentored were Elder Jeffrey R. Holland and Elder Quentin L. Cook, now both members of the church's Quorum of the Twelve.

President Marion D. Hanks
First Council of the Seventy 1953
President of the British Mission 1962-64
Source: Millennial Star, February 1962

"President Hanks had a profound influence on my life," Elder Holland once said, "as he did upon all the missionaries."

"Elder Hanks was the most incredible teacher and learner that I have ever known," said Richard G. Whitehead, who also served as a missionary under Elder Hanks.

The full article on his life can be seen in Deseret News: Marion Hanks Dies at Age 89

His call to Britain
When Marion was called as President of the British Mission he was serving in the First Council of the Seventy. President Hanks, his wife Maxine and their five children (Richard, Mary, Susan, Ann and Nancy) arrived in London on January 22, 1962.

President Marion D. Hanks
Source: Millennial Star April 1962, p. 85

In an interview for the Millennial Star President Hanks spoke of their call:

We rejoice in the privilege. I have always wanted to have the blessing of another missionary opportunity and was overjoyed to get this unexpected call. We are, of course, sorry to leave our home and friends, but spent no time worrying about it.

The Mission needs strong leadership and adult members who are able and willing to accept responsibility in the Church. My expectation and prayer is that we may build some sound foundations in this respect.

...To the extent I am able I would very much like to help the youth of Great Britain. I have been blessed with many opportunities to try to do this in America, and I hope I may have similar opportunities here. (MS, April 1962, p. 84-86)

His ability to serve the youth was recognised by Derek Cuthbert who regarded him as "an excellent leader of the youth" (Cuthbert, p.64). My mother, Gwyneth Fagg, remembered him as a family man. She recalls little things like putting chicken wire up the ballustrade of the Mission Home in London to stop small children falling through, and having his family perform in a play in Hyde park chapel. They were a wonderful role model to her as a recent convert.

My father, Michael Fagg, was ordained an Elder by President Hanks in the kitchen of the Rochester Corn Exchange (they hired this building for the District Conference). He listed some qualities that stuck out:

not flappable, very practical, he listened, not over the top, always encouraged you to do the best you can, he always found the positive in what you'd done, I never felt intimidated by him.

Glasgow Heritage
On Sunday, August 26th, 1962 over 2,700 gathered in St. Andrew's Hall, Berkeley Street, Glasgow to organise the Glasgow Stake - the first Scottish stake. President David O. Mckay presided at the conference, and President Hanks was one of the speakers.

President Hanks recalls his Glasgow Heritage
Source: MS October 1962, p. 258

In President Hank's address he shared his love for this land:

It is about 100 years ago that my grandmother, then a very young married person with a little family, heard the Gospel at a street meeting at a corner in Glasgow and shortly thereafter, following some difficulties with her family because of it, departed these shores for the United States and there established her family and blessed us with the great privilege of life in the gospel, life in the Church, a privilege for which I have been most gratefull all of the days of my life.

When I came here to this wonderful hall a few months ago and saw several thousand wonderful people, many of them not members of the Church, many new members, my heart responded to what her wonderful old heart always reflected, her love of Scotland and although she lost a little of her vernacular she never could lose the burr and never ceased to talk about the days of her youth, and so I am happy to be here and grateful to have come from so sweet and sincere and spiritually stable individual as that great old soul who lived into her 95th year. (MS, October 1962, p.258)

President Hanks Reports
At the conclusion of his mission President Hanks gave a report on the past 27 months of steady growth in Britain.

He said the theme of the mission has been "We Are Builders," which reflects the purposes and progress of the choice missionaries and members in Britain.

He said, "Missionary work in Europe is still difficult and demanding . Membership in the Church often entails economic and social sacrifice and the severing of family and friendship ties. Notwithstanding this, there is a steady stream of converts from among the responsible elements in the communities. We have had the joy of seeing many of them come into the Church, living the life and giving service required by the Church." (MS, July 1964, p. 248)

One of the pleasant duties performed by Elder Marion D. Hanks before his return to the United States, was to present a beautiful silk flag to the London Stake Primary President, Sister Joan Kearns. The flag was sent by the Primary General Board to honour the London Stake Primary workers for being top of all Church stakes in increased attendance of children at primary during the year 1962-3. (MS, July 1964, p. 264)

Do you remember Marion D. Hanks?
I'm interested to know if anyone reading this has any memories of him when he was serving as the British Mission President. Either let me know in the comments box below or email me on peterf@btconnect.com

Sources
Cuthbert, Derek. The Second Century. Latter-day Saints in Great Britain. Cambridge University Press, 1987.
Millennial Star (as cited in the text)

Hyde Park - Other bits and bobs

2011-07-29T01:43:00.000-07:00

Other notable events at Hyde Park

1968 (+)
The first Institute of Religion in Britain started in the Hyde Park Chapel.

9 January 1971

All Stake and Mission Presidents were called to a special meeting at Hyde Park Chapel. In attendance were Elder Packer, Elder Loren C. Dunn, and Brother Fyans. Once again the council was given to stay and build in our own country and the announcement was made that Regional Representatives were being called and the start of Area General Conferences. Great Britain was to be the first to hold such a conference. A three day conference would be held later that year and would be attended by many General authorities.

The excitement from that meeting soon spread throughout the nation as members discovered that it was planned that President Joseph Fielding Smith, six of the Council of the Twelve, and other General Authorities and heads of the Auxiliaries would be in attendance. (Cuthbert, p. 99)

London Stake Presidents

London (realigned and renamed London Wandsworth)
1961-1963 Donald W. Hemingway
1963-1967 Joseph W. Darling
1967-1972 Joseph Hamstead
1972-1977 John H. Cox
1977-1980 John Dodd
1980- 1988 Brian Martin
1988-1995 Julian I. Jones
1995-2004 George R. Chittock
2004-2007 Hiroo Mizuno

2007 -        Roderick K. Anatsui

London North (realigned and renamed St. Albans)
1970-1976 Thomas Hill
1976-1978 Vance Leavitt
1978-    1987      Rowland E. Elvidge
1987-1991          Keith Dunford
1991-2000          Raymond L. Hopwood
2000-2009          Paul L. Bruce
2009-                  Paul S. Elvidge

London Hyde Park Stake
28 May 1978 - 10 November 1985             VanceR. Leavitt
10 November 1985 - 5 March 1989            Leonard Boydell
5 March 1989 - 28 April 1996                     Roy Cain
28 April 1996 - 21 November 2004            Paul A. Munden
21 November 2004 - 26 October 2008       Jeffrey L. Kirk
26 October 2008 -                                       Alan T. Phillips

I remember when....
The last few posts have all been about Hyde Park...but they have only scratched the service of the last 50 years. Do you have memories of these Stake Presidents, events held, cornerstone, dedication, concerts, etc. etc.? Do you have other events / details to add? Please do share in the comments box below or email me at peterf@btconnect.com

Sources
Cuthbert, Derek. The Second Centurry: Latter-day Saints in Great Britain. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1987.
MS = Millennial Star
Truth Will Prevail, The Rise of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the British Isles 1837-1987. Cambridge, 1987.

Hyde Park Chapel - Dedication Service

2011-07-29T01:38:00.000-07:00

After 18 months of construction the Hyde Park chapel was ready for dedication.

Hyde Park Chapel Dedication
Source: MS April 1961

24 February 1961
In the morning President David O. Mckay held a press conference in the Relief Society Room of the Hyde Park chapel. (Cuthbert, p.69)

President McKay outside the Hyde Park Chapel
Source: MS April 1961

25 February 1961
An organ recital was given in the new chapel by Dr. Frank W.Asper, the Tabernacle organist (Cuthbert, p. 69)

President McKay in front of the Hyde Park Chapel Organ
Source: MS April 1961

26 February 1961
The Hyde Park chapel was dedicated by President David O. Mckay with 1,600 members in attendance. In his remarks he used the ‘Pick and Flower of England’ quote from Charles Dickens and a quote from John Ruskin. This same Ruskin quote was used years later by President Monson at the dedication of the Palmyra temple.

Wherefore when we build let us think that we build forever. Let it not be for present delight, nor for present use alone; let it be such work as our descendants will thank us for and let us think as we lay stone on stone that a time is to come when those stone will be held sacred, because our hands have touched them; and men will say, as they look upon the labour and wrought substance of them, ‘See! This our fathers did for us.” (Seven Lamps of Architecture)

President McKay speaking at the Hyde Park Dedication
Source: MS April 1961

He continued...

"...we need these meeting -houses, these chapels, wherein men and women who are converted may meet in their own houses of worship. In 1922, 1923, 1924, when Sister McKay and I were in the British Mission, they had to meet in rented halls. People would ask, 'Where is your meeting place?'...We [would] say, it is in hall so-and-so, giving the impression to an investigator that the Church was not permanently established."

"In a few years...we shall have chapels throughout Europe, where men and women converted to this Church, will join in stakes."

President McKay at the Hyde Park Chapel Dedication
Source: MS April 1961

He then proceeded to dedicate the chapel which included the following:

“I dedicate this house of worship as the Hyde Park Chapel of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and set it apart for the purposes for which it has been erected. I dedicate the chapel particularly as a place to worship thee. It is thine Let it be held sacred. (MS April 1961, 123:176-182)

That afternoon President McKay organised the London Stake with Donald W. Hemingway (of the US army) as Stake President and James P. Hill and James R. Cunningham as counsellors. (Cuthbert, p 69)

Singing Mothers perform at the Dedication
Source: MS April 1961

The Singing Mothers, a touring group of American and British LDS women, provided the music. (Truth, p.410)
The following day, 27 February 1961, a concert by the Singing Mothers was given at the Royal Albert Hall. This event will be covered in more detail in a separate post about Britain and music.

Were you there?

Do you have journal accounts or memories you could share of this event?
Let me know in the comments box below or email me at peterf@btconnect.com

Sources
Cuthbert, Derek. The Second Centurry: Latter-day Saints in Great Britain. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1987.
MS = Millennial Star
Truth Will Prevail, The Rise of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the British Isles 1837-1987. Cambridge, 1987.

Hyde Park Chapel - Cornerstone Service

2011-07-29T01:37:00.000-07:00

14 June 1960

Cornerstone services conducted by Derek Cuthbert and presided over by Alvin R. Dyer (European Mission President) were held in the shell of the Hyde Park chapel building. The July 1960 edition of the Millennial Star gave members a photographic portrait of the chapel’s progress:

Bird's Eye View of the Hyde Park Chapel construction
Source; MS July 1960

The Tower rises...
Source: MS July 1960

Chairs set out inside the shell of the chapel for the Cornerstone Service
Source: MS July 1960

"A copper box containing records and memorabilia of the British Mission was placed inside the stone which was laid with a silver trowel and tapped into place with a ceremonial gavel." (MS July 1961)

Copper Box, Trowel & Gavel for Cornerstone Service
Source: MS July 1960

Do you have more details? Please share.
Were you there?
Do you have journal accounts or memories you could share of this event?
Let me know in the comments box below or email me at peterf@btconnect.com

Hyde Park Chapel - The Groundbreaking

2011-07-29T01:35:00.000-07:00

3 August 1959 was the August Bank Holiday, and 380 people gathered on a vacant plot of land on Exhibition Road for the Ground Breaking ceremony of the Hyde Park Chapel. The plot of land had remained empty since being bombed out during World War Two.

Bombed out Plot, Exhibition Road, London
Source: MS April 1959

Now a new lease of life was about to bring this special plot buzzing with activity. President McKay had approved the plot, and despite having four genuine offers from others to purchase this prime location the Church proceeded with its plans. (MS, Sept 1959, p.338)

Stands were erected to seat some of the crowd, and a covered and raised platform provided for prominent guests. The order of service went as follow:

Presiding: Elder Marion G. Romney, of the Council of the Twelve
Conducting: President Frederick W. Oates, British Mission First Counsellor
Choir: ‘The Morning Breaks’ sung by the South London Choir.

South London Choir at Groundbreaking Service
Source: MS September 1959

Prayer: President Lyle J. Cooper, British Mission Second Counsellor
Solo: ‘The Heavens Were Opened’ by Elder Duane Thomas, full time missionary
Talk: President T. Bowring Woodbury, British Mission President
Talk: Mayor Mchaffie, Royal Borough of Kensington
Talk: Sir Thomas Bennett, Architect
Talk: Elder Marion G. Romney, Council of the Twelve

Alfred E. Southgate, Norman Dunn, T. Bowring Woodbury, Sir Thomas Bennett and Elder Marion G. Romney after the official groundbreaking ceremony
Source: MS Sept 1959

Groundbreaking:

First shovel by Elder Marion G. Romney Council of the Twelve
followed by Sir Thomas Bennett, Architect
President T. Bowring Woodbury, British Mission President
President Norman Dunn, North London District
President A. Edward Southgate, South London District
Choir: Come, Come Ye Saints’ sung by the South London Choir.
Benediction: President Selvoy J. Boyer, London Temple President.
(MS, Sept 1959, p. 339-341)

President Woodbury reminded the saints that this was the "beginning of a New Era in building in the British Mission....Shortly beautiful buildings will dot this lovely land and put our Church in its proper perspective." (Truth, p. 413, Cuthbert, p.40)

Were you there?
Do you have journal accounts or memories you could share of this event?
Please let me know in the comments box below or email me at peterf@btconnect.com

Hyde Park Chapel - The Plans

2011-07-29T01:31:00.000-07:00

In 1955 President Mckay had said:

"There is a great need particularly in the great city of London for a chapel, a church edifice that will be a credit to the Church, that will accommodate those who are now seeking the truth and about to join the Church." (IE, Apr 1961)

In the 1950s large homes were purchased around Britain with the intention of turning them into chapels, but a decade later President T. Bowring Woodbury (British Mission President 1958-1962) was determined to build brand new buildings. In January 1959 he said,

“I hope the time never comes when we again purchase an old home, push out some walls, paint it up and call it a meeting-house. I pray that with strong resolve, we will never stoop to the expedient, but stand for the permanent. ...How much wise it would be to rent for a slightly longer period, buy a choice site and build a chapel and recreation hall that will be a credit to the Church,a monument to our faith and a house of beauty to which we can invite our friends to come and hear the word of God.

...And what will we build? A glorious chapel with its spire pointed heavenward, ,surrounded by garden, grass and shrubbery and an adequate parkng area for the forthcoming age of the motorist in Great Britain.” (MS, Jan 1959, p.5)

Starting in 1961 / 1962 thirty-seven chapels were begun, and by 1965 there were fifty-four new chapels. The Hyde Park chapel, which was originally going to be called the Central London chapel, was designed to be a showcase building which physically announced to the nation that the Church was here to stay. Its location, situated among some of the nation's finest museums, down the road from the wonderful Royal Albert Hall and close to Hyde Park - the green lung of London - was ideal for sharing the gospel. (Cuthbert, p.39, Truth, p.414)

Sir Thomas Bennett
Architect

Sir Thomas P.Bennett, Chartered Architect, was asked to design the chapel. Sir Bennett's firm were no strangers to the Latter-day saints having just completed building the London temple in 1958. Sir Thomas had a distinguished career for which he was bestowed the Order of Commander of the British Empire (1942), knighted (1946) and elevated to Knight Commander of the British Empire. The Church was very fortunate to have such a noted architect on the team. (MS, April 1959, p.146)

After the Hyde Park chapel was completed Sir. Thomas and Lady Bennett visited Salt Lake City and attended General Conference. One of the big impressions this experience left him with was the members feelings for their prophet.

It was most astounding to see the love and respect in which the people of your Church hold President McKay. His counsel is listened to and his accepted leadership is universal among your people.”

In April 1959 British members had their first glimpse of the Hyde Park chapel on the front cover of the Millennial Star.

Architect's Drawing
Cover of the Millennial Star April 1959

Sir Bennett reported:

“The design externally and internally will symbolise the great aspirations of the Church’s members and will, we hope, be an inspiring landmark in the heart of one of London’s most populated and fashionable centres. Its design is modern in character, but it is intended to reflect a fine traditional building as well as modern thought, and both in its details and in its material it will express the aims and aspirations of the Church itself.” (MS, April 1959, p.145)

He went on to describe parts of the building including its iconic tower...

Millennial Star July 1960

The tower itself will rise to a height of approximately 90 feet above which will be a thin tapering spire rising like a needle into the sky for an additional 35 feet. The tower will be built in Portland Stone, and will alternate stone and glass in such a way that a striking effect at night will be secured with illuminated glass between the stone. (MS, April 1959, p.144)

The next post will look at the groundbreaking service...

Sources

Cuthbert, Derek. The Second Centurry: Latter-day Saints in Great Britain. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1987.

MS = Millennial Star

Truth Will Prevail, The Rise of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the British Isles 1837-1987. Cambridge, 1987.

Hyde Park - The British Mission Home

2011-07-29T01:27:00.000-07:00

In these next few posts we are going to take a peek at Hyde Park in London which has a number of LDS sites:

British Mission Home
Hyde Park Chapel - the flagship of British Mormonism.

The Plans
The Groundbreaking Service
The Cornerstone Service
The Dedication Service

Royal Albert Hall, where some significant concerts and conferences have been held.
Speakers Corner, Hyde Park where many a missionary cut his teeth in public speaking.

If you had any experiences as a member or missionary in any of these places I would love to hear from you. You can respond in the comments below or send an email to peterf@btconnect.com

We start today with a bit of info on the British Mission Home:

British Mission Home

September 16, 1958 President Joseph Fielding Smith dedicated the new British Mission Home located at 50 Princes Gate, London. It was a quiet affair with 29 people. This five storey building became well known by both missionary and member. Many early converts were entertained here, and many (including my parents) were confirmed here following their baptism in the new Hyde Park chapel (dedicated 2 1/2 years later in February 1961).

Quite fittingly President Smith’s dedicatory prayer included the request that the building be “filled with the Spirit of the Lord by which its important purposes might be furthered.” It is a nice connection that many of our British pioneers of the 1960s were ‘filled with the spirit‘ in this location. (MS, October 1958, p. 300)

Do you know anyone else who had a similar experience?

My parents, Michael and Gwyneth Fagg, were found by missionaries in Canterbury, Kent. The first LDS meeting they ever attended was at the new Hyde Park chapel. The missionaries and my parents travelled the 65 miles into London in a van on a number of occasions singing hymns as they went. One feature of this new chapel that really appealed to my mother was the cry room! Her previous religious encounters had left the impression that young children were not overly welcome to church services, so this was a breath of fresh air. My mother, who had two young children at the time, adopted a 14th article of Faith.... We Believe in Cry rooms! Could this be the motivation for eventually having 11 children!!??

Hyde Park Chapel
Source: MS June 1961

They were baptised in the Hyde Park chapel font in the basement (the font upstairs leaked!), and then walked up to the mission home (about a block away) where they were confirmed in what was called the blue room - a large room complete with grand piano. Here they met the Mission President Marion D. Hanks. You can imagine the shock they had the following Sunday when the Elders took them to Canterbury's dependant Sunday School meeting in a shabby, smelly Football Supporter's Club (with no cry room).

Our next post will take a look at the Hyde Park Chapel.

The Hyde Park Chapel Organ

2011-07-28T14:48:00.000-07:00

The Hyde Park Chapel Organ
Source: MS June 1961

One of the distinguishing features of the new Hyde Park chapel was its organ.

William Hill & Son and Norman & Beard Ltd., the British firm who built the organ, was established in 1750, so had a long tradition of excellence. The entire organ complete with 2,545 pipes, 43 stops and three manuals of 61 keys each was built at the firm’s works in London. (MS, June 1961, p.287)

In the dedicatory prayer, President Mckay expressed the following:

“We dedicate the organ, built especially to render up music to thy name and holiness, built by able and capable men who devoted long hours to the establishment of this wonderful instrument. May it be held sacred in thy sight. Bless those who would play the organ that they will render such music that it will touch the heart and bring them to know thee and thy work.” (MS, April 1961, p.182)

Alexander Schreiner the Salt Lake Tabernacle organist, gave a series of popular organ recitals on the Hyde Park organ from May 4 to 28, 1961. Schreiner, born in Nurnberg Germany, began playing the organ for his branch choir at the tender age of eight. When they emigrated to Utah he was soon studying under John J. McClellan, Tabernacle Organist.

When Schreiner became the Tabernacle Organist he gave daily recitals to crowds of 2,000 to 3,000 in summer months and was heard on around 150 radio stations. His skill was acclaimed internationally.

Alexander Schriener on the Hyde Park Organ
Source: MS June 1961

These Hyde Park recitals were well received by members, visitors and the newspapers.

“Representatives from practically every walk of life and profession attended the recitals, and the attendance figures went so high in several of the concerts that the audience completely filled the chapel and flowed out into the recreational hall.” (MS, June 1961, p. 284)

Organ Recital Advertising Outside the Hyde Park Chapel
Source: MS June 1961

Schreiner said

“When I play these hymns I feel that I am playing of the restoration of the gospel, and that I am playing something which must touch the hearts of the people and touch their lives and make them faithful in the work of the Church...

...So music serves us well, serves to warm our hearts, serves to encourage us, serves to teach us the gospel message, serves to make us firm and faithful and true and fervent in our testimonies concerning the divinity of God’s work in these the latter days.” (MS, June 1961, p.292)

Were you there?

Do you have journal accounts or memories you could share of this event?
Please let me know in the comments box below or email me at peterf@btconnect.com

Sources
Cuthbert, Derek. The Second Centurry: Latter-day Saints in Great Britain. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1987.
MS = Millennial Star
Truth Will Prevail, The Rise of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the British Isles 1837-1987. Cambridge, 1987.

Missionaries in Sunderland 1912

2011-07-28T08:05:00.000-07:00

Images from the Past

Missionaries in Sunderland, 1912

Standing: Joseph Parmley, Winter Quarters, Utah; J. Eugene Lichfield, Provo, Utah;

sitting: Nathaniel Ludlow, Spanish Fork, Utah; Victor E. Gilbert, Winter Quarters, Utah)

Source: From Ardis Parshall - Keepapitchinin

First Encampment - Wilford Woodruff

2011-07-27T12:57:00.000-07:00

First Encampment Park
Salt Lake City

In our last post we looked at the British involvement in the First Encampment in the Salt Lake Valley.
Historians LaMar C. Berrett and A. Gary Anderson have determined that this park is a block southwest of the actual site of that first camp. They base this on an account by Charles Alfred Harper written on 22 July 1847 in which he states:

22nd...came up to the other camp [Pratt's advance party] that went before then all journeyed together made a road through the thickets and came into the valley of the Salt Lake and camped on a fine stream distance 7 1/4 miles.

At a later date Harper wrote next to this entry "Parley's Kennon nearly opposite Woodruffs house" (Berrett, p. 458)

If you take a short walk north from the encampment park you find four Wilford Woodruff homes opposite the LDS chapel.

Wilford, fourth president of the church, farmed 20 acres. The farm was irrigated by the water from Parley's Creek and Emigration Creek.

The sons of Utah Pioneers have placed a plaque on one propety indicating:

Wilford farmed here for over 45 years, providing for his family. He also grew numerous experimental crops. His journal makes reference to wheat, potatoes, cotton, sugar cane, melons, currants, madden, indigo, strawberries, apples, grapes, and "bushels of crickets."

Sources

Berrett, LaMar C. & A. Gary Anderson. Sacred Places: Wyoming and Utah. Deseret Book, Salt Lake City,2007

24th July - British Style

2011-07-26T01:47:00.000-07:00

First Encampment Park
Located 5th East, 17th South, Salt Lake City

One hundred and Sixty Four years ago the pioneers first arrived in the Salt Lake Valley. Most members will recall Brigham Young arriving in the valley and declaring those immortal words "This is the Place" on the 24 July, 1847. Not so well known is that two days prior an advance party had already camped in the valley and started farming. A number of that advance party were British converts, and with my typical British bias, this is their part of that story.

First Encampment Park
Parley's Creek still runs through this area...but concealed underground

22 July 1847

The group followed Emigration Creek into the valley until they reached a point where another Creek (which was later named Parley's Creek) intersected. Today a small little park stands near the site complete with engraved rocks and signs commemorating this very first pioneer encampment in the valley. The names of those first pioneers can be discovered throughout the park.

The park was dedicated by Elder M. Russell Ballard
22 July 1997

Thomas Bullock (1816-1855, Leek, Staffordshire)

In Nauvoo Thomas was a clerk to Joseph Smith, and went on to serve as clerk to the first 1847 company. His skills were obviously respected as he later recalled:

I am sworn in as recorder of lands for Great Salt Lake county, I am also clerk of Great Salt Lake City, court. I am recorder for the Perpetual Emigrating Fund to remove the poor to this place. I am honoured with the office of Secretary to the First Presidency, and have the privilege of receiving instructions which tens of thousands of people will be glad to have. I am secretary of the mint in this place under President Young. (First, p.22)

While serving as the official company clerk he recorded their arrival in the Salt Lake valley.

"We descended a gentle sloping table land to a lower level where the soil and grass improved in appearance. The Wheat Grass grows 6 or 7 feet high, many different kinds of grass appear, some being 10 or 12 feet high - after wading thro' thick grass for some distance, we found a place bare enough for a Camping ground, the grass being only knee deep, but very thick; we Camped on the banks of a beautiful little Stream (Parley's Creek) which was surrounded by very tall grass." (DUP, p.103)

William Clayton (1814-1879, Penwortham, Lancashire)
William is best known as the author of Come, Come ye Saints, but in his time was equally as famous for his secretarial work as secretary to Joseph Smith, Temple Recorder, Recorder of Revelations, Treasurer of Nauvoo, treasurer to ZCMI, Territorial Recorder of Marks and Brands, and Territorial auditor of public accounts.

William Clayton

On that first wagon train across he was appointed as an assistant to Thomas Bullock. Clayton recorded in his journal:

There is but little timber in sight anywhere, and that is mostly on the banks of creeks and streams of water which is about the only objection which could be raised in my estimation to this being one of the most beautiful vallies and pleasant places for a home for the Saints which could be found...

When I commune with my own heart and ask myself whether I would choose to dwell here in this wild looking country amongst the Saints surrounded by friends, though poor, enjoying the privileges and blessing of the ever lasting priesthood with God for our King and father, or, dwell amongst the gentiles with all their wealth and good things of the earth, to be eternally mobbed, harassed, hunted, our best men murdered and every good mans life continually in danger the soft whisper echos loud and reverberates back in tones of stern tho' quiet determination. Give me the quiet wilderness and my family to associate with, surrounded by the saints and adieu, adieu to the Gentile world till God says return and avenge you of your enemies. (Smith, p.362)

Having the wonderful sense of having arrived, he also struggled with the foreboding thoughts of having to make that trip again with his family.

If I had my family with me, oh, happy could I be for I dread nothing so much as the journey back again, and when I think of the many dangers from accident which families travelling this road are continually liable to and especially this last mountain road from Weber River it makes me almost shudder to think of it and I could almost envy those who have got safe through, having their families with them..." (Smith p. 363)

After quite a lenghty days entry for the 22nd, Clayton then concluded by indicating the plans to move two miles north the next day.

a council was held at the Doctor's [Willard Richards] wagon and it was decided to move early tomorrow to the place designated; also, to send two men back to the President [Brigham Young] and company to report our progress, etc., then to commmence forthwith and plow and plant about ten acres with potatoes this week if possible and thus continue till the seed is secured. John Pack and Joseph Mathews were selected to retun and report to President Young's company. (Smith, p. 363)

A year later Clayton described the valley;

The land is gradually sloping from the mountain to within a mile of the Outlet and is of black loose sandy nature. A stream of water rushes from the mountains east ofthe city, and, at the upper part, it divides in two branches, both of which pass through the city to the Outlet. The water is good and very cold, and abundance for mill purposes, or for irrigation. The air is good and pure, sweetened by the healthy breezes from the Salt Lake. The grass is rich and plentiful, and well filled with rushes, and the passes in the mountains afford abundance of good timber, mostly Balsam fir." (Clayton)

George Wardle (1820-1901, from Leek, Staffordshire)
Baptised by Elder George A. Smith. His skill as a wheelwright, a trade he had been taught in his father's shop in England, made him a valuable member of the party. He was also a gifted musician and dance instructor even teaching church leaders such as Brigham Young, George Q. Cannon and George Albert Smith how to dance. His gift as a dance instructor was such that Brigham had him establish a dance school in Salt Lake, then Provo, Midway, Glenwood, back to Midway and finally to Vernal. Each time his family would have to up roots, build a new house and start again. (First, p.16)

George Wardle

John Dixon (1818-1853, from Cumberland, England)
John helped construct Salt Lake's first fort. In 1850 he, along with George Q. Cannon, were the first missionaries to Hawaii.
He was killed in 1853 by Indians. (First, p. 56)

George Scholes (1812-1857, from Chadderton, Lancashire)
His wife and three children died in Nauvoo, so he joined the first company as a lone man. He also helped construct Salt Lake's fort.

George Scholes

William Carter (1821-1896, from Ledbury, Herefordshire)
Affectionally known as the ploughman of Utah. I'll be sharing his full story in another post.

William Carter

David Grant (1816-1868, from Arbroath, Scotland)
David emigrated in 1839 and joined the church in Payson, Illinois. He was a tailor by trade with many saints, including Brigham Young, having their clothes made by him. His first wife died in 1847 in Nauvoo leaving him to raise their two small children. His second wife died 1851 leaving him with a third child to raise as well. He married again in 1852, and shortly after was called to return as a missionary to England. (First, p. 88)

Next day this first encampment moved two miles north to a place called City Creek. This is where the first land was farmed and was also where Brigham Young joined them on the famous 24th July.

And Two Days Later...
There were three other British men who journeyed in with Brigham Young:
Robert E. Baird (1817-1875, Londonderry, Ireland)

Thomas Tanner (1804-1855, from Bristol, Gloucesterhire)
Thomas had emigrated to America in 1831 and joined the church in 1841. His blacksmith skills were indispensable for keeping wagons moving. He later became the foreman of the Church blacksmith shop in Salt Lake. (First. p.41)

Howard Egan (1815-1878 , born Fillmore, Ireland)
Howard was a major in the Nauvoo Legion, a member of the Nauvoo police force, captain of ten in the 1847 company, and a road scouter. He became a Pony Express rider, a member of the Salt Lake police force, a deputy sheriff, and a guard to Brigham Young. He was appointed as a guard over Brigham's grave in which capactiy he died from pneumonia. (First, p. 98). His account of the first sighting of the valley gives a good overview of the valley:

My heart felt truly glad, and I rejoiced at having the privilege of beholding this extensive and beautiful valley, that may yet become a home for the Saints. From this point we could see the blue waters of the Salt Lake. By ascending one of the ridges at the mouth of this canyon, the view over the valley is at once pleasing and interesting. These high mountains on the east side, extending to the head of the valley about fifty miles to the south, many of them white on the tops and crevices with snow. At the south end is another mountain, which bounds the valley in that direction, and at its western extremity it is joined by another range, forming its western boundary to the valley and extending in a northerly direction until it ceases abruptly nearly west of this place. The valley between these mountains is judged to be twenty-five to thirty miles wide at the north end of the last mentioned mountain. The level valley extends to the Salt Lake which is plainly visible for many miles in a western direction from this place. In the lake, and many miles beyond this valley are two mountains projecting high in the air, forming a solemn but pleasing contrast with the dark blue waters of the lake. Beyond these two mountains and in the distance, in a direction between them, is another high dark mountain supposed to be on the western boundary of the lake, and judged to be eighty to one hundred miles from here. At this distance we can see, apparently, but a small surface of the water, extending between this valley and the mountains referred to, but that surface is probably thirty miles wide. Looking to the northwest, another mountain appears, extending to the north till hidden by the eastern range. At the base of this mountain is a long ridge of white substance, which from its bright shining appearance is doubtless salt, and was probably caused by the dashing of the waves and then hardened by the sun . . .

This valley is bounded by high mountains, some of them covered with snow and from what knowledge we have of it at present, this is the most safe and secure place the Saints could possibly locate themselves in. Nature has fortified this place on all sides, with only a few narrow passes, which could be made impregnable without much difficulty. The scarcity of timber has probably been the reason that this beautiful valley has not been settled long since by the Gentiles. But I think we can find sufficient timber up the creeks for present purposes, and also coal in the mountains. The saints have reason to rejoice, and thank the Lord for this goodly land unpopulated by the Gentiles. (Glazier, p. 174-175)

Sources
Berrett, LaMar C. & A. Gary Anderson. Sacred Places: Wyoming and Utah. Deseret Book, Salt Lake City,2007.
Clayton, William. The Latter-day Saints' Emigrant Guide. St. Louis, USA, 1848.
Daughters of Utah Pioneers Marker Directory. Salt Lake City, UT, 2003
First Company to Enter Salt Lake Valley. Daughters of Utah Pioneers, Salt Lake City, UT, 1993.
Glazier and Clark. Journal of the Trail, 1997. Found on http://historyofmormonism.com/category/personal-accounts/
Smith, George D. Ed. An Intimate Chronicle: The Journals of William Clayton. Signature Books, Salt Lake City, 1995.

Music in the British Isles - Part Five: A child prodigy is born

2011-05-09T14:53:00.000-07:00

Now we've got this beautiful organ who is going to play it?

The Tabernacle Organ
Salt Lake City

Joseph John Daynes

Born: 1851, Norwich, England

Died: 15 January, 1920, Salt Lake City, Utah.

Joseph was blessed with unusual musical talent playing the piano at age two and giving a recital in front of Queen Victoria when eleven. His family emigrated to Utah in 1862. When Joseph Ridges arrived from Australia with Salt Lake’s first organ (1867) Brigham Young selected 15 year old Joseph Daynes as the first tabernacle organist. Ridges had not expected someone so short to be playing the organ, so the foot pedals were out of reach for the young man’s feet! Ridges solved the problem by strapping wooden cork blocks on to Daynes’ feet. Luckily he kept growing and was soon able to reach the pedals without his wooden high heels. (Gray, 197)

He played for five Tabernacle Choir Conductors - all fellow Brits: Robert Sands, George Careless, Charles Thomas, Ebenezer Beesley and Evan Stephens. Daynes founded the first Tabernacle organ recitals. (Davidson, p. 365)

Joseph was a gifted composer. He composed funeral marches for both Brigham Young and Wilford Woodruff. He wrote the music for five of the hymns in our current hymnbook (in previous editions he had 27 hymns) including:

Come Listen to a Prophet’s voice
Now We’ll sing with One Accord.
As the Dew From heaven Distilling
Lord Accept our True Devotion

And so the circle is complete. A British born organist playing on a British designed organ, conducted by a British conductor with plenty of British choir members.

Next time you hear the Tabernacle Choir singing you can wave the flag for Britain!

Sources

Calman, Jeffrey. The Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Harper & Row, New York, 1979. p.33

Davidson, Karen Lynn. Our Latter-day Hymns: The Stories and the Messages. Deseret Book, Salt Lake City, Utah,1988. p.365

Gray, Kenneth L. Silk and Cactus: The Story of the Builder of the Salt Lake Tabernacle Organ. Lamplight Press, Salt Lake City, 1995. (Interesting side note; Kenneth is the Great, Great Grandson of Joseph Ridges.) Most of the quotes used are taken from Journal of Adelaide Whiteley Ridges- History of the Salt Lake Tabernacle Organ and Its Originator, A Collection of Papers, Family History library.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_J._Daynes

Music in the British Isles - Part Four: A well travelled organ.

2011-05-03T02:19:00.000-07:00

The Story of the Tabernacle Organ

The Tabernacle Organ
Salt Lake City

Joseph Ridges

Born: 25 April, 1827. Ealing, Southampton.

As a young lad Joseph lived across the road from an organ factory - a fascinating warehouse that became the tutoring ground for young Joseph’s mind and hence the birthplace, in principle, of the iconic Tabernacle organ. Joseph recalls:

I can remember those youthful days in green England, and the delight with which I used to sometimes pass beyond those gates and revel in the mysteries of that organ factory, watch the men at their work, and study and think out the purposes and uses of the numerous things the mechanics were at work upon. The bellows with their great ribbed sides and pumpers underneath; their tops weighted with heavy iron bricks that represented 1,000 pounds of cast metal; the little glass tubes that registered and tested the power of the wind in the bellows - one and all come before me now just as they appeared to me in my boyhood days. The great arteries that rushed compressed wind into the huge wind chest, that were all fitted up with their beautiful vales and hardened brass wire springs, the thousands of pipes and men voicing them - I can see them now just as though it were only yesterday since I left that organ factory. ...I wandered through that factory and used my eyes...this spot was a veritable fairyland for me as a youngster. (Carter, p. 16)

His wife recalled,

“he later in life declared himself a ‘human sponge’ capable of absorbing everything he could hear and see relative to organ making.... As he grew older he would take long walks in search of experts from whom he could gain information, or to see and play upon some instruments in churches not too far removed from his home. He enthusiastically visited chapels to hear the music and to talk with the organists after the services were ended. Often he was locked in the buildings after the services ended, studying in details such parts of the organs as pipes, tones, and bellows. His curiosity and search for knowledge brought him into numerous scrapes.” (Gray, p. 201)

In 1851 (1847?) Joseph and his wife Adelaide emigrated to Australia. Travelling with them was an acquaintance, Luke Syphus, who was a Mormon convert.

Upon landing at Sydney, I joined forces with this gentleman...to cut the matter short, it was not long before I found out what a Mormon was, and I became one of them joyfully, an action which I have never regretted, if it did have the effect of causing my brothers and relatives at home in England to cease corresponding with me.”

Adelaide wrote of similar emotions:

“Our baptism caused our relatives back home to cease corresponding with us, which broke our hearts, but we did not regret being Latter-day Saints.” (Gray, p. 203)

In his spare time Joseph began constructing his first church organ which attracted great attention. A missionary wrote to Brigham Young about this talented individual.

“Brigham Young wrote back and asked the missionary to talk to Joseph to see if the organ could be brought to Great Salt Lake City. Preparations were made to ship the organ over the Pacific Ocean to California.” (Gray, p. 204)

So when they emigrated for Utah in 1856 Joseph packed the organ up and brought it with him! Brigham Young arranged for fourteen mule teams to bring the pieces of the organ from the Californian coast to Salt Lake - some 690 miles. Adelaide recorded

“At times the heavy wagon carrying the organ became stuck in the loose sand. One hired man said, “This is sure a lot of work for a little music.” (Gray, p. 206).

Salt Lake City’s first organ arrived in town on 11th June, 1857. Adelaide loved what she saw.

“I have seen many cities, but I thought this was the most beautiful one I had ever seen. The most peaceful influence I shall never forget. I shall always remember President Young’s residence - the Beehive and Lion House was finished. There was a wall around these buildings. There was also a wall around the temple block. The beautiful wide street with the water running down them, the orchards, the gardens, with little homes in the centre, was something I didn’t expect to see for they had only been here ten years.” (Gray, p.207)

Years later Brigham commissioned Joseph to build an even bigger organ to fit in the new Tabernacle. This was a huge undertaking which entailed shipping suitable wood from Parowan - some 300 miles south of Salt Lake City. Joseph recalled:

I had submitted the scheme of the organ together with the plans and elevation to President Young, and he had approved them. One day he came into my shop - I can hear him speaking to himself now as if it were but yesterday - ‘Can we do this thing? Yes: we can, we can do anything that we put our minds to.‘ Then turning to me he said, ‘Go ahead with this, Brother Ridges.‘ (Carter, p.18)

Interior of the Tabernacle
Salt Lake City

Work began in January 1866 and took nearly 100 men to complete the 2,683 pipe organ by October 1867. Prior to its completion Brigham Young said,

We cannot preach the gospel unless we have good music. I am waiting patiently for the organ to be finished, then we can sing the Gospel into the hearts of the people..”

Over the years the organ has been extended, renovated and rebuilt until it contains some 11,623 pipes, but some of Ridges original Tabernacle organ is still in place. In fact, pieces of the Australian organ were used to create later changes to the Tabernacle organ.

Joseph said in reflection that,

“When I am led away to rest that organ will continue to stand as a memorial of the trials and difficulties that were overcome by the pioneers, breathing out strains of sweet music to delight future generations.”

His wife said of Joseph:

“There is little doubt that my husband was being prepared by the Almighty from his youth for this stupendous undertaking; else why his great interest in organ building at such an early period of his life, and his later construction of a small organ in Australia? It is a doctrine of the church that men are raised up for certain definite types of service to bring about His purpose, and who shall say that the creation of such a magnificent and useful instrument as the Tabernacle Organ is not just as important as an administrative position in the church. (Gray, p. 209)

President Joseph F. Smith spoke at Joseph’s funeral and quite appropriately described Joseph as “an instrument of God.”

“There used to be an old poetic belief that the organ maker made but one great organ. Into that organ entered his soul. The purity, the sweetness, and the grandeur of its strains were the echoes of his spiritual being.” Salt Lake Herald, January 2, 1901. (Quoted in Gray, vii)

Amelia’s Palace

Just as a side note ....

Joseph’s building skills were used to create, among other things, the Salt Lake synagogue, Hammond Hall and even a creakless staircase in the Salt Lake temple. Brigham used Joseph’s talent to design the Gardo House which became the finest residence in the west - an Italian villa style home. The Beehive house and Lion House were full and Brigham needed somewhere to entertain visiting dignitaries, so this building would be used for that purpose. His wife Harriet Amelia Folsom Young was put in charge of running the home, and it became known as Amelia’s Palace. It was completed in 1881 and stood directly across the road from the Beehive House. The home contained 46 rooms and 150 windows.

When John Taylor became President he used it as his home and office. In 1889 it was here that President Wilford Woodruff received the revelation to sacrifice polygamy for the greater good of the church. In later years it was rented to an alcoholism treatment organization, two mining millionaires and then purchased by mining magnate Edwin F. and Susannna Holmes, nicknamed the Silver Queen. When they moved it became home to the Red Cross, then the LDS School of Music and finally to the Federal Reserve Bank. Sadly it was torn down in 1926.

Sources

Carter, Kate. Bands and Orchestras. Daughters of Utah Pioneers, Salt Lake City, 1976. p.16-19

Gray, Kenneth L. Silk and Cactus: The Story of the Builder of the Salt Lake Tabernacle Organ. Lamplight Press, Salt Lake City, 1995. (Interesting side note; Kenneth is the Great, Great Grandson of Joseph Ridges.) Most of the quotes used are taken from Journal of Adelaide Whiteley Ridges- History of the Salt Lake Tabernacle Organ and Its Originator, A Collection of Papers, Family History library. p.201-209

Holbrook, Thelma. Pioneer Musicians and Composers. Daughters of Utah Pioneers. Salt Lake City, 1982. p.75

Livingstone, John P., Jeffrey March, Lloyd Newell, Craig Ostler, John Starrs, & David Whichurch Ed. Salt Lake City: Ensign to the Nations. Hallowed Ground Sacred Journeys. Religious Studies Centre, BYU, Utah. 2008. p.48-50

Swinton, Heidi S. America’s Choir: A Commemorative Portrait of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Deseret Book, Salt Lake City, 2004. p.54-55

Music in the British Isles - Part Three: Conductors of the Tabernacle Choir

2011-04-25T13:06:00.000-07:00

Mormon Tabernacle Choir
Conference Centre, Salt Lake City, 2010

Out of the first eight conductors of the Tabernacle Choir only Stephen Goddard was not British.

Conductors of the Tabernacle Choir:

1st Conductor: 1849 - 1854 John Parry

2nd Conductor: 1854 - 1856 Stephen Goddard

3rd Conductor: 1856 - 1862 James Smithies

4th Conductor: 1862 - 1865 Charles John Thomas

5th Conductor: 1865-1869 Robert Sands

6th Conductor: 1869 - 1880 George Careless

7th Conductor: 1880 - 1889 Ebeneezer Beesley

Thomas C.Griggs, Assistant

8th Conductor: 1889 - 1916 Evan Stephens 1849 - 1854

Join me now as we take a brief overview of their contribution.

John Parry

1st Choir Conductor: 1849 - 1854

Born: 10 Feb, 1789. Newmarket (Trelawnyd), Flintshire, Wales

Died: 13 Jan, 1868, Salt Lake City.

John was a stone mason with a love for poetry, literature, singing and playing the harp, piano and flute. He was a Baptist and then a Campbellite minister in North Wales. In 1841 John’s eldest son made a fascinating prophecy on his deathbed:

“The Lord is going to make a great work and a wonder upon the earth, and you shall be called to it, father, and you shall preach the everlasting gospel to thousands in Wales even yet.”

It was not until five years later when his daughter Sarah chastised him on her own deathbed that John finally listened and was baptised. He was called to serve a mission in Wales, and emigrated to Utah 26 February 1849 with the first group of Welsh emigrants. This Welshman holds the distinction of being called by Brigham Young to be the very first conductor of the choir. His call to lead the choir only came to an end when he was called to return to Britain as a missionary. (Calman, p.25, Bloxham, p. 254)

James Smithies

3rd Choir Conductor: 1856 - 1862

Born: 1810, Lanchashire, England

James had known Brigham while he was serving as a missionary in Britain (1840). Upon arriving in Nauvoo Smithies joined the Nauvoo Brass Band along with fellow British converts William Clayton and William Pitt. During his conductorship fellow British man Joseph Ridges arrived in 1857 with his organ from Australia. (Ridges story will be in our next post) (Calman, p. 25)

Sweet harmonious sounds give exquisite joy to human beings capable of appreciating music. I delight in hearing harmonious tones made by the human voice, by musical instruments, and by both combined. Brigham Young (Calman, p. 26)

Charles John Thomas

4th Conductor: 1862 - 1865

Born: 20 November, 1832, Burnley, Lancashire

Died: 31 March, 1919, Salt Lake City, Utah.

“At the age of seven Professor Thomas’s father began to teach him his profession - that of a musician - and when nine years old he made his first appearance in public playing (the French horn) with his father at the Theatre Royal, Newcastle on Tyne. He son drifted to that Mecca of all English musicians, London, playing with the orchestras of the principal theatres. He Studied harmony under the tutorship of Professor Thirlwall of the theatre Royal, Covent Garden, London, and graduated with honours.

1851 - he joined the LDS church. In 1853 he travelled with an Italian Opera Company for three seasons, from London to Scotland...In 1854 he had published some of his first compositions, which had been successfully performed at several London theatres..." Utah Musical Journal, January 1892

In May 1860 Charles emigrated to Utah and two years later (13 April 1862):

“I was requested by Pres. Brigham Young to be conductor of the Tabernacle choir, which up to that time was a small organization led by Elder James Smithies. I had it increased to 150 members.” (Carter p.1)

(Holbrook, p 73. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_John_Thomas

Robert Sands

5th Choir Conductor: 1865-1869

Born: 15 April, 1828. Ballinascreen, County Londonderry, Ireland

Died: 7 December, 1872, Salt Lake City.

1849 - Roberts family were converted in Scotland

1863 - Emigrated to Utah

1865 - appointed director of the Tabernacle choir. He had the privilege of being the conductor for the very first performance in the completed Salt Lake Tabernacle in 1867.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Sands_(conductor)

The Tabernacle
Temple Square, Salt Lake City

George Edward Percy Careless

6th Choir Conductor: 1869 - 1880

Born: 26 (24?) September, 1839, London, England.

Died: 16 December (or 5 March?), 1932, Salt Lake City, Utah.

Aged 11 George was introduced to the missionaries by his foster Brother and baptized that same year. Despite opposition from his parents to abandon music and get a real job, George stuck to his desire to study music. He earned a reputation as a gifted musician and studied violin, piano, harmony, orchestra and voice at the Royal Academy. Aged 24 he emigrated from the London docks for Utah.

Brigham Young appointed him as the director of church music in which capacity he builds up the Tabernacle Choir (for 14 years) and the Salt Lake Theater orchestra (for 12 years). When he was offered a lurcrative conducting job in Virginia City, Nevada George replied:

“I gave up a fine position in London to come here for my religion. I am going to stay here now for my religion.” (Carter / Bands, p. 100.)

1875 One of his most noted achievements was presenting Handel’s Messiah with complete choir and orchestra. This was considered at the time as a crowning event in Utah’s musical history.

He wrote a funeral song for Brigham Young, and wrote volumes of music including the music for seventy LDS hymns many of which are still in our hymnbook. For instance:

Prayer is the Soul’s Sincere Desire
He Died, the Great Redeemer Died
O Lord of Hosts
The Morning Breaks, the Shadows Flee
Again we Meet around the Board
Behold the Great Redeemer Died

(Holbrook, p.52. Davidson, p. 354. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Careless

Mormon Tabernacle Choir
Conference Centre, Salt Lake City, 2010

Ebenezer Beesley

7th Choir Conductor: 1880 - 1889

Born: 14 December 1840, at Bicester, Oxfordshire.

Died: 21 (26?) March, 1906, Salt Lake City

Ebenezer was baptized as an 8 year old child on 22 September,1849. He married Sarah just before they emigrated to Utah in 1859. While crossing the plains by handcart he

“would break into song in his rich bass voice. He loved to sing. In camp at night he would entertain the company with his flute. He couldn’t play his violin for them; someone had stepped on it aboard ship.” (Carter / Band, p. 80)

He wrote the music to at least one hundred songs including:

"God of Our Fathers, We Come unto Thee"
"Sing We Now at Parting"
"Tis Sweet to Sing the Matchless Love"
"Reverently and Meekly Now"
"Let Us Oft Speak Kind Words"
"Welcome, Welcome, Sabbath Morning"
"High on the Mountain Top"

(Holbrook, p.72, Davidson, p.346. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ebenezer_Beesley

Thomas Cott Griggs - The Choir Director who was...then wasn’t?!

Assistant to Ebenezer Beesley

Born: 19 June, 1845, Dover, Kent.

Died: 1903

Aged 11 he was baptised and and emigrated to Utah with his mother in 1857.

While serving a mission back in England he was appointed as the new conductor of the Tabernacle Choir. When he returned to Utah he observed the skill of Ebenezer Beesley who had been standing in as assistant for him until he returned. Thomas recognised Ebenezer’s superior ability and requested that they switch positions. Ebenezer was then appointed conductor.

Thomas composed the music for many LDS songs including the music for the hymns:

Earth with Her Ten thousand Flowers (God is Love)
Gently Raise the Sacred Strain

Every Sunday when Music and the Spoken Word is broadcast 'Gently Raise the Sacred Strain' is the song that softly announces the beginning of the performance.

(Holbrook, p.60, Davidson, p.146)

Evan Stephens

8th Choir Conductor: 1889 - 1916

Born: 29 June, 1854, Pencader, South Wales.

Died: 27 October, 1930. Salt lake City, Utah.

When Evan's parents, Welsh converts, emigrated to Utah, the young 12 year old considered it a great adventure:

I don’t know whether all the pioneers enjoyed it, but the journey across the plains was such a experience of pleasure to me that I found it difficult to sympathize with the pioneers who thought it hardship. I find my mind wandering off now, and I can see myself in a way the first day I started across the rolling country. I was too elated to walk, so I would run ahead and then would stop and wait for the crowd. (Stephens)

His love for music grew and he became a noted composer, author and choral director. His direction of a children’s choir concert was so popular the group grew from 250 to 650 within a week! Over the years some 30,000 chidren were taught to read music and harmonize under his direction. Likewise, when he was asked to direct the Tabernacle Choir it multiplied from 125 to 300, and, at one time, to 500 voices.

The English LDS Hymnbook (1927) contained 84 hymns by Evan. The 1985 edition of the LDS hymnbook contains 19 of his works including:

Awake, Ye Saints of God (music)
For the Strength of the Hills (music)
Let Us all Press on (words and Music)
True to the Faith (words and Music)
We Ever Pray for Thee (words and Music)

“By the close of the century, Stephens had positioned the Mormon Tabernacle Choir to grow in national attention. He is considered by many “the father of Mormon music.” (Swinton, p. 33)

President Joseph F. Smith paid Evan this compliment:

“A man gifted of God, talented in music, in poetry and in song, and above and beyond all that, a man gifted with humility and with faith in the Gospel of Jesus Christ; who is not only diligent in his labors here with this great choir, but who is faithful in his soul to the cause of Zion.” 1905 General Conference.

(Holbrook, p. 55. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evan_Stephens Swinton, p.32. Davidson, p.442)

In our next post we discover the British connections to the tabernacle organ.

.
Sources

Bloxham, V. Ben, James R. Moss & Larry C. Porter eds. Truth Will Prevail. The Rise of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the British Isles 1837-1987. LDS Church, Solihull, 1987.

Calman, Jeffrey. The Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Harper & Row, New York, 1979.

Carter, Kate. Pioneer Choirs, Daughters of Utah Pioneers, Salt Lake City, 1939.

Carter, Kate. Bands and Orchestras. Daughters of Utah Pioneers, Salt Lake City, 1976.

Cornwall, J.Spencer. A Century of Singing: The Salt Lake Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Deseret Book, Salt Lake City, 1958.

Davidson, Karen Lynn. Our Latter-day Hymns: The Stories and the Messages. Deseret Book, Salt Lake City, Utah,1988.

Holbrook, Thelma. Pioneer Musicians and Composers. Daughters of Utah Pioneers. Salt Lake City, 1982.

Stephens, Evan. Hawthorne Camp DUP, February 5, 1930.

Swinton, Heidi S. America’s Choir: A Commemorative Portrait of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Deseret Book, Salt Lake City, 2004.

Music in the British Isles - Part Two: The Mormon Tabernacle Choir

2011-04-17T08:17:00.000-07:00

The Mormon Tabernacle Choir is one of the most recognised, respected and loved faces of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. But did you know that the choir originated from Britain, seven of the first eight conductors were from Britain, that the iconic Tabernacle organ had its roots from Britain, and that the very first organist was ... yes, you guessed it...from Britain?

Mormon Tabernacle Choir
Conference Centre, Salt Lake City, 2010

Music from the Valleys

In 1849 Mormon missionary Dan Jones (himself a Welshman) led the first group of Welsh Mormon converts from the valleys of Wales to the Salt Lake valley. William Morgan from Merthyr Tydfil recorded how the Welsh pioneers entertained the wagon trains on the long trek to Utah.

“As we sang the first part of the verse we saw the English and the Norwegians and everyone...with their heads out of their wagons. With the second part the wagons were empty in an instant and their inhabitants running towards us as if they were charmed...Some asked me where they had learned and who was their teacher? I said that the hills of Wales were the schoolhouse, and the Spirit of God was the teacher.” (Swinton, p. 17)

Some of the Welsh pioneers included in this impromptu Welsh choir are listed below. Look at the richly Welsh names in this list like Jones and Davies, and Owen and Hugh.

Albert Bowen, William and Elizabeth Clark;, Daniel and Mary Daniels, Thomas Daniels, Elizabeth Davies, Hugh Davies, Mary Aubrey Davies, Margaret Davies, Sarah Davies, Sarah Davis (daughter), Ann Davies, Daniel Davies, Charlotte Evans, Mary Evans, Ricy James, Thomas and Sarah Jeremy, Thomas John, Anne Jones, Dan and Jane Jones, John Jones, Daniel and Anne Leigh, David Lewis, Elizabeth Lewis, William Lewis, Isaac and Eliza Nash, Cadwallader Owen, Margaret Owen, Anne Parry, Caleb and Catherine Parry, John Parry, David and Laura Peters, David and Mercy Phillips, Evan Rees, Owen Roberts, Ann Thomas Benjamin and Lettice Thomas, Margaret Thomas, Rees Thomas, Samuel Thomas, Edward and Sophia Williams, Rice Williams and Samuel Williams. Dennis: http://welshmormonhistory.org/index.php?/resources/view/4077

Upon their arrival in the Salt Lake Valley Brigham Young heard their beautiful harmony and remarked, “I don’t understand the words, but you should become the nucleus of a great church choir.” He called upon one of their number, John Parry, to establish and conduct that choir (more of his story in the next post).

Mormon Tabernacle Choir
Conference Centre, Salt Lake City, 2010

The Choir’s Musical Achievements

From such simple beginnings began the world acclaimed Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Consider some of the feathers in their cap:

The Choir has performed in 28 countries (including 13 world fairs and expositions), performed for 10 American U.S. presidents (including five inaugurations and two presidential funerals), holds the record for hosting the longest-running continuous network broadcast (started 1929), and sung for numerous worldwide telecasts and special events (including the Olympics).

The Choir has released 130 + musical compilations and sold millions of records with five recordings achieving ‘gold’ and two achieving ‘platinum’ record status. They received a Grammy Award (1959), Emmy Award (1987), National Medal of Arts (2003), Freedom Foundation Award (1981 & 1988), Peabody Award (1944 and 1962), Mother Teresa Award (2006), and were voted into the Broadcasting Hall of Fame (2004). Since releasing their own recording label their music CDs consistently feature prominently in the classical billboard charts.

And to think... it all began here in Wales.

But the British connections to this amazing musical institution do not stop there. The conductors, the organ and the organist all have strong British links, and in the next few posts we will discover their stories.

Sources

Dennis, Ron. http://welshmormonhistory.org/index.php?/immigrants/view/2929

Swinton, Heidi S. America’s Choir: A Commemorative Portrait of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Deseret Book, Salt Lake City, 2004.

Music in the British Isles - Part One: Then sings my soul...

2011-04-12T02:06:00.000-07:00

Music is a powerful thing, and over the years it has been used in various ways to inspire members, create friends & goodwill, and to foster missionary work. This next series of posts will take a peek back to a number of different musical endeavours that have changed lives in the British Isles. We will look at various musical groups including the Singing Mothers, the Millennial Chorus, Tab Choir connections, the Osmonds and lots more.

If you have any memories of any of these groups please do share.
This is an open invitation with no expiry date. All memories welcome.

And just to get us into the musical frame of mind I thought I'd share this 100 year old photo of an LDS Choir in Nottingham. A fine looking bunch of saints.

LDS Choir of Nottingham England 1912
From the Juvenile Instructor
Courtesy of Ardis Parshall
Visit her blog at http://www.keepapitchinin.com/

Sadly I do not have any more details than that. Was is a special occassion? A conference? An important visitor? Does this include missionaries or just members? Sorry....lots of questions with no answers. Photos like this were submitted from Saints around the world for inclusion in the Juvenile Instructor (an early version of The Friend which ran from 1866 to 1929 when it was refocused towards teachers and renamed The Instructor). The images were not part of any article - just there to brighten up the copy and demonstrate the worldwide nature of the church.

My next post will jump back to Victorian Britain to discover some impressive Victorian converts.

Calling all Osmond fans....

2011-04-07T06:42:00.000-07:00

Were you introduced to the LDS church via the Osmonds?
Do you know anyone else who was introduced to the church by the Osmonds?

I am going to be doing a series of posts on the influence of music in the UK, and one of those will be an Osmond Special. I'd love to hear from anyone who has any memories of this era.

Would you be willing to share your story?

Following are some questions to help jog your memory:

A background on you when this all started. Age. Location. religious background.

What was the appeal? Did you get to see them in concert? Where? What memories do you have of this experience?

What kinds of things did you buy in connection to them? (e.g. posters, records (remember those black, round things!!), clothes etc.)
What was the transition between being fan to being a convert? Any challenges, setbacks, or misunderstandings? Did any of your friends join? What did friends and family think of your conversion?

Have you seen them peform in any of their recent UK performances? Is there still a soft spot in your heart for them and their music?

What has been the LDS legacy in your life and in the lives of your family and friends?

Plus... any other insights, comments you want to make.

You can email me at peterf@btconnect.com

Sidney Bailey Smith - World War One

2011-04-07T04:46:00.000-07:00

I have a fascination with world war one and world war two. It is not, I think, a morbid fascination but rather a mixture of horror and joy, loss and reunion, admiration, and respect.

In Normandy I have stood in preserved trenches and imagined the terror of going 'over the top'; wept at the overwhelming sight of so many white crosses; gawped down at a vast open beach wondering how anyone survived.

In Britain I have looked into the faces of war veterans and wondered how they handle their horrific memories; I've stood in Holocaust exhibitions and felt my heart sink at how depraved people can become; I've watched footage & documentaries and wondered how many of those featured made it out alive.

On the brighter side, I cherish the stories of faith and determination that come out of these troubled times. Those who stood firm. Those who displayed uncommon courage. I often wonder how I would react in the same situation.

I love seeing how different communities honour those who sacrificed their lives for our freedom. I feel a compulsion to stop at war memorials in village, town or city. I love these little sacred and hallowed spots where names and events are remembered.

Thus...it was with great delight that I read Ardis Pashall's post sharing the testimony of LDS member Sidney Bailey Smith (1891-1981) from Norton Subcourse, Norfolk. And it was with even greater delight that I read the comments below the post many of which were written by his descendants. I look forward to shaking this man by the hand.

Click here to read his full story: Sidney Bailey Smith - A guardsman's testimony

Artemus Ward Among the Mormons...in Salt Lake and London.

2011-04-04T07:44:00.000-07:00

The American media has recently been swamped with articles about the recently opened Book of Mormon musical. The show is an irreverent look at our faith created by the South Park team. Historically this is nothing new. Our culture and beliefs have provided rich pickings for comedians, journalists, and authors. One such Victorian 'artiste' found his Mormon material greatly sought after.

How was I to be greeted by the Mormons? That was rather an exciting question with me.

So pondered Artemus Ward as he travelled to Salt Lake in 1865. Artemus Ward (real name = Charles Farrar Browne (1834-1867)), was born in Maine and developed a knack of delivering comic humour via the pen and the stage. I'd compare his style to some of our current English comedians - a mixture of the witty monologues of Ronnie Corbett, the quirky delivery of Harry Hill, the deadpan face of Paul Merton and the word play of Jimmy Carr.

His creation of Artemus Ward the traveling showman was so successful that his real name soon disappeared into the shadows. His successful books were enjoyed by thousands including Abraham Lincoln, and his quick wit was well received on stage. Mark Twain met him in 1863 and cites Browne as his inspiration and the person who convinced him to write and perform more.

His 1865 pondering about how he would be greeted in Utah was due to a fictional adventure he had created to make fun of Brigham and the saints in 1862. (The following spelling is correct & is part of his character.)

In a privit conversashun with Brigham I learnt the follerin fax: It takes him six weeks to kiss his wives. He don't do it only onct a yere & sez it is wuss nor cleanin house. He don't pretend to know his children, there is so many of um, tho they all know him. He sez about every child he meats call him Par, & he takes it for grantid it is so. I girded up my Lions and fled the Seen. I packt up my duds and left Salt Lake, which is a 2nd Soddum and Germorer, inhabited by as theavin' & onprincipled a set of retchis as ever drew Breth in eny spot on the Globe."

Thus he arrived in Utah convinced that his throat would be cut, but on arriving in Salt Lake he had a pleasant experience in the tabernacle, attended social events and received a reprimand that "wholesale denunciation of a people I had never seen was rather hasty."

The Next day is Sunday, and we went to the Tabernacle, in the morning. The Tabernacle...is a long rakish building of adobe, capable of seating some twenty-five hundred persons. There is a wide platform and a rather large pulpit at one end of the buiding, and the other end is another platform for the choir.

He also had the privilege of meeting Brigham Young.

I am shown into the Prophet's chief office. He comes forward, greets me cordially, and introduces me to several influential Mormons who are present. Brigham Young is 62 years old, of medium height, and with sandy hair and whiskers. An active, iron man, with a clear sharp eye. A man of consummate shrewdeness - of great executive ability....

The gateway of his block is surmounted by a brass American eagle, and they say ("they say" here means anti-Mormons) that he receives his spiritual dispatches through this piece of patriotic poultry. They also say that he receives revelations from a stuffed white calf that is trimmed with red ribbons and kept in an iron box. I don't suppose these things are true....

The veranda was crowded with Gentile miners, who seemed to be surprised that I didn't return in a wooden overcoat, with my throat neatly laid open from ear to ear.

He was invited to attend a dance at the Social Hall where he observed Brigham dancing.

The Prophet is more industrious than graceful as a dancer. He exhibits, however, a spryness of legs quite remarkable in a man at his time of life. I didn't see Heber C. Kimball on the floor. I am told he is a loose and reckless dancer, and that many a lily-white toe has felt the crushing weight of his cowhide monitors.

And from this 'Utah' experience was born his popular lecture Artemus Ward Among the Mormons complete with a painted panorama to illustrate his talk. It opened in October 1864 in New York, then he took it on the road, and then in June 1866 took sail to bring his unique sense of humour to England.

He was uncertain how his show would be received by an English audience, but he need not have worried. His fame proceeded him and with the Mormons as his topic he hit on a subject of great intrigue. His Mormon lecture was hugely popular in London, and for seven weeks the Egyptian Hall in Piccadilly was packed.
To give you a taster of his performance the following gives you an idea of his style. Although we can read the humour in this, what we miss is his ability to masterfully control his voice, his face and his audience.

The Mormon stood sadly among his weeping wives.

"Dearest ones," he said, "I am singularly sad at heart, this morning; but do not let this depress you. The journey is a perilous one, but - pshaw! I have always come back safely heretofore, and why should I fear? Besides, I know that every night, as I lay down on the broad starlit prairie, your bright faces will come to me in my dreams, and make my slumbers sweet and gentle. You, Emily, with your mild blue eyes; and you, Henrietta, with your splendid black hair; and you, Nelly, with your hair so brightly, beautifully golden; and you, Mollie, with your cheeks so downy; and you, Betsy, with your wine-red lips - far more delicious, though, than any wine I ever tasted - and you, Maria, with your winsome voice; and you, Susan with your - with your - that is to say, Susan, with your - and the other thirteen of you, each so good and beautiful, will come to me in sweet dreams, will you not Dearestists?"

"Our own," they lovingly chimed, "we will!" "And so farewell!" cried Reginald. "Come to my arms, my own!" he said, "that is, as many of you as can do it conveniently at once, for I must away."

His Mormon lecture would have continued to be performed in the heart of London's theatreland if his health had not given away, and he headed to the south of England for rest. He died of tuberculosis at Southampton on March 6, 1867. He was initially buried at Kensal Green Cemetry in London, but the following year his remains were removed to the United States on May 20, 1868.

So... they come, they go....
but the Kingdom of God just keeps rolling forward.
Sources
Hingston, E.P. The Genial Showman. 1870.
Ward, Artemus. ArtemusWard; His Travels. Carleton, New York 1865.
Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Farrar_Browne
Authorama - http://www.authorama.com/boys-life-of-mark-twain-23.html

How to travel to Salt Lake in style

2011-03-30T12:51:00.000-07:00

Alfred Pollard joined the church in Brighton in 1889. In his desire to join with the saints in Salt Lake he made an epic journey that is exhausting just to read. By the end of his account I felt cold, wet, weary.... but inspired by his conviction. Read his whole account via this link:
Alfred Pollard from Brighton

Longton: decimated congregations and motor cars!

2011-03-28T02:08:00.000-07:00

In my last post I shared some observations by Preston historian Anthony Hewitson in 1869. In that same article he spoke of the impact Heber C. Kimball and the early missionaries had in the Ribble valley.

Whilst this movement was going on in the town, the missionaries were pushing Mormonism in some of the surrounding country places. At Longton, nearly everybody went in to raptures over the "New doctrine;" Mormonism fairly took the place by storm; it caught up and entranced old and young, married and single, pious and godless; it even spread like a sacred rinderpest amongst the Wesleyans, who at that time were very strong in Longton - captivating leaders, members, and some of the scholars in fine style; and the chapel of this body was so emptied by the Mormon crusade, that it was found expedient to reduce it internally and set apart some of it for school purposes. To this day the village has not entirely recovered the shock which Mormonism gave it 30 years ago.

During the heat of the conflict many Longtonians went to the region of Mormondom in America, and several of them soon wished they were back again. (Hewitson, p. 112-113)

This same sentiment was recorded by a local oral history book:

During these crusades both Protestant and Wesleyan churches were for a time seriously shattered. Marsh House, situated about 300 yards from the Wesleyan chapel, was used regularly for religious meetings by the Longton Mormons. (Smyth, p. 53)

Mrs Clough (born 1900 in Longton) had a rather more modern memory of the Mormons:

As a child I remember seeing the first motor-car come through Longton; it belonged to the Mormons who were travelling around the country. They saw us playing in the hayfield and stopped and took our photograph in front of the motor-car. Quite some time later they sent us the photograph from Salt Lake City (1908?). (Smyth, p. 123-124)

Sources
Hewitson, A. The Mormons in Our Churches and Chapels. Preston, 1869.
Smyth, Jane Riding. Memories of Longton & Area. 1994.

An 1869 visit to Preston branch

2011-03-22T07:59:00.000-07:00

In 1869 A. Hewitson, a local Preston historian, wrote an article about Mormonism in Preston which began:

There are about 1,100 different religious creeds in the world, and amongst them all there is not one more energetic, more mysterious, or more wit-shaken than Mormonism. It is a mass of earnest "abymsal nonsense," an olla-podrida of theoglogical whimsicalities, a saintly jumble of pious stuff made up - if we may borrow an idea - of Hebraism, Persian Dualism, Brahminism, Buddhistic apotheosis, heterodox and orthodox Christianity, Mohammedanism, Druism, Freemasonary, Methodism, Swedenborgianism, Mesmerism, and spirit-rapping. We might go on in our elucidation; but what we have said will probably be sufficient for present purposes. There are some deep-swimming fish in the "waters of Mormon;" but the piscatorial shoal is sincere enough, though mortally odd-brained and dreamy.

I love that last sentance. This man knows how to win friends and influence people! Yet, in his own sweet way this opening paragraph pays us a compliment. It is not, as he suggests, that we have borrowed ideas from everyone else, it is more we have been blessed with the original structure that has been borrowed by everyone else. The six page entry continues with attacks on Joseph Smith, the Book of Mormon, and Brigham Young. Halfway through he talks about the Preston side of the story.

In 1837, certain elders of the Mormon church, including Orson Hyde and Heber C. Kimball, were sent over to England as missionaries; the first town they commenced operations in, after their arrival, was - Preston; and the first shot they fired in Preston was from the pulpit of a building in Vauxhall road, now occupied by the Particular Baptists....

They secured the old Cock Pit, drove a great business in it, and at length actually got about 500 "members." Whilst this movement was going on in the town, the missionaries were pushing Mormonism in some of the surrounding country places....

Hewitson goes on to explain what happened in the nearby village of Longton (see my next post for these details), describes how there were only about 70 members in Preston now (1869), and how, with great apprehension, he went along to observe a typical Mormon meeting:

...we entered the place, put our hat upon a table deliberately, took a seat upon a form quietly, and then looked round coolly in anticipation of a round of sauce or a trifle of fighting. But peace was preserved. There were just six living beings in the room - three well-dressed moustached young men, a thinly-fierce-looking woman, a very red-headed youth, and a quiet little girl. For about 30 seconds absolute silence prevailed. The thin woman then looked forward at the red-haired youth and in a clear voice said "Bin round there yet-eh?" which elicited the answer "Yea, and comed whoam." "Things are flat there as well as here, aren't they-eh?" And the red haired youth said "Yea." "Factories arn't doing much now, are they?" said she next, and the rejoinder was "They arn't; bin round by Bowton, and its aw alike." This slightly refreshing prelude was supplemented by sapient remarks as to the weather, &c.; and we were beginning to wonder whethe the general service was simply going to amount to this kind of conversation or be pushed on "properly" when in stepped a stong-built dark-complexioned man, who marched forward with the dignity of an elder, until he got to a small table surmounted by a desk, whence he drew a brown paper parcel, which he handed to one of the moustached young men, who undid it cautiously and carefully. "What is it going to be?" said we, mentally, when lo! there appeared a white table cloth, with was duly spread. The strong built man then dived deeply into one of his coat pockets and fetched out of it a small paper parcel, flung it upon a form close by, seized a soup plate in to which he crumbled a slice of bread, then got a double-handled pewter pot in to which he poured some water, and afterwards sat down as generalissimo of the business.

The individual who manipulated with the table cloth afterwards made a prayer, universal in several of its sentiments; but stiffened up tightly with Mormon notions towards the close. Two elderly men and a lad entered the room when the orison was finished, and a discussion followed between the "general" and the young man who had been praying as to some hymn they should sing.

"Can't find the first hymn," said the young man; and we thought that a pretty smart thing for a beginning. "Oh, never mind - go farther on -any-long meter," uttered his interlocutor, and he forthwith made a sanguine dash into the centre of the book and gave out a hymn. The company got into a "peculiar metre" tune at once, and the singing was about the most comically wretched we ever heard. The lad who came in with the elderly men tried every range of voice in every verse, and thought that he had a right to do just as he liked with the music; the elderly men near him hummed out something in a weak and time-worn key; the woman got into a high strain and flourished considerably at the line ends; the little girl said nothing; the three young men seemed quite unable to get above a monotonous groan, and the general looked forward, then down, and then smiled a little, but uttered never a word, and seemed immensely relieved when the singing was over.

After explaining the content and delivery of various sermons he noted that at the conclusion of the meeting there was:

Hand shaking, in which we found it necessary to join, supervened, and then there was a general disappearance....

They were very earnest folk; we also believe they are honest; but, after all, they are "gone coons," beyond the reach of both physic and argument. We knew none of the Mormons who attended the meeting described, and singular to say the proprietor of the establishent, wherein they assembled had no knowledge of either their names or places of abode. They pay him his rent regularly, and he deems that enough. All that we really know of the sect is , that their chairman is either a mechanic or a blacksmith somewhere, is plain, muscular, solemn-looking, bass-voiced, and dreamy; and that his flock area small, earnest, and preciously-fashioned parcel of sincere, yet deluded enthusiasts.

Sources
Hewitson, A. The Mormons in Our Churches and Chapels. Preston, 1869. p. 110 - 116.

Cotton - Part 12 - King Cotton in Utah.

2011-02-17T13:47:00.000-08:00

To understand LDS Preston you have to understand cotton.

And so...we end our series on the influence of cotton on the early Preston church. To bring things full circle I thought you might be interested to see how this cotton legacy made its way to Utah.

As the saints arrived in Salt Lake in their thousands church leaders recognised the need for careful planning for food and clothing supplies. As part of that planning Brigham decided to create a cotton industry.

In 1852, the first settlement was established in southern Utah and was named Harmony. Over the next few years small settlements grew up along the Virgin River as part of this cotton mission. The longer season in the warmer, southern part of the state was more conducive for the growing of “King Cotton“, but even so the initial crops between 1855 to 1860 were humble. With the outbreak of the Civil War (April 1861) and the blockade of cotton traffic the need for independence became even more apparent. In October 1861 three hundred families were called to settle what was to be a central city for the Cotton Mission - subsequently named St. George.

Some of these settlers were from the Southern states so knew how to raise cotton, some were from cotton areas like Lancashire and brought with them the skills of spinning and weaving, but the majority didn’t have a clue, yet “were willing and anxious to learn” (under p.79). Despite the enormity of the challenge they successfully produced some sizable amounts of cotton. In their second year of operation they had such a surplus they were able to take 74,000 pounds of cotton to the Mississippi markets. In 1867 they constructed their first cotton mill in Washington (near St. George) which became the largest mill west of the Mississippi (Garrp.254). That same year the industry began to decline due to the ending of the Civil War which allowed cheaper cotton from the East. Two years later the transcontinental railroad was completed which made competition even greater. The industry struggled on until the factory was closed in 1910. Even though the mission failed in terms of creating an independent cotton industry, it proved invaluable in creating settlements and avenues for commerce.

So...my Cotton sermons are done. Unless of course you discover anything else 'cottony' that you think I should include. If anyone from Southern Utah reads this post I'd be very interested in seeing photos of any cotton related sites. Many moons ago I lived in Cedar City (Southern Utah) for five years, but that was before my interest in church history really kicked in, so I missed the opportunity to go snooping around.

Now...what shall we talk about next...?

- Arnold K. Gar, Donald Q. Cannon, Richard O. Cowan. “Cotton Mission” Encyclopedia of LDS History, Deseret, SLC 2000. P.254
- Under Dixie Sun: A History of Washington County by Those Who Loved Their Forebears, Washington County Chapter of Daughters of Utah Pioneers, p. 65-66
Quoted in Pioneer Sesquicentenial 1847-1997, Olympus Publishers, Midvale Utah, 1997, p.78-9
[PHOTO - Washington Cotton Mill, ca. 1894. LDS archives. In “Under..” p.76]

Cotton - Part 11 - The Mormons are coming!

2011-02-12T13:48:00.000-08:00

In 1913 the church magazine Improvement Era published a lengthy article written by a missionary who was given a tour of a Preston cotton mill. Elder Clyde Candland Edmonds reported in great detail the whole process of creating the cotton. Initially I was just going to give a few excerpts, but decided to put nearly the whole article in. If you don't have a great interest in the cotton process you must, at least, skim down to the 20th paragraph and read what the cotton workers did when they saw the Mormons coming.

Through England's Cotton Mills

Elders Joel Richards, John H. Tillotson, Alfred C. Swift and myself had the pleasure of visiting the world's largest longcloth cotton mills, namely, "Horrockses, Crewdson & Co., Ld., Mills." This firm has other branches, but it was our privilege to visit the Preston mills. The buildings cover about sixty acres of ground in Preston alone, and some six thousand employes are dependent upon this mill for their daily sustenance. Three hundred thousand spindles and eight thousand looms, not to mention countless other whirring machines, all unite in humming the discordant melody of the cotton mills. From the number of employees mentioned, it can be readily understood what a terrible calamity a coal-strike would be to thousands of English homes, where practically a hand-to-mouth existence is lived, if the mills were obliged to close their doors because of fuel shortage. But to start on our journey.

Our guide took us first to the boiler rooms, where the steam is generated to operate the machinery throughout the mills. Each of the many large boilers has a capacity of 120 to 150 pounds, and by means of a system of "economizing" this pressure can be increased to 300 pounds. From the boilers we went to the engines. The first one we saw is spoken of as "old 36," being installed in the year 1836. Although it has given nearly eighty years of active service, it still represents 500 horse-power toward the operation of thousands of looms and spindles. We are impressed with the immensity of the drive wheel, and the writer remarked to the guide what a large wheel it was. "We call that a little one," was the smiling reply. That such was the case, was demonstrated as we entered the next room. Revolving with uniform speed and smoothness, a powerful 28-foot wheel, six feet in thickness, moved on in its endless course. This immense 1400 horse-power engine is the result of untiring effort and study on the part of "little" man. It is marvelous to know that this massive driving wheel which would over-top the ordinary English house, and the powerful engines which send it in its course with tireless energy, are the outcome of human knowledge and ingenuity. The operation of countless scutchers, drawing frames, carding machines, spinning mules and frames and looms which rush on in their pulsing, throbbing, buzzing course, is dependent on these great driving wheels. Now let us return to the cotton.

We were shown into one of the warehouses where hundreds of bales of cotton were stored, each bale weighing from 500 to 750 pounds. At first sight one would imagine that such an immense quantity of cotton would supply the mills for a considerable length of time, and again the writer ventured to remark what an abundance of cotton was kept on hand. Again a smiling reply came, "This store-room isn't a 'flea-bite' compared with others." Later we discovered that these mills alone consumed 1,000 bales of American and Egyptian cotton weekly, which amounts to over half a million pounds of raw material in five and a half working days.

The raw cotton is a fluffy mass of minute fibres, being, as we all know, the product of the cotton plant. When gathered and packed into bales it is so tightly compressed that it feels like a hard, solid substance. The quality of the cotton varies considerably and is determined by the length of the fibre, its color and its cleanliness. Each little fibre, under microscope examination, is about 1-2000 of an inch in diameter.

The large, compact bales are opened, the cotton is thrown into machines called "mixers." These machines mangle the cotton and loosen it up, so that it is soon in its soft fluffy condition again. From the mixing machine it is run on to a wide traveling lattice and carried to its next process, where it is subjected to heavy blows by iron and steel blades, revolving as the sails of a wind mill, only at a speed of 800 revolutions per minute. Thus the cotton is cleansed from seeds, dust or other impurities, while it is rendered as light and fluffy as flakes of snow. It issues from the rollers of this machine in broad white sheets and is then run into another purifying machine called the "Scutcher." Here the fluffy sheets of cotton wool are brought against large perforated rollers, where a strong draught carries all remaining dust, seeds, etc., out of the cotton. Once more the cotton is flung like flakes of snow against whirling edged bars called "beaters," which deliver about 1200 blows per minute. Then the cotton fleece issues slowly between two big rollers and is wound into a large roll called "lap."

This roll, or lap, is placed back of the "carding" machines and passed though rollers against a cylinder containing hundreds of minute needles--in fact, so minute that they run about 600 to the square inch, or about 4,000,000 to the cylinder. These needles separate the cotton fibres and they are brought out in parallel order, after which they pass through a combing process, which removes all short fibres and knots or seeds which may have gotten through the scutcher process. The fibres are brought out of this machine like a soft, continuous cord. By this time, each fibre is about 1-1000 of in inch in diameter. All of these threads are now brought through a narrow tubing, and the soft, silky mass of fibres is formed into a fluffy riband of cotton known as "silver." The cotton has now taken its first decisive step in the process of manufacture.

We now go into the "drawing" room. Here we see the machines doing the work which our forefathers were obliged to do by hand. This work of spinning, however, usually fell upon the shoulders of the maidens, or unmarried women, who were generally termed spinsters. Hence the word "spinster"--a synonym for unmarried women.

We will follow the "sliver" through the drawing machines. Bear in mind that the sliver is a long flat riband of soft, filmy cotton wool, about an inch broad and half an inch thick. In order to separate the short fibres which may have passed through the last combing process, it is combed by another machine which preserves the long fibres that are used for long-cloths, calicoes, etc. After this combing, we come to the drawing process. In this operation, six of the slivers are rolled into one riband, thus giving a certain degree of strength to the cord. Again, six more of these rolled slivers are rolled into a still stronger cord, and six of these into still another. Thus there are 216 slivers converted into one riband of cotton of uniform weight and thickness--at least, as near so as human endeavor can make it. The quality of the cloth depends largely upon the evenness of the thread.

This thick, thread-like tape--stil lcalled sliver--must now be spun into a thin thread for weaving purposes. The process used to accomplish this may be classed under three heads: the "slubbing," the "intermediate," and the "roving." These machines are among the most complicated we see, and are of wonderful construction. Our interest, however, centers in three pairs of large rollers through which the sliver passes. But let me state here that each pair of rollers revolves at a different speed than the others. The second pair revolves at a different speed than the others. The second pair revolves faster than the first, and the third still faster than the second. Thus the second pair of rollers, revolving faster than the first, will "draw" the sliver, or thread, to a finer and thinner cord, while the third pair of rollers attentuate and draw it out still more. Passing through the third set, the sliver is twisted and wound on a bobbin. The same process is repeated in the intermediate machines, and then again in the roving machines, so that a finer cotton is brought out of the intermediate than at the slubbing, and still finer after the roving.

Now we pass into another large room, where we see what is called the "mule spinners." Part of this process is similar to the ones just mentioned, by which the cotton, being brought from the roving machine, is passed through rollers of varying degrees of speed, and the process of attenuation is repeated, thus "drawing out" the cotton to a much finer degree. The threads are now attached to spindles, mounted on a traversing carriage which moves slowly outward from the rollers, and revolves the spindles at a rate of 9,000 times to the minute. By these revolutions the tenuous threads are twisted into yarn. When about sixty inches of yarn are spun, this automatic carriage moves slowly back, winding the yarn on the spindle. Again it moves outward, twisting the fibres as they are fed from the rollers, and again it moves back, winding the spun yarn on the spindles. This operation is repeated about four times every minute, so this is one instance when it is quicker done than said.

The mule spinning machines are about 120 feet long, and are mounted with 1,300 spindles, each one spinning from sixty to sixty-four inches of yarn four times every minute. Often these tenuous threads break when they are being spun out, but they are promptly joined up by a "piecer" or "minder" who follows the carriage back and forth to keep the spindles fed. It was a noticeable fact that the automatic movement of the carriage never stopped; the threads were broken and the proper connections made without interfering with the action of the machine in the least.

The "ring frame" is a similar machine for spinning the stronger yarn required for calicoes and other textile fabrics, and is no less wonderful, perhaps, but is less interesting to look upon. For comparison, let us refer to the time when spinning by hand was considered so wonderful that the different peoples ascribed its discovery to their various gods and goddesses. The Egyptians, for instance, ascribed its discovery to the goddess Isis, and the Greeks, to Minerva. But if we attribute such a fanciful origin to the astounding feats of the spinning mule and the ring spinning frame of today, we must use the unromantic names of Richard Arkwright, James Hargreaves and Samuel Crompton, who have invented processes unknown to the worshipers of Isis and Minerva. Today, instead of the tedious method of hand spinning, we have these wonderful machines which are the outcome of realized dreams of different Lancashire mechanics, to say nothing of other great inventors. Today one man, with the help of one or two apprentices, can care for two thousand spindles. What a remarkable instance of the ingunity of man! For experimental purposes, one pound of raw cotton has been so finely spun by these machines, that it has been converted into one thousand miles of yarn. This appeals to the writer, as it may do to others, to be a "stretched yarn," but the statement comes from an authoritative source. Nevertheless, we, who have so little knowledge of the possibilities of these machines are not in a position to judge the credibility of the statement, as it surpasses our faculties of comprehension.

Now we will take the cotton that has been spun and wound in bobbins from the mules, and we find that with the aid of another machine it is wound on large rollers called "beams." Five hundred of these bobbins are wound on the beam in uniform order, being arranged or mounted on the machine of a large "V" shape. The threads are run through a roller and then through a comb in order to keep them separate, and then they are wound on this large beam in parallel order, thus making the "warp." Often 36,000 yards of warp are wound on one beam. The automatic operation of the warping machine is of considerable interest. On each of the five hundred threads hangs a bent pin, similar to a hair-pin but not quite so long, and should one of the threads break, the pin drops between the rollers, and the machine is instantly stopped. Thus the attendant is warned of the broken thread, which is immediately jointed and the machine restarted. When the desired length of warp is wound on the beams, they are taken to another machine, where five beams are placed in consecutive order, ready to be wound on a still larger beam. It is to be remembered that each of the warp beams carries five hundred threads, and when five of these warp beams are wound on one large "weaver's beam," the latter carries 2,500 threads. Now the warp is washed in boiling water, being unrolled from one beam, and passing through the water, is conveyed through a starchy, gluey substance which stiffens the warp. Then it is passed, by a roller system, over two large heated cylinders which dries the thread and it is wound on another weaver's beam at the opposite side of the machine.

The weaver's shed will attract our attention next. Thus far, we have not noticed so much the tumult and roar of busy machines and flying wheels but the moment we open the door of the "shed" we are met with a buzzing, rushing, clicking, clacking storm of flying shuttles and an interplay of machinery which, without exaggeration, deafens and amazes!

"The web enwraps the beam, the reed divides,
While through the wid'ning space the shuttle glides
Which their swift hands receive; then poised with lead
The swinging weight strikes close th' inserted thread."

These are the words of one Ovid, who thus described the weaving process nineteen centuries ago. The process today is similar, but the operation is entirely mechanical.

We place the large weaver's beam at the back of the loom, and each one of the 2,500 threads is passed through the eye of a heald, which is similar to the eye of a needle. Let us pause here, to examine an ordinary piece of cloth. We find that the weft thread passes over each alternate thread of warp, while the next weft thread passes underneath the same. This form of weaving is attained by the action of the healds, through which the thread is passed, as every other one raises its thread and allows a passage for the throw of the shuttle, which carries the weft thread. Then that set of healds is lowered and the shuttle is this time passed over the warp threads it had previously under-run, and under the warp threads it had passed over. This alternation of up and down interlacing of weft and warp forms the simplest style of cloth. The different kinds of cloth, with their varieties of designs, are produced by a variation of raising and lowering the healds. It is truly wonderful to witness the marked rapidity with which the shuttles are thrown back and forth by means of automatic strapped arms, as they pass through the opening made by the healds about two hundred times a minute, and each throw of the shuttle plants anther thread in the cloth.

The looms range from 16 to 140 inches in length. So finely is the cotton woven by these looms, that it requires 246 threads to the square inch--120 warp threads and 126 threads of weft. All this is done by automatic machines, which merely require attendants to feed the hungry shuttles with weft, and to make connections when threads may break. Though the loom needs a watchful eye and a pair of experienced hands to care for it, still one attendant is able to care for three or four looms and keep them all in action. The latest invention in a loom--the Northrop--is an improvement even on this. It is a loom which has self-feeding shuttles, and when one cop of yarn is exhausted, it is automatically supplied with a fresh cop. This great saver of time makes it possible for one man, with one or two apprentices, to care for sixteen or twenty looms. It was not our good fortune, however, to see one of these.

It is understood that this interlacing of weft and warp makes the cloth, which is wound on rollers as fast as it is woven. Then it is examined for defects, and having been found perfect, or at least up to the standard, it is ready for the market. This all takes place in the warehouse and is of very little interest.

We could not examine as closely as we would like to the delicate parts of the looms, as they were all busy humming the tune of the mills, but the precision and accuracy of their movements were truly astonishing. In one single shed that we visited, there were two thousand of these noisy looms all in action. The noise and vibration of revolving wheels, flying shuttles and humming straps and belts are so deafening that one cannot hear the voice of his companion, and among the weavers it is all "lip-talk." They convey their message by a mere movement of the lips, and the one spoken to receives the message by a careful observation of the speaker's lips. An excellent place, this, for a mute to work. It was amusing to see the different hands beckon to each other and send the wireless message--"Mormons"--which we could not help but decipher. It is remarkable how readily the "Mormon" elders are singled out for notice by all classes of people, particularly here in England. But let us return to the mill.

Leaving the weaver's shed and coming into the open air we seemed to have entered into a death-like silence. After the din and roar of the hundreds of looms, the sensation of stepping from the tumultuous racket of the sheds into the calm outside was one which, for the moment, seemed to invest everything with a solemn quietude.

We have now followed the raw cotton through its many processes until it is made up into fine cloths, ready for the market. But there is just one more place of interest we must visit. It is the "old mill" which was built in the year 1791. Although the machines have been replaced by modern inventions, still the building is unchanged, and is being used today by the firm. When this building was first erected and the machinery installed, it was propelled by one solitary horse in the basement, much after the style in which a horse may operate a merry-go-round. Think of it, readers! A little over a century ago a one horse-power engine (?) was employed, and today their engines run about 10.000 horse-power. What a marvelous contrast! How plainly we can discern the rapid strides made in civilization! And it has all been accomplished by the unceasing efforts of men who lived and loved the motto:

"If at first you don't succeed; try, try again."

Dauntless and persistent in their determination to better conditions in the weaving world, many of them realized the dream of their lives; and their inventions, wonderful and complicated as they are, need no eulogizing,--they speak for themselves.

Just to give an idea of the enormous output of this firm, let me quote a few figures. The weekly output averages 29,000 pieces of cotton fabrics of hundreds of varieties and makes. The annual output is about 1,450,000 pieces, and as each piece averages forty yards in length, the annual product of the firm represents over thirty thousand miles--a greater quantity than the entire cotton production of England a century ago.

PRESTON, ENGLAND Improvement Era 1913

Cotton - Part 10 - The American Civil War and Preston

2011-02-10T14:31:00.000-08:00

The Japanese Garden in Avenham Park, Preston

Note the two LDS plaques on either side of the tree.

Avenham Park in Preston was opened by the Duke of Cambridge in 1867. Running through the bottom of the park is the River Ribble - where the first LDS baptisms in Britain were performed, and in the heart of the park is a Japanese garden within which lie four plaques mentioning the church. It seems quite fitting that this park, which has such rich Mormon connections, was created because of cotton. I told you cotton permeated everything here! Okay, here's what happened:

Prior to the 1860s this area would have looked quite different with no trees along the river, and instead of open park there were fields, pasture, farmhouses and an orchard.   This agricultural scene is the one the early missionaries and converts would have seen as they went down to the river for baptism services. This was all about to change when, thousands of miles away, the American Civil War (1861-1865) broke out.

Many Lancashire cotton mills relied upon raw, imported American cotton from the plantations in the sourthern states. The southern states initially stopped importing cotton to Britain in an attempt to force the hand of Parliament to join sides with them. Then one of the tactics of the northern states was to blockade southern ports with their naval power. These events had a dramatic effect. In 1860 the southern states were churning out around 4,500,000 bales of cotton, but as war and the blockades took their toll that total shrank to 300,000 by 1864. It has been estimated that the blockade was 95% effective at stopping cotton from leaving America.

On this side of the ocean the British cotton Lords hoped their overstocked warehouses of cotton would see them through, but it soon became clear that supplies were dwindling.  Soon cotton mills went silent. No raw cotton = no work. Thousands of unemployed cotton workers entered what has been called the Lancashire Cotton Famine or The Cotton Panic.

During 1861 the board of Guardians in Preston gave outdoor relief to between 2,500 and 3,000 people per week. From October 1861 to March 1862 this total rose to 10,500, and from May to December rose to 22,500.   Many workers emigrated, or tried to find work in other trades, but most remained impoverished.
On 19 January 1863, Abraham Lincoln thanked the cotton workers for supporting them (not that they had much choice in the matter). Lincoln wrote:

... I know and deeply deplore the sufferings which the working people of Manchester and in all Europe are called to endure in this crisis. It has been often and studiously represented that the attempt to overthrow this Government which was built on the foundation of human rights, and to substitute for it one which should rest exclusively on the basis of slavery, was unlikely to obtain the favour of Europe.

Through the action of disloyal citizens, the working people of Europe have been subjected to a severe trial for the purpose of forcing their sanction to that attempt. Under the circumstances I cannot but regard your decisive utterances on the question as an instance of sublime Christian heroism which has not been surpassed in any age or in any country. It is indeed an energetic and re-inspiring assurance of the inherent truth and of the ultimate and universal triumph of justice, humanity and freedom.

I hail this interchange of sentiments, therefore, as an augury that, whatever else may happen, whatever misfortune may befall your country or my own, the peace and friendship which now exists between the two nations will be, as it shall be my desire to make them, perpetual.

Abraham Lincoln, 19 January 1863

The Public Works Act of 1864 was an attempt to help these Manufacturing Districts get people back to work. Around the county unemployed cotton workers were employed in Public works schemes such as building sewers, canals, roads and parks. Preston's local authorities used the money from this Act to landscape a number of Preston's Parks.

Avenham Park was laid out in 1864-65, and Miller Park and Moor Park (opened 1867) were laid out under the same scheme. Over £20,000 was spent on Avenham and Miller Parks, and almost £11,000 on Moor Park. Lime trees were planted along the River Ribble during the 1860s and now make a delightful walk to the baptism site. Prior to that the banks of the river were bare.

It seems quite fitting to me that our LDS plaques commemorating Preston's role in the early church should be located in a beautiful park that not only contains the first baptism site, but is also linked to the cotton trade which was such a huge factor in the every day life of all Prestonians.

Where have I been?

2011-01-13T14:11:00.000-08:00

It has been months since I last wrote a post on any of my blogs, so I'm back to repent.
August 2010 through to January 2011 was a whirlwind of activity. Six children, Three Church callings, lots of tours, some big events, the busiest time of the year for the shop + lots of 'other stuff' meant I had to do a Good, Better, Best system. Sadly this meant the blogs took a bit of a back burner, but now I'm back.
So....looking forward to touching base again and discovering this wonderful land.
See you soon.

Cotton - Part 9 - Rules to be observed in the Power Loom

2010-07-23T11:37:00.000-07:00

So...what was it like to work in one of these cotton mills?

William Ainsworth (1807-1862) helped his father and brother run some mills in Preston. The 'RULES TO BE OBEYED BY THE OPERATIVES' in his mill in Cotton Court were nothing short of slavery. They bore evidence of long working hours, restrictions on personal freedom, and a ruthless system of fines, which the management did not fail to enforce in the courts.

Agreeing to work in a spinning factory was agreeing to an impersonal life of discipline and control. Mills had strict rules and regulations which by today’s standards seem unbelievable. For instance, in a typical mill you could be fined for the following misdemeanours:

Any spinner found with his window open…………..….. 1 0
Any spinner found dirty at work………………….....…… 1 0
Any spinner leaving his oil can out of its place………… 1 0
Any spinner heard whistling…………………………........ 1 0
Any spinner being five minutes after last bell rings…….. 1 0
Any spinner being sick and cannot find another spinner to give satisfaction must pay for steam per day……………………. 6 0 Political Register, August 20, 1823 (Hammond, p. 19)

Following are some similar fines from a mill east of Preston.

Rules to be observed in the Power Loom Manufactory, W. & R. Turner, Helmshore.

A list of fines attendant on neglect thereof
April 1836
Any weaver or spinner being absent Five Minutes after the Bell Rings 3d
If Absent more than Five Minutes, or entering the Room before the Bell Rings 1 s
Any Weaver or Spinner allowing Ends of Pullings to lay upon the floor, 3d
Any Weaver or Spinner allowing Bobbins to lay upon the Floor, or otherwise than in Skip of Jenny 3d
Any weaver mixing the Warp Ends with the Weft Pulllings 2d
Any Weaver taking away the Weft of another 3d
Any Weaver taking or exchanging Shuttles 3d
Any weaver mixing empty Bobbins with full ones 2d
Any Weavers quarreling, each 1s
Any Weavers fighting or striking each other, each 1s
Any Weaver or Spinner leaving the Room between Bell Hours, except by leave 1s
Any Weaver after having downed or finished his or her Piece, neglecting to put in all the Pullings and rolling them up (Warp and Weft separate) in his or her Piece 6d
Any weaver leaving his or her Loom and going to that of another 3d...

The list goes on, but the document is torn and words are missing.

Whatever you do, don't show this post to your employer. He/ She might get some funny ideas, and then you know you'll only blame me.

Cotton - Part 8 - 1842 Murders?

2010-07-20T15:00:00.000-07:00

To understand LDS Preston you have to understand the cotton trade.

Outside the Old Corn Exchange in Preston is a statue commemorating the tragic events of 13th August, 1842 when four workers were shot and killed by soldiers during an industrial strike. 1842 was a time of severe economic depression, and men, women and children had come onto the streets of Preston to protest for “a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work.” Poverty, unemployment and malnutrition were commonplace, and this demonstration was the worker’s way of expressing their frustration.

The previous month had seen bands of men entering mills and removing the plugs of the steam engine boilers, stopping work and enforcing a general strike. During August riots flared up in manufacturing districts with demands for a higher wage.

On the 12 August the Preston workers gathered at Chadwick’s Orchard (an open area near the present covered market). They set off about 8am out on to Friargate, up Lune Street and on to Fishergate with the intent of compelling the closing of several mills. The following day they repeated this action, but when the workers arrived on Fishergate they were met by a group of 80 officials including the mayor, Samuel Horrocks, the town magistrates, 16 policemen, and a battalion (32 soldiers) of the 72nd Highlanders with muskets and bayonets.

The troops advanced and the march turned to violence as the crowd retreated down Lune Street throwing stones. Women and children were withdrawn and the crowd was headed by young male mill workers.

Suddenly the authorities found themselves surrounded due to a portion of the crowd having doubled back round Fox Street and blocking Lune street behind them. Some of the workers had climbed scaffolding on the front of the Corn Exchange, and were lobbing bricks and stones. Policemen were running out from the ranks of the soldiers, striking the boys with their staves and retreating again. The soldiers faced up and down Lune Street, muskets loaded, protecting the hit and run tactics of the police.

The Mayor was seen to speak to the Captain of the soldiers. At that point the firing commenced.

The soldiers opened fire on the crowd - not a volley over the heads of the crowd, but a succession of single shots, about one every three seconds over the course of a minute, all in the direction of the Corn Exchange. Four died and a fifth had his leg taken off, killing or wounding about eight men. The stunned crowd quickly dispersed. (Walsh, p 62, Hardwick, p. 418)

“An attempt was made to reason with the parties, and they were informed that if they did not disperse, and cease their riotous conduct, order would be given to fire upon them. The riot Act was read by Horrocks who was hit by stones as he did so, and the police having been beaten back, the order to fire was given.”

20 shots were fired, jury at the inquiry returned a verdict of “Lawful killing”. (Hunt 187)

Cotton - Part 7 - 1836 Spinner's Strike

2010-07-13T08:11:00.000-07:00

Preston was noted as a hotbed for discontent - a battlefield between Cotton Lords and the working class. Following are a few examples of the workers' industrial action prior to our missionaries arriving:

1818 - an unsuccessful attempt was made to raise wages by the weavers. Around 1,200 handloom weavers paraded the streets of Preston.
1821- Spinners went on strike for three weeks to protest a wage reduction of ten per cent. They were also unsuccessful.
1826 - riots occurred in various parts of Lancashire and a large number of looms were destroyed. (Hardwick, p 375)

This friction between employer and employee seemed to be constantly simmering under the surface. It was noted that

“The Cotton Lords of Preston are the greatest tyrants in the country. It is well known that they grind their workmen down more than any other persons, getting their work done cheaper, and therefore they can undersell their neighbours.” Alexander Challenger, Chartist.

In some defense of the mill owners, Preston had the disadvantage of being located 30 miles from the main cotton market at Manchester and some distance north of the great Lancashire coal field. This geography meant.

Since it was on the outskirts of bigger industralised cotton towns Preston was often the first port of call for immigrating agricultural workers. This continual supply of fresh workers meant they could easily replace any disgruntled workers.
Preston's markets were closer to the farm land so were better supplied and cheaper. In fact some local farmers would travel further to Blackburn or Bolton to get a better price for their produce.
As an older town Preston was a more desirable place of residence than many cotton towns.

These factors meant mill owners would enforce somewhat lower wages to compete (Hardwick, p 400).

1836 Spinners Strike
Then came 1836. It is significant to remember that the following strike took place only months before our first missionaries appeared in Preston. I propose that this conflict actually softened many hearts to be receptive to the restored gospel message.

The status of the cotton industry was such that one cotton worker was now producing “equal to what could have been done by two or three hundred men sixty years previously” (Hardwick, p 375). The factory system had altered forever the whole makeup of the cotton industry, but in doing so it put workers at the mercy of the Cotton Lords and the fluctuations of local and national economies.

In October 1836 the Preston spinners demanded a wage increase to match the prices being paid to Bolton spinners who lived about 20 miles south . The employers agreed only if the workers abandoned the trade union. This condition was rejected. On the 7th November the mills closed, and 8,500 people were unemployed.

early December - “…the streets began to be crowded with beggars, and the offices of the overseers were besieged with applicants for relief. The inmates of the workhouse began to increase rapidly, and scenes of the greatest misery and wretchedness were of constant occurrence. ....

“By the end of December , the distress had become universal and intense, and the masters came to the resolution of opening their mills, in order to give those who wished for it an opportunity of resuming their work. In doing so, they announced their determination to abide by their former offer of an increase of ten per cent on the rate of wages; but to require from all those who should enter the mills a written declaration to the effect, that they would not, at any future time, whilst in their service, become members of any union or combination of workmen...”

By the 5th February 1837 all the mills were opened again, but about two hundred of the most outspoken spinners were blacklisted and replaced by new hands.

“...three person are believed to have died of starvation ; and not less than five thousand must have suffered long and severely from hunger and cold. In almost every family the greater part of the wearing apparel and household furniture was pawned. In nine houses out of ten, considerable arrears of rent were due.....The trade of the town suffered severely (estimated cost to the town was £110,000); many of the small shopkeepers were nearly ruined, and a few completely so.” (Hardwick, p 415 - 417)

The poverty was such that Preston cotton workers earned themselves a nickname as “Nake-necks”. A naked (nake) neck would be someone too poor to afford a collar in the days of separate collars to a man’s shirt (Hayes, p. 3). The impact of this strike would have still been fresh on the worker's memories when our seven missionaries arrived five months later.

Knowing this background adds more meat to Heber C. Kimball's observations the following winter.

"This was very extraordinary weather for that country, as I was informed that some winters they had scarcely any frost or snow, and the oldest inhabitants told me that they never experienced such a winter before. In consequence of the inclemency of the weather, several manufacturing establishments were shut up, and several thousands of men, women and children were thrown out of employment, whose sufferings during that time were severe; and I was credibly informed, and verily believe, that many perished from starvation. Such sufferings I never witnessed before. The scenes which I daily beheld were enough to chill the blood in my veins. The streets were crowded with men, women and children who begged from the passengers as they walked along. Numbers of those poor, wretched beings were without shoes or stockings, and scarcely any covering to screen them from the inclemency of the weather; and daily I could discover delicate females walking the streets gathering up the animal refuse, and carrying it to places where they could sell it for a penny or half-penny. And thus they lived through the winter."

As an aftermath of this strike we witness in 1837 the formation of Preston Operative Radical Association. It soon had 200 members and their own reading room. Their main platform was that political reform was the key to social reform.   Many from this organisation would be swallowed up the following year into the Chartist movement - a working class labour movement for political and social reform.
And so it continues...
The industrial challenges carried on with 'Plug' strikes (1842), mill owners making a 10% wage cut (1847), and the Great Lock Out (1853). This latter disturbance had workers complaining that Preston mill owners were paying wages at 20% below the average. Some owners were prepared to restore the 10% cut from 1847, but others refused. The workers continued causing problems, so the “Cotton Lords“ closed all the mills!!

In 1854 the mills reopened in an effort to force a return to work on the mill owners' terms.   The workers response was to place pickets on the mills and the lock-out became a strike. Union funds began to run out and on May Day 1854 a meeting of 10,000 operatives gathered by Walton Bridge to ratify a return to work.

Six years after completing the Communist Manifesto (1848), Karl Marx witnessed these Preston challenges and claimed “The eyes of the working class are now fully opened: they begin to cry ‘Our St. Petersburg is at Preston.”  Marx was sure the unjust treatment of Preston's workers would result in Britain's very own revolultion starting on its streets.

Cotton - Part 6 - Thomas Miller

2010-07-12T06:28:00.000-07:00

Winckley Square, Preston.
This photo shows the residence of Mr Thomas Miller, (1810-1865) of the cotton firm, Horrocks Miller - the most powerful cotton manufacturer in the town.

By the time of his death in 1865, Thomas Miller operated ten mills, 155,970 spindles, 2,865 looms, twelve steam engines, and employed 3,000 hands to spin 104,000 lbs of yarn and weave 227 miles of cloth each week. One of his mills, The Yard works, was the largest ‘single site’ in Lancashire, and a number of our early converts were employed there including Jonathan Clegg who, along with his wife Ellen, were such notable stalwarts in the Martin Handcart company. The missionary Joseph Fielding spoke of working in a mill to gain some extra money, but he does not indicate if it was one of Millers, but there is the possibility that this was also his employer.

In many respects Miller's company was ahead of its time and rather atypical of much of the Preston industry. They provided washing and changing facilities for their workforce, offered housing accommodation, and later pioneered nursery schools. Even so, compared to today's working standards the demands on the workers were quite a challenge. For instance...

1833 - The firm of Horrockses, Miller & Co had 9 mills in Preston employing 1,300 spinners, 400 weavers and a large number of indirectly employed domestic handloom weavers. The Royal Commission on Factories looked at Horrockses, Miller and Co. while investigating factory conditions. Their report illustrates the working conditions of what was considered a "model employer" of the 1830s. During the previous 12 months, 310 ½ days had been worked - i.e. every day apart from Sunday, with single-day holidays at Christmas and Easter. Work hours = 69 hours per week = 12 hours for 5 days and 9 hours on Saturday.

The firm had found it hard to enforce the restrictions being introduced on the working of children. Horrockses declared that those who were introduced young turned out to be the most skilful workers. Restricting their hours would “injure the workpeople, by reducing their comforts and means of support”. Many parents would ask for their children to be taken on young. In some cases some children (about 10 yrs of age) had worked six, seven and even nine months without any wages just to insure they got the first vacant situation.

With his fortune Miller enjoyed buying artwork and had works by notable artists such as Holman Hunt and Constable, and his home on Winckely Square would have been near the top of the social pyramid in Preston entertainment.

The view into the centre of Winckley Square

Originally this would have been a private park for residents only.

Cotton - Part 5 - Cotton Lords of Preston

2010-07-07T04:08:00.000-07:00

The cotton mill owners were given the title of the Cotton Lords to signify their powerful status in the economy and society. The Cotton Lords of Preston were sometimes viewed as manipulative, greedy tyrants, and other times they were lauded as the deliverers from unemployment and starvation. They truly were benefactors of relief and community enhancements, but sometimes their wealth gaining methods were questionable or downright wrong.

Preston workers used to sing a little ditty about their Cotton Lords. .
The Cotton Lords of Preston
The working people such as we,
Pass their time in misery,
While they live in luxury,
The Cotton Lords of Preston.

They’re making money every way,
And building factories every day,
Yet when we ask them for more pay,
They had the impudence to say,

To your demands we’ll not consent,
You get enough so be content,
But we will have the Ten per Cent,
From the Cotton Lords of Preston. (Hunt 178)

Everybody’s crying shame
On these gentlemen by name
Don’t you think they’re much to blame
The Cotton Lords of Preston (CIRCA 1830) (Walch, p. 68)

Cotton - Part 4 - Charles Dickens, Preston and Cotton

2010-06-26T13:16:00.000-07:00

In January 1854 Charles Dickens visited Preston during a cotton workers strike. He decided to educate readers about the working conditions in the northern industrial towns, and, using Preston as his inspiration, he created a fictional place called Coketown. He called the book “Hard Times”, and the novel first appeared in a weekly serialised form between April and August 1854. His descriptions of ‘Coketown’ provide valuable insights into what Victorian Preston must have looked and smelled and felt like.

“It was a town of red brick, or of brick that would have been red if the smoke and ashes had allowed it: but, as matters stood, it was a town of unnatural red and black like the painted face of a savage. It was a town of machinery and tall chimneys , out of which interminable serpents of smoke trailed themselves for ever and ever, and never got uncoiled.

It had a black canal in it, and a river that ran purple with ill-smelling dye, and a vast pile of buildings full of windows where there was a rattling and a trembling all day long, and where the piston of the steam-engine worked monotonously up and down, like the head of an elephant in a state of melancholy madness. It contained several large streets all very alike one another, and many small streets still more like one another, inhabited by people equally like one another, who all went in and out at the same hours, with the same sound upon the same pavements, to do the same work, and to whom every day was the same as yesterday and tomorrow, and every year the counter part of the last and next.” (Dickens,p.18)

In the hardest working part of Coketown; in the innermost fortifications of that ugly citadel, where Nature was as strongly bricked out as killing airs and gases were bricked in; at the heart of the labyrinth of narrow courts upon courts, and close streets upon streets, which had come into existence piecemeal, every piece in a violent hurry for some man’s purpose, and the whole an unnatural family, shouldering, and trampling, and pressing one another to death (Dickens, p.49)

…the factories looming heavy in the black wet night - their tall chimneys rising up into the air competing Towers of Babel. (Dickens, P. 63)

A sunny midsummer day. There was such a thing sometimes, even in Coketown. Seen from a distance in such weather, Coketown lay shrouded in a a haze of its own, which appeared impervious to the sun’s rays. You only knew the town was there, because you knew there could have been no such sulky blotch upon the prospect without a town. A blur of soot and smoke… (Dickens, p.85)

The streets were hot and dusty on the summer day…

Stokers emerged from low underground doorways into factory yards, and sat on steps, and posts, and palings, wiping their swarthy visages, and contemplating coals. The whole town seemed to be frying in oil. There was a stifling smell of hot oil everywhere. The steam-engines shone with it, the dresses of the Hands were soiled with it, the mills throughout their many stories ooze and trickled it. The atmosphere of those Fairy palaces was like the breath of the simoon: and their inhabitants wasting with heat, toiled languidly in the desert. But no temperature made the melancholy mad elephants more mad or more sane. Their wearisome heads went up and down at the same rate, in hot weather and cold, wet weather and dry, fair weather and foul. The measured motion of their shadows on the walls, was the substitute ~Coketown had to show for the shadows of rustling woods; while, for the summer hum of insects, it could offer, all the year round, from the dawn of Monday to the night of Saturday, the whirr of shafts and wheels. (Dickens, p.86)

Down upon the river that was black and thick with dye, some Coketown boys who were at large - a rare sight here - rowed a crazy boat, which made a spumous track upon the water as it jogged along, while every dip of an oar stirred up vile smells. (Dickens, p.86)

“Will you allow me to ask you if it’s always as black as this?” The Visitor to Mrs Sparsit, (Dickens, P. 93)

Look how we live, and where we live, an in wha numbers, an by what chances, and wi’ what sameness; and look how the mills is awlus a goin, and how they never works us no nigher to ony dis’ant object - ceptin awlus, Death. (Dickens, P.115)

And yes... I have copied that last extract correctly. Dickens was trying to capture the Lancashire accent of one of the workers.

Cotton - Part 3 - Richard Arkwright

2010-06-25T05:37:00.000-07:00

We have mentioned Richard Arkwright a few times in previous posts, and hopefully by the end of this post you will understand the impact he had upon the lives of many of our converts.

Richard Arkwright

Richard was born in Preston on the 23 December 1732 - the youngest of thirteen children. As a barber and ‘Peruke’ maker (wig maker), he travelled around the country selling. As he travelled he was quick to observe the different stages of the textile industry, and looking for ways to improve the process and make money from it.

He returned to Preston where Mr John Smalley “a liquor merchant and painter” allowed him the use of a room in his own house. The house (built in 1728) still stands at the bottom of Stoneygate; very close to where the cockpit once stood (where the Preston LDS branch used to meet). Smalley's house was originally built for the Headmaster of the Preston Grammar School, and today has been renamed as 'Arkwright House' (Hardwick, p 364).

Arkwright House, Preston (behind the tree)

It was here that Arkwrigth began to construct a spinning machine that would change the world! He was very aware of competition, so his work was conducted in great secrecy. One of his assistants, Jon Kay, “is a servant assisting him in making a machine….. Knows not what it is for, but believes to find out Longitude.” Another account records the “barber working on clockwork”. The whirring sounds of his prototype were even misconstrued by some old ladies as him dancing a reel to the devil’s bagpipes! (Hardwick, p365)

In 1769 he unveiled his water-frame spinning machine which proved to be a major step in the mechanisation of the spinning process. But it was his revolutionary idea of a factory where the worker assisted the machine rather than the machine assisting the worker, that had the more lasting influence on the every day life of Lancashire people. Preston is noted for being one of the first places to consolidate all the stages of cotton manufacturing into a single factory. But... it took a few years for that to happen as Lancashire folk had difficulty accepting his new fangled machine.

Richard Arkwright's 'Water' Frame Spinning Machine

Helmshore Textile Museum, Lancashire

This one machine transformed the cotton industry

Arkwright built a large mill at Birkacre, near Chorley (close to the Preston temple), but domestic spinners and weavers were nervous about it. They feared their livelihoods were being stolen from them, so they destroyed the mill in 1779!

Arkwright was not be outdone, so went elsewhere. Mills soon recognised what he had created and were eager to get their hands on it. He had erected a mill at Nottingham, which was worked by horse power, and in 1771 a second mill was erected at Cromford, near Matlock, Derbyshire. The spinning machinery was worked by water power, hence the name “water frame”. (Hardwick, p 366) In addition, Arkwright had patented his machine so was soon receiving money from others around the country who wanted to use his machine. Between 1778 and 1793 there were over 101 mills in Lancashire, 110 in Yorkshire, 5 in Cumbria, plus numerous other counties who were using his water frames. (Aspin, p. 451) At the turn of the century the factory system began to spread at a rapid pace and, before they knew it, Lancashire's domestic spinners and then weavers were sucked up by the factories. Their protests could no longer stop the intense and huge onslaught of King Cotton.

The writer/ historian Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881) gave the following description of Arkwright:

“Richard Arkwright, it would seem, was not a beautiful man, no romance hero with haughty eyes, Apollo lip and gesture like the herald Mercury; a plain, almost gross, bag-cheeked, pot-bellied, Lancashire man, with an air of painful reflection, yet also of copious free digestion; a man stationed by the community to shave certain dusty beards in the northern parts of England, at a halfpenny each. .....Nevertheless, in strapping of razors, in lathering of dusty beards, and the contradictions and confusions attendant thereon, the man had nothings in that rough head of his; spindles, shuttles, wheels and contrivances plying ideally within the same.....His townsfolk rose in mob around him, for threatening to shorten labour, to shorten wages, - so that he had to fly, with broken wash-pots, scattered household, and seek refuge elsewhere. Nay, his wife, too, as I learn, rebelled; burned his wooden model of his spinning wheel, resolute that he should stick to his razors rather, for which however, he decisively, as thou wilt rejoice to understand, packed her out of doors. O reader, what a historical phenomenon is that bag-cheeked, pot-bellied, much enduring, much inventing barber!.....it was this man that had to give England the power of cotton.” (Hardwick, p 372)

R.S. Fitton (biographer) wrote of him:

The founder of the factory system, he was the creator of a new industrial society that transformed England from a nearly self-sufficient country with an economy based on agriculture and domestic manufacture, into the workshop of the world.” (Hunt 143)

And Arkwright certainly made a pretty penny out of the process. A 1785 newspaper reported:

It is remarkable that the great mechanic, Arkwright, was a barber and a few years ago shaved for a penny. His astonishing machine brought him one year a revenue of £70,000, and though he has lowered his prices to crush his rivals, his profits are yet between £40,000 and £50,000 a year. Universal Daily Register, January 1785

In today's money that would be equivalent to a revenue of £7 million and profits of £4 to 5 million plus. In a period of a few short years he shot to one of the world's wealthiest men. The brilliant Erasmus Darwin (1731-1802) described his inventions as having been productive of greater commercial advantages to this country, and contributed more to the general benefits of mankind in so short a period than any other single effort of human ingenuity. (Aspin, p. 5)

His impact on the industrial world was incredible. Others called the machines 'Stupendous' 'magick'. And it was not just a case of the machines being so much faster they also produced a thread that was "a many times stronger and leveller". This uniform quality of yarn made the weaving so much finer and sought after.

Cotton - Part 2 - Domestic Weavers

2010-06-21T13:32:00.000-07:00

At first cotton manufacturing was a domestic affair. In the early 1700s many Lancashire homes were purposely built to accomodate spinning wheels and weaving looms. Many of these homes can be easily identified today by their basement windows - the damp basement helped prevent the cotton from snapping.

A typical Lancashire 'cotton' home with the wife and children spinning and the husband weaving.

Displayed at the Helmshore Textile Museum, Lancashire

This museum is well worth a visit.

The males would often be employed in agriculture during the day, but in the evenings and winter months their income would be boosted by domestic weaving. Traditionally the wive and daughters would do the spinning

Domestic Weaver's Home, Old Cock Yard, Preston

This white house is a domestic handloom weaver’s home in Preston. Weaving looms were kept in the cellars of houses like this to take advantage of the damper environment. Each cellar could contain up to four handlooms, and it could take about six spinners to keep one handloom supplied with thread. The eventual mechanisation of the spinning process seemed inevitable to keep the supply of thread flowing.

Basement Windows in Domestic Weaver's home, Old Cock Yard, Preston

The late 1700’s was the golden age for the handloom weavers and building societies built thousands of homes like this around Lancashire. Gradually the dependency on agriculture disappeared as the demand for cotton grew, and weavers were soon employed full time. By 1830 Preston had around 1,500 handloom weavers, and in 1834 the Royal Commission heard the Preston District had 13,000 handloom weavers with 40,000 dependent on the trade. Historians have estimated there were as many as 4,000 houses like this in Preston. Today this is the only surviving weaver‘s house in the whole of Preston, but in 1837 the landscape of the town would have been packed with similar looking houses in long lines of terraced rows (Hunt 2003) . (Hunt 141).

The introduction of power loom weaving meant that during the 1840’s the handloom weavers declined rapidly, although there were a few that remained in business right up to the 1860s. (Anderson p. 22)
Our missionaries would have entered a town where spinning was already firmly established in the factory system, and weavers were gradually recognsing that their days of private weaving were drawing to an end. There was no way they could compete with the factory output.

The mechanisation of spinning and weaving caused a lot of grief for the working class. In both instances they saw their jobs being stripped away from them and were naturally concerned about their future. To put this in perspective we need only recall just a few short decades ago when workers fought against companies who wanted to bring computers in. There were strikes and protests, but eventually the computers won.

Likewise, these domestic units of industry saw these factories and worried how they would be able to feed their families. And their fears were well founded. Robert Dale Owen (1801-1877), having witnessed Arkwright's spinning machines in operation in his father's New Lanark mills, observed,

a tiny superintendent, boy or girl, took the place of a multitude of adult workpeople...I had a thousand opportunities to witness the skill and vitality with which these child rulers acquitted themselves. I found that each of them, aided by the magic rollers [of the water frame] was even then producing as much, in any given time, as two hundred cottage spinners had done before Arkwright's day. (Aspin, p. 13)

What they did not realise was how the industry would grow and grow to the point that even though one worker could run a machine that replaced hundreds of domestic spinners, there was now such a worldwide demand that those displaced spinners, and later on weavers, could still be put to work in the cotton trade.

Lancashire children.
The Owen's quote above indicates the employment of children in the mills. This was common practise. Children automatically helped at home when the business was a domestic affair, and it was a natural process for them to find work in the new mills as they took over. For many families having children working seemed vital for their survival, and parents felt it a blessing to have their children working. Sadly the use of child labour was abused by many.

1785 - Watson developed two spinning mills outside town. He “may be regarded as the leading spirit of his day in the founding of the Cotton Industry of Preston” (Hunt 148). Both of his mills used apprentice or orphan labour. In his autobiograpy Joseph Livesey described them:

“poor, squalid, deformed beings, the most pitiful objects I think I ever beheld… apprenticed to a system which nothing by West Indian slavery can bear analogy (and living in ) a wretched physical condition, with crooked legs from standing 12 hours at a time.” (Hunt 146).

Many of London's poor and orphans were shipped off to northern mills. In 1787 one report recorded them being "sent off in carts like so many negro slaves" (Aspin, 47). A typical working day in 1806 would be from six in the morning to seven at night with ten minutes for breakfast and another ten minute break in the evening. Dinner was thirty minutes except for twice a week when "we had an hour allowed us for dinner, while the machines were oil'd" (Aspin 50).

Over the decades government acts tried to prevent the abuse of children. In 1816 you could no longer send a child to work more than forty miles away, but this use of pauper apprentices from places like London had already been diminishing (Aspin, 47). In 1844 the Factory Act cut the working day of under 13s to 6 ½ hours, and lowering the minimum age of work to 8. By 1851 the census suggests that for ages 5 - 9 only 2.8% of boys and 1.6 % of girls were in full time paid employment. For ages 10-15, the figure was no more than 44 % for boys, and 34% for girls. (Timmins p.31)

Cotton - Part 1 - Cotton Overview

2010-06-19T01:13:00.000-07:00

"To understand LDS Preston you have to understand cotton"

Cotton became such a major economic force in nineteenth century Britain that some claimed that "Britain's Bread hangs on Lancashire's thread." Our LDS missionaries arrived when the cotton industry was exploding across the Lancashire landscape. There were a number of factors that contributed to its success, but a basic way to remember why Lancashire was so cotton friendly is to list the three Cs: Canals, Coal and Climate.

1. Canals. Today we tend to see them as places for a peacful cruise, but in their heyday canals were wonders of engineering and vital tradelinks. Raw cotton imported from America could be easily delivered by barge to the Lanashire mills, coal could be shipped in to fuel the mill's steam engines and the finished cotton products could be easily returned to ports for local, national and international distribution. In the 1850s the railways quickly made the canal system obsolete, but for around 80 years canals were 'the' way to move products around cheaply and efficiently.

The Lancaster Canal Connecting Preston northwards to Kendal

Joseph Fielding travelled on this canal

2. Coal. Lancashire has a large coalfield which became essential for keeping the steam engines running. These engines powered the increasingly mechanised industry starting with spinning factories and eventually weaving factories. Prior to mechanisation cotton production was a slow domestic affair on looms like this:

Example of a cotton weaving loom at Helmshore Textile Museum, Lancashire

3. Climate. It is wet! Being stuck between the NW coastline and the highland of the Pennine Hills means Lancashire gets a lot of rain. The plethora of moisture is one of the first things that struck me when we moved here from the drier South East of England. The humid conditions make cotton production easier since your spun cotton is less likely to snap...which, when you are operating a machine like this one below could be a real pain.

Example of an original Spinning Machine at Helmshore Textile Museum, Lancashire

I've collected a few dates and Stats to illustrate the cotton experience in the Preston area.

1768 - Richard Arkwright invented the cotton spinning machine in Stoneygate, Preston. This was such a monumental moment I'm going to dedicate a whole post to the Arkwright touch.
1777 - First spinning mill built in Preston.
1830 - there were around 100,000 domestic handloom weavers in Lancashire. About a sixth of the population were dependent on handloom weaving for their livelihood. Handloom weaving still represented the largest sector but spinning companies gradually began to employ their surplus steam power to run power looms. Soon single-storey weaving sheds became a familiar feature of the townscape, and the domestic weavers began to disappear. The export of cotton represented around 30 - 40% of all the exports from the UK (Hunt 174)
1836 - Preston had 42 mills. The next thirty years were the golden age of mill construction in Preston.
1842 - Preston had 15 spinning mills, 15 combined spinning & weaving mills, 3 Power Weaving Factories, 5 Doubling Mills, 4 Mills closed. Employing 707 spinners, 1,725 pieces, 7,500 power loom weavers and 523 over lookers.
1850s - Preston had 64 mills with over one million spindles, employing about 20,000 people (Hunt 173)
1880 - the great period of expansion seemed to be over.

In the next post we'll discover the domestic weavers of Preston.

Cotton & Mormons!?

2010-06-14T07:50:00.000-07:00

I feel it safe to declare that every lancashire LDS convert was directly influenced by the cotton trade. The industry permeated every level of society. Its influence seeped into every trade and every home. Great Victorian towns, such as Preston and Manchester, lived and breathed cotton. Our missionaries would have been sucked into an industrial world that would affront all their senses.

The cotton trade has vanished from the Lancashire scene now (it died away after WW2 due to cheaper, foreign competition), so it is hard for us to imagine what it would have been like. I hope this next series of posts will help your imagination create a clearer image of what they would have experienced. Over the next few weeks I want to demonstate that this was not just another trade that happened to be going on behind closed factory doors while our missionaries did their thing. It would have been at the forefront of everyone's consciousness.

May I be as bold to say that to understand the early LDS experience in Britain you HAVE to understand cotton. This may sound an odd statement, but if you really want to transport yourself to their time, to their feelings, to their events I think it is something you have to accept.

The following is my proposed route through this wonderful world of cotton.

Cotton Overview
Domestic Weavers
Richard Arkwright
Charles Dickens description of Preston?
The Cotton Lords of Preston
Thomas Miller
The 1836 Spinner's strike
The 1842 murders
The Rules of the mill...
The American Civil War
Here come the Mormons
...and so to Utah

See you in my next post as our journey begins.

Mormons in Eastern Canada and British connections

2010-06-01T23:37:00.000-07:00

Follow this link for a nice visual video of this important Canadian group.

Mormons of Eastern Canada

For a reminder on the details of the British connections look at my posts around 6 December 2009

Discovering Oxford - Thomas Cranmer

2010-05-21T12:42:00.000-07:00

You may recall in our previous post we witnessed Nicholas Ridley and Hugh Latimer being burned at the stake for their religious convictions. Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury, was also imprisoned in Oxford at the same time with a similar death sentance hanging over his head. The pressure of this caused him to waver and recant from his convictions. He signed about six documents denying his faith, repenting of his 'heresy' and pleading forgiveness from Queen Mary and the Pope. Regardless of his apparent change of heart and pleas he was still sentanced to die.

Martyrs' Memorial - Oxford

On Saturday 21 March 1556, St. Mary's Church in Oxford became the site for his official public repentance before his death. A carefully crafted speech had been written for Cranmer to deliver. He was then called upon to

perform that now which you promised; namely, that you would openly make a true profession of your faith, that all men may understand thay you are catholic indeed. (Foxe, p. 323)

Cranmer then addresssed the congregation at length. All seemed to be progressing nicely when suddenly he went off script.

And now I come to what troubleth my conscience more than anything that ever I did or said in my life, and that is, the setting abroad of a writing contrary to the truth, which now here I renounce and refuse, as written with my hand indeed, but contrary to what I thought in my heart, and written for fear of death, and to save my life, if it might be; all such papers which I have written or signed since my degradation I renounce as untrue. And forasmuch as my hand hath offened, it shall first be punished, for when I come to the fire it shall be first burned.

And as for the Pope, I refuse him, with all his false doctrine, as Christ's enemy and as antichrist. (Foxe, p. 326)

He was dragged from the pulpit, taken to same spot where Ridley and Latimer died and was tied to a stake.

x marks the spot - Oxford

As the flames were lit beneath him Cranmer held out his right hand towards the fire. Since it was his right hand that had previously signed the documents to renounce his convictions he felt it appropriate that should burn first. He declared:

This unworthy right hand! Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.

Sources
Foxe, John. Foxes' Book of Martyrs

Discovering Oxford - Martyrs memorial

2010-05-17T12:43:00.000-07:00

Oxford is a stunning place to walk around. The architecture, the gardens, the layout, and the history just ooze from everywhere. You cannot help but sense a thousand years of scholars, friars, puritans, kings, queens, politicians, poets, clergy, and scientists all leaving their mark on the city, the country and the world.

This city has got to be right up there for a place that has layers (stealing a thought from that great academic Shrek). On its basic layer you can quite happily explore without knowing any of its history or its famous occupants. The sights and sounds are captivating. I could take you on a walk through Oxford's streets and alleys without saying a word to you, and you'd be quite satisfied at the end of our ramble.

But on another layer are the names of those who have studied and worked and lived here. Every building seems to have a wonderful story to tell. This is like watching the Who's Who of British and world history come to life. Take this list for starters: C.S. Lewis, Samuel Johnson, Bill Clinton, Christopher Wren, Oscar Wilde, John Wyclif, Reverend Spooner, Lewis Carroll, William Gladstone, John Ruskin, Cecil Rhodes, John Betjeman, J.R.R. Tolkien, Sir Richard Burton, Charles I, Margaret Thatcher, John Wesley.... The list goes on and on, but this gives you a good taster.

Out of all of these there is one story that sticks out to me; that of the Oxford Martyrs.

The Martyr's Memorial, Oxford

This memorial commemorates the brutal deaths of three men: Thomas Cranmer, Hugh Latimer and Nicholas Ridley.
Thomas Cranmer (1489-1556) was Archbishop of Canterbury.
Hugh Latimer (1485-1555) was Bishop of Worcester
Nicholas Ridley (1500-1555 was Bishop of London.
There is a lot more to their stories than what I share here, but in a quick summary....

King Henry VIII broke from Rome and the Church of England is founded. Cranmer, Ridley and Latimer all agreed with this reforming of the church.
King Henry died leaving his son Edward to reign. Edward maintained the reformation, so no problems for our trio
1554 - King Edward died leaving his half-sister Mary to reign. BIG problems. Mary moved allegiance back to Catholicism and Rome rule. Mary arrested Cranmer, Latimer and Ridley.
1555 - After six months imprisonment in the Tower of London, all three were taken to Oxford for a pubic 'disputation' which was really a show trial.

They refused to accept the Pope's rule over them, were accused of heresy and excommunicated.
16th October 1555 - Latimer and Ridley were taken to Broad Street in Oxford to be burnt at the stake. Due to his more prestigious position Archbishop Cranmer remained a prisoner waiting for word from Rome about his fate.

X marks the Spot. The place of the martyrs' deaths.

Today Broad street has a stone 'x' in the road to mark the spot of the stake where Ridley and Latimer were tied. Ridley turned to Latimer and said:

Be of good heart, brother, for God will assuage the fury of the flame, or else strengthen us to abide it. (Foxe, p. 304)

As the fire was lit beneath them Latimer shared these words:

Be of good comfort, Mr. Ridley, and play the man; we shall this day light such a candle by God's grace in England as I trust never shall be put out. (Foxe, p. 307)

And that candle has never been put out. The break from Rome was essential for the restoration to take place. The opening up of the Bible to the common man was vital for a simple, 14 year old farm boy to read the words that if you lack faith he should ask of God. Ridley and Latimer and many others like them met horrific deaths, but in the grand scheme of things their example inspired and motivated generation after generation to speak out, to stand true, to follow their heart.

It would be wrong to think such intolerance was just a 'Catholic' thing or a 'Mary' thing. Protestants were just as guilty of condemning people and imprisoning or killing them, but Mary's was such a violent purging that it stuck out in British history.

This Oxford Martyr story does not end with the death of Latimer and Ridley. Cranmer's life is still under threat, and his story will continue in the next post.

Sources
Parry, Malanie Ed. Chambers Biographical Dictionary. Edinburgh, 1997.
Foxe, John. Foxes' Book of Martyrs
Neilson, G. A. Twelve Reformation Heroes. Ambassador, Belfast,

400 years old...and still looking good!

2010-05-14T09:14:00.000-07:00

I had the chance to visit Oxford again this week, and that visit has prompted me to share some thoughts.

I think it is easy as Latter-day Saints to forget or downplay the impact of those who lived in the centuries before the restoration. We applaud the importance of modern prophets and revelation, but often ignore those who laid the foundation for the restoration to happen.

I sometimes think I'm on a bit of a soap box on this, but I think we should show more gratitude than we do. I was thrilled to hear William Tyndale mentioned in April General Conference, and would encourage us all to consider these great men and women more often.

I have a whole section in our bookstore near the Preston temple dedicated to these forerunners, but hardly anyone touches it! This is not a scientific observation, but after years of customers just walking by that section I cannot but wonder if that reflects a general LDS unawareness of these forerunners. This is not, by the way, an advertising ploy for the bookstore! I sincerely think we should take the time to consider them and their stories. They were inspiring. They were courageous. They deserve our study. We can learn a great deal from them. I feel another book project coming on!! So much to do, so little time!

Happy Anniversary

Next year, 2011, is the 400th anniversary of the creation of the King James Verison of the Bible. In a lead up to that important anniversary I aim to occasionally share some of the sites and events linked to that event and to other British forerunners.

I would also encourage you to share. If you find a site, an event, a person, a link, a...anything related to the coming forth of the KJV of the Bible please let us know. Is that an avenue of research you think should be pursued? Click on the comment box below and share.

And what has this all got to do with Oxford? Well, I shall just have to write another post...

Deny your faith.... or die!

2010-05-10T14:02:00.000-07:00

Last week I had the pleasure of taking an American couple to their ancestral home in Eccleston, Lancashire (a small community a few miles from the Preston temple). In previous posts we have discovered Eccleston as the home of the Moon family who played a key part in the first LDS emigration party. However, on this visit this American couple introduced me to their ancestors who also joined the church in Eccleston in 1837. The converts were two brothers called Richard and William Aincough.

The only known record written by William was from July 24, 1888. William felt compelled to share the story of his brother.

My brother, Richard Ainscough, was born in Eccleston Township, England, in the year 1815, where he embraced the gospel and was baptized in 1837 by Elder Heber C.Kimball.

They emigrated to Nauvoo, Illinois and found employment at a flouring mill in nearby Warsaw.

In 1843, I removed to Nauvoo where I married and settled down. My brother Richard remained in the employment of the mill company until the summmer of 1844. A short time previous to the assassination of the Prophet Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum, he made me a visit. A that time the county was full of excitement against our people and as he had left all his things at Warsaw, started back with the view of getting them and returning to Nauvoo....

After obtaining them he started back, intending to go to Warsaw, but the steamer from some cause, failed to touch at that place and he was put off about 30 miles below and fell into the hands of alot of mob ruffians who were told by the men on the boat that he was a Mormon thief and they must attend to him. These roughs confined him in an icehouse until near sundown when a gang of about 12 men returned to the place of his confiment quite intoxicated. They took my brother a few steps into the woods and told him to take off his clothes, which he did; all accept his pants and boots. They then tied his wrists together. Drawing up his arms, they hitched them over the limb of a tree at such a height that his toes just touched the ground. They then told him they were going to give him 65 lashes. They then gave him 15 lashes with a cowhide when they stopped and asked him if he believed 'Old Joe Smith' was a Prophet.' He answered, 'Yes.' Then a fresh hand took the rawhide and gave him 15 more lashes. They then said to him, 'Do you still believe Old Joe is a Prophet?' He replied 'Yes. I do not believe but I know it, and if you want to kill me, kill me at once and don't kill me by inches.' At this juncture, one half, or a little more of the mob began to soften and feel some sympathy for him and opposed his being whipped anymore. The most sympathetic of the assailants finally said that he should not be whipped anymore, and if there was any whipping to be done, they would have a hand in it.

The result of the division of feeling was that my brother was taken down, handed his clothes, and not giving him time to dress, he was told to leave, which he did. His back was terribly lacerated, the flesh being whipped off so that some of his ribs were bare. Notwithstanding his condition he walked that night several miles though a swampy bottom. In the morning he came to the main road and, being much fatigued, lay down to rest. After a while a man with a team came along. Upon learning his condition and the cause of the same, my brother was taken into the wagon, but not being able to stand the jolting, he was left at a tavern to be taken care of.

...From the effects of this terrible mistratment, my brother suffered untold torment. He lived between three and four months and on the 22 or 23 December, death came to his relief.

He died and was buried in Nauvoo, never having see a well day after the heartless punishment herein related, was inflicted upon him. He continued in full faith of the gospel and entertained the brightest hopes of a part in the resurrection of the just.

Signed William Ainscough, Smithfield, Cache County, Utah, July 24, 1888

Sources
Quoted in History of Richard Ainscough: Nauvoo Pioneer by Wayne Earl Broadhed (great-great grandson) and History of Richard Ainscough, written by William Ainscough, July 24, 1888. From Autobiography of Lyman Omer littlefield, 1819-1890, Reminiscences of Latter-day Saints (Logan, Utah: the Utah Journal Co., 1888) Chapter XI. http//www.boap.org/lds/early-saints/llittliefield.html

Clitheroe: Dippers and unusual baptisms?

2010-04-27T14:22:00.000-07:00

The market town of Clitheroe sits proudly in the middle of the Ribble Valley. This area was a fertile spot for the early missionaries, and Clitheroe and surrounding communities soon had their own branches of the church established.

PHOTO: Clitheroe high street overlooked by the Castle

Years later a local man, Stephen Clarke, enjoyed talking to the residents of Clitheroe about the old days. He'd get them talking around a "cosy fireside" or "by highway and byeway" and began "jotting down some of the facts and incidents associated with the Old Coaching Days". In the introduction he declared:

The Writer's aim being to record such events only as are within the memory of living man, he determined to shun, as far as possible, all other sources of information, and rely upon the verbal statements of eye-witnesses where obtainable, but when recourse to records for confirmation of dates was essential, that step has been invariably taken. (Clarke, p.8)

PHOTO: One of the inviting alleyways of Clitheroe

One section of the book was dedicated to the religious movements in the town, and the last paragraph is dedicated to the Clitheroe branch.

A congregation of some 30 persons worshipped in a room over Embley's smithy in Lowergate. They were known as "Latter Day Saints," and sometimes called "Dippers." A Mormon from America named Heber C. Kimball founded this branch. Ultimately they removed to the Temperance Hotel (Bennetts) in Moor Lane, and subsequently over the White Horse Vaults. On the White Horse Vaults being pulled down recently a well was discovered there. A rumour gained currency that this was the well in which they were dipped, but this statement proved a canard. Their followers were immersed in the River Ribble. A story anent this event still survives. Some young men knowing that a public baptism would shortly take place, placed some thorns in the bed of the river, and a young member being lowered exclaimed, "Oh, I am pricked." "It is your sins that are pricking you," sternly rebuked the functioinary. They had an Elder or Minister named William Arthur McMaster, who resided in Hayhurst Street.

Source
Clarke, Stephen. Clitheroe in the Old Coaching Days. (1st edition in 1897). Advertiser and Times Printers, Clitheroe.

School Rules - Hankies and punishments

2010-04-26T13:56:00.000-07:00

Just opposite their Fox Street lodgings our first missionaries would have looked out onto St. Wilfrid's School for Preston's Catholics. This school, built 1814, could hold up to 600 children who were taught under what was called the Lancastrian plan where the whole school was under the sole charge of one teacher, but assisted by a number of monitors. In 1837 the day school was full to the brim with 243 boys, 260 girls and 100 infants. In 1839, just before our next wave of missionaries arrived in town, all the girls were moved to a new girls school leaving this as a boys only. By 1840 there were 416 boys being educated here and by 1844 around 500.

In this photo the white house is the missionary lodgings and the brick building behind it is the school.

The school had a long list of student rules but my favourites are number 6 and 8.

6. That you send them perfectly clean in their person and clothes, their heads well combed, their hair short, their hands, face, neck, and ears thoroughly washed every morning, their clothes and shoes well mended, and constantly clean; and each must be provided with a pocket handkerchief, the want of which is productive of offensive habits.

I love that last sentence. I shall be using that on my children. "Luke, have you remembered your hanky? Do you not recall my boy that the want of which is productive of offensive habits". There is a certain charm to Victorian phrasing. My children shall, undoubtedly, be giving me lots of blank stares and will probably end up in youth detention centres claiming they never knew what was right or wrong " 'cos me dad talked weird." Anyhow...moving on...

8. That you require them to go and return directly to and from school, without playing, making a noise, throwing stones, writing on walls, doors or windows, fighting, swearing, talking, visiting or acting indecently or profanely.

And then a little warning about being punctual:

The Superintendent will attend in the school in the morning and afternoon a quarter of an hour after the children are required to be there; and all scholars not seated in their proper places by that time will not be allowed to go home to their dinners (nor to eat them, should they have brought them, or should they be brought to them); or in the evening, will be detained an hour after the other children are dismissed.

Quite an incentive to be on time. Maybe I should pass these wonderful rules to our Bishop, seminary teacher etc. Here are a few ideas for starters:

Anyone walking into Sacrament meeting after the opening hymn will have to stay for an hour after the consolidated meeting. Please sit on the chairs outside the Bishop's office until you are dismissed.

Any student arriving late to early morning Seminary will be forced to stay awake for the entire lesson.

Any child moving, crying, shrieking or snoring during Sacrament meeting will be denied all sacrament Cheerio rights for a month.

But one of my favourite parts of the accounts of St. Wilfrid's school is to do with discipline. One adult reflectively wrote of his student days there:

When we went home in the evening and was asked 'How many slaps have you had today' and answered "Only 25 and two or three on the back" it was very pleasant to hear the remark "You must have been a good boy today."

Sources
Wright, John H. Rev. Notes on the History of St. Wilfrid's School, Fox Street, Preston. 1814-1914. Preston 1915.

Frederick Lamb - World War One

2010-04-26T13:05:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to share a link to nice story about Frederick Lamb, a British saint from Birmingham. He was fighting in World War One and as the only Latter-day Saint around felt quite alone. Read his story here:
Keepapitchinin

Extra, Extra. Read all about it...

2010-04-14T09:12:00.000-07:00

With our high tech approach to news we are in danger of forgetting how powerful newspapers were. Can you imagine how the British saints must have felt to read these articles in The Times newspaper.

July 30th 1844 The Times announced:

The Mormon Prophet, Joe Smith and his brother Hiram Smith, are both dead. They were murdered in the debtors prison at Carthage on or about the 25th June.

August 31, 1844

The Mormons have submitted to the laws, and, so far as is known, demean themselves in a humble and peaceable manner... If blood should be shed the danger is that the citizens would not lay down their arms so long as a Mormon could be found, and the probability is that the holy city of Nauvoo would be reduced to a heap of smouldering ruins.

September 16, 1844 p. 5

Rigdon, it is said, will be chosen to lead the Mormon flock. He is their master spirit and will make a shrewd and energetic leader.

Ooops.....wrong there!

May 12, 1845

The St Louis Republican states that Orson Hyde, is to become the prophet and head of the Mormon Church.

Strike two.

November 19, 1845

...it is the intention of the Mormons to locate themselves west of Rocky Mountains.

Okay. One out of three predictions is not bad. :0)

On May 18 and May 30 1846 they give details of the expulsion from Nauvoo and the trek, and then on August 13 and September 5th 1846 articles are written about the Mormon Battalion.

Such articles from one of the top British newspapers would have been read, re read and shared. Additional details would be shared or corrected via the Mormon grapevine. I'm curious as to where members would gain the 'hot' news. With its international contacts The Times would be receiving news constantly and have an established network to distribute their papers. My guess is that many hard breaking news stories such as the prophet's murder would surface via such official mainstream outlets. The Mormon grapevine would be dependent upon a missionary coming across or a letter being sent. I suspect this process would have been much slower to get news spread out via spoken message, letter, or via LDS publications. You can see how the arrival of American missionaries would have been greatly anticipated as they came laden with messages from leaders, friends and family.

If anyone has any insights on this communication process I'd love to hear them.

The Times & Mormonism

2010-04-13T02:00:00.000-07:00

Generally most of the early Times articles painted a rather bleak outlook of Mormonism. Articles were riddled with sensational descriptions such as:

"This strange form of fanaticism" Sept, 2, , 1842
"This debasing delusion" Sept.2, 1842
"the Mormon delusion" Oct 4, 1844
"its fanatical leaders" Oct 31, 1844 p. 5
"the enthusiasm of these wretched fanatics is astonishing." Feb 3, 1852, p. 5
"utterly repugnant..." Sep 16, 1853, p. 10
"these imposters and their abominable principles." Feb 19, 1855, p. 7
"the Mormon imposture" Mar 19, 1855, p. 8

But not everyone was as quick to label and condemn. Take, for instance, these two 1849 articles:

Those who do not know these people, or have not the means of witnessing the extent of their proselytism, will be surpised at the number who are connecting themselves with the Mormon church. The persecutions they have met with have only given them strength, influence, and sympathy; and the persons who are now joining them are, in intelligence and property, above the rank which has usually been ascribed to their members. The Times, April 6, 1849 p. 8

(re: emigration) ...and, what is even more extraordinary, is found to consist, for the most part, of a better most sort of people - small farmers, intelligent tradesmen, and well to do labourers with a respectable portion of capital amongst them. What can be the explanatin of this? ...the anomaly well deserves an inquiry. The Times, Nov 13, 1849, p.4

p.s. I've only had a chance to search The Times up to 1855... so I can't comment on what their tone is after that. I doubt the mainly negative outlook changes much until the 1940s / 1950s.

Fanatics, Delusionists and Charles Dickens

2010-04-11T13:18:00.000-07:00

The Times newspaper often picked up excerpts about this 'new' religion. I like observing people trying their best to make heads or tails of this faith. Limited by what they've heard or read elsewhere or from brief encounters they take a stand with some intriguing results...

The earliest reference to the church I've found so far is in 1842 when a Dr. Cook Taylor, in his letters on the manufacturing district, said:

This strange form of fanaticism which we have imported from America seems to be taking deep root in Lancashire. The Times, September 2, 1842

That same article cites Mr. Rev. Henry Caswall, M.A. from Rivington (which is located close to where the Preston temple now stands). Rev. Caswall had visited Nauvoo, and was aware of the implications of this faith in his home county.

We scarcely like quoting the blasphamies with which their proceedings are crowded; but as the plague seems to have made its way, and that largely, among the sharp and active minded manufacturing population of Lancashire, it becomes no useless task to expose, for the sake of themselves and others, the wild notions to which their present condition - without authoritative guidance or superinterdance - would seem to leave them prey...if one Englishman is saved from the peril of this debasing delusion... The Times, September 2, 1842

Rev. Caswall, continues his observations in subsequent articles (Sep. 6 1842, and Jan 19 1843) and then in January 27, 1843 he shares this dialogue with Charles Dickens:

"I hope she is not mad!" exclaimed Mr. Charles Dickens, on seeing one of the inmates of an American madhouse.

"Yes"

"On what subject? Autographs!"

"No. She hears voices in the air!"

"Well, thought I, it would be well if we could shut up a few false prophets of these latter-times, who have professed to do the same, and I should like to try the experiement on a Mormonist or two to begin with" The Times, January 27, 1843

Discovering LDS Lake District: Milnthorpe - Emma Jackson

2010-03-30T07:56:00.000-07:00

Name: Emma Jackson
Born: 6 December 1830
Place: Milnthorpe, Westmoorland, England

You may recall from previous posts that Milnthorpe is listed as the birthplace of John Taylor. This small town is situated between Heversham (where John was christened) and Hale (where the Taylor farm was located). John's parents and family emigrated the same year that Emma Jackson was born, and she would have been only two years old when John Taylor also emigrated to Canada. I've no record that the two families knew each other in England, but considering the small size of these communities it is very possible.

I cannot find a record of how or when Emma Jackson converted to the church, but by 1852 she was in Liverpool waiting for a chance to emigrate to Zion. It was in the bustling port of Liverpool that she met another convert Samuel Lorenzo Adams. They courted and married in quite an unusual way:

Sam was called into the Presiding Elder's office and told he could sail the next day. Sam told of his admiration for Emma and his reluctance to leave her. He was advised to marry her before sailing. Emma happened by the office on her way home from work, so the Presiding Elder called her in and tied the knot then and there, 5 Feb 1852. (Pioneer, p. 7)

The Presiding Elder was probably Franklin D. Richards who was serving a second term as British Mission President (January 1, 1851 to May 8, 1852) (Evans, p. 242).

But this is just the beginning of a wonderful story. You can read the rest....no let me rephrase that....You NEED to read the full details of the rest of her story on a blog I love to read by Ardis Parshall. Ardis has called the rest of the story Eleanor and Emma which will make perfect sense once you start to read. Click through here to be amazed by their touching experiences keepapitchinin

Sources
Evans, Richard L. A Century of Mormonism in Great Britain. Publishers Press, Salt Lake City, Utah. 1984.
Pioneer Women of Faith and fortitude Volume 1. International Society Daughters of Utah Pioneers. Publishers Press, 1998.

Discovering LDS Preston - series of DVDs

2010-03-19T05:43:00.000-07:00

Introducing my DVD project on Discovering LDS Preston.
A whole series of DVDs that take an in-depth look at Preston.

View Preston like you've never seen it before.

LDS Preston - The Cockpit

2010-03-19T05:29:00.000-07:00

The Cockpit in Preston features in most histories of the church in Britain, so I thought I'd give you some more details about this building and the events that took place there.

The Cockpit was erected by Lord Derby in 1790, for the sport of cockfighting - hence the name. It appears it was used for this barbaric sport until 1830 and only then during the weeks of the Preston horse races. This sport venue was mainly for the ’gentlemen’, but their conduct, according to the historian Dr. Whittaker, was anything but gentlemanly:

“the parish church is visited by the audacious neighbourhood of one of those human pandemnoia, a cockpit; so that, on a hot day when the windows were open, the writer of this has distinctly heard the infernal yells, the diabolical oaths and curses, which issued from that place, while standing before the altar of God.” (Walmsley, Slides)

Long after its Parliamentary ban cock-fighting continued to be popular in the town, but precautions had to be made to avoid the attentions of the police:

‘At a Preston meeting the mayor was one of the spectators. The sudden arrival of the police placed him in a predicament, so to escape he hid up the chimney. His girth prevented him from concealing himself entirely but the police, recognising the dignitary’s nether regions, left him where he was.’ (Walsh, p. 45)

After 1830 the venue was used as a ‘lyceum’, a dance hall and a concert hall. It also provided the perfect platform for various religious and political events. By September 1837 the number of new Mormon converts meant the Elders had to find a larger place to meet, and Heber’s description of the Cock Pit explains why they chose this historic building:

The place for cock-fighting was an area of about twelve or fifteen feet in the center, around which the seats formed a circle, each seat rising about a foot above another, till they reached the walls of the building. When we leased it the area in the center was occupied by the singers, and our pulpit was the place where the judges formerly sat, who awarded the prizes for cock-fights. We had to pay seven shillings per week for the use of it, and two shillings per week for lighting; it being beautifully lit up with gas. The building was about twenty-five feet from 'the Old Church,' probably the oldest in Lancashire. (Whitney, p.153)

Joseph Fielding remarked,

We now have the privilege of preaching in a large building and conveninent; at first built for the purpose of cock fighting, by a man of wealth, but has not recently been used for that purpose. The present is a great advocate for Temperance and uses it for that purpose. (Fielding 1:30)

Joseph indicates later that they had problems :

The Saints in Preston have to worship out of doors. They had taken a large room, but through the interference of the Methodists, they could not get possession of the man of whom they took it. He said he once saw Elder Hyde baptising and he heard him say he had authority from Jesus Christ. He was sure he was a bad man so we could not have it. (Fielding 2:81)

The 'large room' Joseph mentions was probably not the cockpit. He records that they met in various locations around the town including "out of doors", in "Deacon Burrow's Doorway" in "a small chapel", in Chadwick's Orchard, in a "large room in a new house" "in a room". Plus shortly after the above entry he mentions that they "went and got the use of the Cockpit for the p.m. for Sunday."

In 1892 Thomas Walmsely was serving as President of the Preston Temperance Society, and he shared his reminiscences of the Preston Cockpit.

What an old building the cockpit was. I say was, for it has now collapsed entirely, and is a rough heap of bricks and timber. ….Internally it was amphitheatrically in form, and during the many years it retained this shape it was devoted to innumerable uses of an intellectual, moral, social, theological and political character - to the advocacy of things for the most part of a beneficial tendency, some of a questionable or indifferent nature, but none so reprehensible as the thing abolished. (i.e. cockfighting)

…Often have I been one of the throng that was wont to gather in the tiers of seats which rose one behind another in amphitheatrically form from the level of the pit. You entered the tiers down steps from the level of the entrance. On the top was a sort of promenade round the pit, and round the handrail those who were unable to get seats could stand three or four deep. There was no platform in this unique meeting house, but over in the chamber above there assembled the Young Men’s Academy, of which I was a member and which broke up about 1838. …the Cockpit could be obtained at a very reasonable charge - I think it was 5s - and all kinds of movements were propagated there. (Walmsley)

The cockpit was capable of holding around 700 people and finally tumbled down June 9, 1884 (Livesey, Jenson) but during its history all kinds of groups passed through its doors.

It was the recognised arena of teetotalists, politicians, theologians, socialists, Mormonites, and infidels. All manner of questions were thrashed out here. (Pilkington, p.21)

Some of the famous groups and individuals who used these facilities included: The Chartists, Henry Vincent on complete suffrage, Robert Owen on socialist doctrines, Paxton Hood spoke for fourteen consecutive nights attracting large audiences, John Reyner Stephens on factory workers’ rights. On the long hours children work he stated here:

“Yes, these little ones are treated worse than my Lord Derby’s cattle. If his lordship’s horses are being driven up a hill they are not hard pressed but stopped to rest, but here with these children the machinery rolls on with ceaseless whirl, and there is not rest for them.”

Charles Dickens came to Preston during the great lockout and observed meetings here. (Walmsley).
There is one group that met here that is of particular interest to our story - The Preston Temperance Society.

What a battle ground was the old Cockpit of Preston! First, the arena in which the sporting aristocracy of Preston fought their mains with cocks, and made their bets on the results - a scene of blood and vicious revelry. Next, as a building in which there was fought with stubborn purpose that great battle of principle which heralded a period of historic reform which has brought in its train untold blessing to the community.

…It was here that I listened to Joseph Livesey, Thomas Swindlehurst, Henry Anderton, John Brodbelt, Ed. Grubb, Thomas Whittaker, Dickey Turner, and a number of others, and it was there where a conviction struck deep into my soul, and induced me to become a Teetotaller, now over 50 years ago.

….Even the Mormon apostles - Fielding, Hyde and Richards - tried to win over converts to the vile doctrines of polygamy. It was here that they won to their standard a number of people, and it was rather remarkable what a number of good people went wrong on this question. I remember that many members of one congregation in a little Bethel in the borough became disciples of Brigham. (Walmsley)

The "Little Bethel in the borough" he refers to is the congregation of Reverend James Fielding in the nearby Vauxhall chapel. This is where the missionaries first preached on British soil and also where the first British converts came from.

Sources
Fielding, Joseph. Joseph Fielding Diary. Courtesy of his descendants Keith & Ilene Foulger
Pilkington, W. Facts About the Origin of the Teetotal Principle and Pledge. Preston, 1894.
Walmsley, Thomas. President of the Preston Temperance Society. Reminiscences of the Preston Cockpit and the Old Teetotallers, Preston 1892.
Whitney, Orson F., The Life of Heber C. Kimball. Bookcraft, Salt Lake City, (1992) First edition in 1888.

Joseph Livesey - Forerunner for Provident Living!

2010-03-18T02:09:00.000-07:00

Joseph Livesey was blessed with remarkable insight into the needs of those around him. He would make a wonderful Bishop! He had already introduced Home Teaching (see the 12th Feb post on Home Visits). Thomas Walmsley recorded that “one of the secrets of Mr. Livesey’s success and power was his system of visiting. It was my good fortune to accompany him on some of his Sunday visits.”

And, just like home teaching today, there were those who need a little encouragement:

“there is need, again and again, to remind our teetotallers of the much neglected duty of visitation. Without frequent visitations, my decided opinion is that no society can be in a prosperous condition.” Visitation: its vast Importance -Upward Jan 1899

In 1836 Livesey wrote a pamphlet entitled “An address to the working classes”. The following year our first missionaries arrived in town. As you read the following excerpts notice how many of them mirror the instructions we receive as church members from General Conference, Church employment, and the Provident Living web site.

Domestic Economy: Friends! It is the will of our Heavenly Father that we should be happy. And though inconveniences and sufferings may sometimes be necessary in order to produce this happiness, yet I think it will be found, upon inquiry, that a considerable portion of these sufferings are brought on by ourselves….

…my anxiety, I assure you, is to see every working family comfortable, living in a convenient, respectable cottage, stocked with useful furniture, and comfortable beds, and paying a due regard to cleanliness and good order. I like to see the table constantly supplied with substantial food; the family suitably clothed for working days, and each individual a good suit for Sundays; the father and the elder children pursuing a course of profitable labour through the week, and the education of the younger children properly attended to; the attention of the mother constantly taken up with the duties of the family, and by cleanliness, order and economy, giving to the cottage something of the character of a little paradise. (p.2)

Industry: Labour is appointed to man, and though not always fairly rewarded, it is the most honourable means of support which the working man has.…aspire after high situations, and to qualify yourselves for more profitable employment.…be obedient to your own masters and try to please them well in all things.

Independence: It ought to be the pride of every able bodied Englishman who has got a good trade in his hands, to maintain his family without depending upon others.

Sobriety: I strongly advise you to abstain from all intoxicating drinks. The love of strong drink is the bane of England’s happiness, and by far the greatest cause of the domestic misery of the working class. …the love of home and the public house cannot exist in the same breast.

Furniture: …aim at furnishing your house in a comfortable, respectable manner…beware of indulging in expensive or ornamental articles - until you have got a full supply of those that are absolutely necessary. Instead of falling into the common error of making purchases and paying for the articles at so much per week; by saving your money, you can go to sales, or to the cheapest market, and by paying for the articles all at once, you will effect a great saving.

Food: …promote the health of your family

Clothing: ..not to purchase clothing beyond your means.

Cleanliness. …personal cleanliness daily

Order:. …three good maxims: A place for everything and everything in its place. A time for everything and everything in its time. A use for everything and everything to its use.…proper hours for meals, for retiring, to rest, and rising in the morning, for going to labour or school, will be found of great advantage.

Exercise and Recreation: When the weather is fine, get into the fresh air. I do like to see the man with his wife and children walking together; it is pleasant, because it is natural

Books:. …the mind wants a supply as well as the body.

dogs: In the name of common sense, why keep dogs? …even in many poor parts of the town, where people can scarcely afford to keep themselves, scores of dogs are kept.

Smoking: Men, women, and even boys are addicted to this nauseous, disagreeable practice.

Borrowing money: Borrowing money without any prospect of being able to repay it , is a practice that cannot be too much deprecated. Some persons are much addicted to this evil.

Female Gossiping: …squandering away of time, neglect of families, the discord of neighbours, the spending of the husbands property, the debasing of character...Oh ye wives! Intended for help and happiness, will ye thus enslave and distress the heart of your bosom friend! Is it for him to labour and scrape together, and for you wantonly to scatter abroad?

Economy: You must look before you, and see what you have to accomplish; you must take a fair estimate of your means and then adopt the most advantageous plans of using those means.…Do not live above your means: let your living be square by your present income and never anticipate the labour of future weeks.…command all your resources; open every channel.

Conjugal Affection: How distressing to see the union, formed by the wise Creator to perfect the happiness of man, become the source of misery to many an unhappy pair! The cause however is ourselves.…Let each party cultivate a virtuous character, a sweetness of disposition, a meek and quiet temper, and a kind, obliging deportment towards the other; these cannot fail to win the heart.

Parental Duties: It is your duty to study the welfare of your offspring; not only to provide for the sustenance of their bodies, but for their education, and the formation of their characters. No duty is more important and perhaps none more neglected. …Endeavour to promote unity and sympathy through the whole family. Brawling language, boisterous threatening and passionate blows are most unnatural means for governing children: temperate instruction, affectionate reproof, and well-timed chastisement should always be substituted. Lead them to the choice of the best companions.

Source:
Joseph Livesey. An address to the working classes. 1836

LDS Preston - Joseph Livesey - Forerunner to the Restoration

2010-03-17T04:43:00.000-07:00

Besides changing the physical appearance of Britain, the Industrial Revolution had also began to alter the mentality of the lower classes. Those blessed with vision and passion were discovering they could make a contribution to society and improve their social standing.

The blind Metcalf had introduced the art of making roads; the illiterate Brindley, the art of building aqueducts; Telford, a Shepherd’s son, had thrown a bridge across the Menai Straits; Bell, a millwright’s apprentice, had launched the first steamer on the Clyde; Stephenson, the son of a fire man, had driven his first railway engine. (Hammond, p. 2)

In Lancashire there are a number of similar success stories, but one in particular seems to stand out from the rest - the story of Joseph Livesey. His is not a story of great inventions, rather a role of helping the working class find their feet plus preparing minds and hearts to be receptive to the restored gospel.

Life and Labours of Joseph Livesey

Joseph Livesey was born 5 March 1794 in Walton le Dale (a village just outside of Preston). He was orphaned at age of seven, and was soon involved in handloom weaving. On 30 May 1835 he married Jane, and between 1816 and 1837 they had 12 children, four of which died in infancy. They moved as a young couple to live in Park Street, Preston where he started a new line of work as a cheese factor. By 1836 his business was twice the size of any other cheese sellers, and the wealth from this business allowed him to invest in property and become independently wealthy. He was also able to dedicate time to many good causes for which he was a noted spokesman.

He had the unique ability to take difficult information and present it simply. “no other person had the knack of putting things into so simple, intelligible shape” (Cobden, 1844). The National Temperance League, in paying respect to Livesey, quoted the following by John Ruskin:

“The more I think of it I find this conclusion more impressed upon me - that the greatest thing a human soul ever does in this world is to see something, and tell what it saw in a plain way. Hundreds of people can talk for one who can think; but thousands can think for one who can see. To see clearly is poetry, prophecy and religion - all in one.”

The back room of his cheese shop on 28 Church Street had printing presses which were used to produce publications and flyers for his causes: the Moral Reformer (1831-2), The Temperance Advocate (1833-7), The Struggle (1840s) and the Preston Guardian. He had discovered that the only way to get a newspaper with the right politics was to produce it himself. His easy style and clarity of thought soon made it Preston’s best selling newspaper. Sadly it was his printing press that produced some of the first anti-Mormon pamphlets in 1838. Regretable as this is, it should not overshadow his modern outlook, and the wonderful work he did. For instance:

- 1828 - established the Institution for the Diffusion of Knowledge. The current University of Central Lancashire in Preston (35,000 students) grew out of the educational Institute Livesey had promoted. The University Library has a collection of Livesey papers and artefacts including his table - made from wood from his own weaving handloom.

- he wanted religious freedom and disestablishment of the Church of England. He was quite scathing of Reverend Roger Carus Wilson (Preston’s main Church of England minister). He opposed Chartism, not on the basis of the Charter, but the Lancashire movement’s potential for violence.

- he was not impressed with the slowness of government administration. He claimed, ‘a piece of paper could not be ruled, not even a pig sty built or altered without the leave of the board of London!”

- he set up adult Sunday School in a cottage at West end of Paradise St, then (1825) to 4 Shepherd Street.
In 1827 he established a youth Sunday School at the Cockpit. The only one in town providing free education (age 14-21), plus he taught writing and reading (this ran for seven years).

- he actively promoted self reliance (see upcoming post “Forerunner for Provident Living”)

But the cause for which Joseph will be most remembered is his work with the Temperance movement.

Preston had one pub for every 136 inhabitants (man, woman and child). Contemporaries estimated that each night the City had 30,000 drunks, half the male working class. Livesey was extremely concerned about the effects of alcohol and strived to make a real impact on what he perceived as a real evil. His contribution to our habits, lifestyles and social customs endures for every time anyone drinks or gambles they do so with the knowledge that there is a law or regulation restricting them. It was Livesey who really gave the Temperance movement its clout. His financial muscle, commitment and fervour was unmatched. For Joseph this was not just about drink choices, it was helping people take control of their life.

Livesey felt the views of the rich were misdirected. When the working class needed help or reproof the rich would recommend the institutional approach of the workhouse or the prison. All privacy and personal rights were removed including even living with your own children or wife. Livesey claimed this was the wrong approach. He loudly declared that working class improvement would come about by education, self-betterment and spiritual development (Levitt p.9).

Livesey believed the unfair wages and poor education opportunities were the foundation of the drinking problem.

“considering the price of food, the price of labour and the want of work there are thousands in Lancashire, weavers, labourers and others, who cannot, by their utmost efforts, earn what will maintain their families.” Preston Chronicle, 28 Nov 1840

Temperance promoted personal development, and Livesey’s push for total abstinence also created the first worker’s campaign for social improvement.

The Liveseys lived at 13 Bank Parade until he died in 1884, aged 90. Estimates claim that 10,000 lined the streets of Preston at his funeral. Pulpit tributes were made to him in nearly every church and denomination in town. Messages of sympathy came from Liverpool, London, Accrington, Darwen and from Temperance groups across the country and world. (see Life and Labours p. 153+)

Sources:

Hammond, J.L. & Barbara, The Town Labourer 1760-1832: The New Civilisation. Longmans, London 1917.
Levitt, Ian (ed), Joseph Livesey of Preston: Business, Temperance and Moral Reform. University of Central Lancashire, (1996).
Livesey, Joseph. Reminiscences of Early Teetotalism 1884?
Walmsely, Thomas. President of the Preston Temperance Society. Reminiscences of the Preston Cockpit and the Old Teetotallers, Preston 1892

LDS Preston - Christmas in the Cockpit

2010-03-16T04:42:00.000-07:00

As the first missionaries in Preston began to gather converts they needed to find somewhere to meet. They would often congregate in the open air, but they also hired the old cockpit. This building was located just near the parish church on one of Preston's main streets. In a few days I'll share a post which gives more details about the cockpit itself, but for now I want to share the details of two special conferences that were held here.

Preston Conference: Christmas Day 1837

The first general conference of the Church in Britain was held in the Cockpit on 25 December 1837. Around 300 members were present who witnessed a number of ordinations (including Joseph Fielding being made an Elder), confirmations, and blessings. Heber declared:

The Spirit of the Lord was with us; and truly the hearts of the Elders were rejoiced beyond measure when we contemplated the glorious work which had been done, and we had to exclaim, 'Blessed be the name of the Lord, who has crowned our labors with such success!' During the conference we confirmed fourteen members and blessed about one hundred children. (Whitney, p. 174)

It was at this conference that the Word of Wisdom was first publicly preached to the British Saints. It is worth noting that the Cockpit witnessed Joseph Livesey’s pledge of total abstinence from alcohol (1832), then a few years later the coining of the word ‘Tee-total’, and three years after that the introduction of the Word of Wisdom. It seems to me an act of providence that Livesey had spent five years, with intense opposition, trying to convince people to abstain from drink. When our missionaries arrived it was one less obstacle for them to try and ovecome. The groundwork had already been done for them.

As the LDS missionaries began spreading throughout Britain they often approached the Temperance movement with the hope of using their halls to preach in. Fortunately many of them shared Livesey’s view of religion’s role in stopping alcoholic abuse:

“You have now a call of providence to prepare the way for true religion. If the wicked fashion of drinking is ever to be changed, whoso likely as the ministers of religion to march foremost in this good work.” (Livesey’s Lecture)

Heber noted how this connection helped them in their missionary efforts.

In almost every place we went where there was a temperance hall, we could get it to preach in, many believing that we made men temperate faster than they did; for as soon as any obeyed the Gospel they abandoned their excesses in drinking; none of us drank any kind of spirits, porter, small beer, or even wine; neither did we drink tea, coffee or chocolate.

Conference - April 8th, 1838

Four months later another conference was held here in the Cockpit as Heber Kimball, Orson Hyde and Isaac Russell were preparing to return to America the following week. It was a time of great rejoicing and sorrow. They rejoiced to see that some eight months after their arrival there were about 400 members in the Preston branch, and around 1,600 in branches established in, Penwortham, Walkerfold, Thornley, Ribchester, Chatburn, Clithero, Barshe Lees, Waddington, Leyland Moss, Leyland Lane, Eccleston, Hunter's Hill, Euxton, Whittle, Dauber's Lane, Bamber Bridge, Longton, Southport, Downham, Burnley, Brampton, Bolton, Chorley, and further afield in Bedford (40) and Alston, Cumberland (60). (Whitney, p. 190)

The work kept spreading; the prospect of usefulness grew brighter and brighter, and the field opened larger and larger; while the cries of 'Come, and administer the words of life unto us,' were more and more frequently sounding in our ears. I do not remember during the last six months I was in England of retiring to my bed earlier than midnight, which was also the case with Brothers Hyde and Fielding. (Whitney, p. 190)

Besides providing an opportunity to provide instruction the conference also witnessed a number of ordinations, 40 confirmations, and, once again, the blessing of about 100 children. Joseph Fielding was called upon to preside over the church in England, with Willard Richards as his first counsellor, and William Clayton (a convert from Penwortham) his second counsellor. But it was also a time of sad farewells.

Sunday, April 8th, the day of the conference, came. The Saints began to assemble at an early hour. By nine o'clock there were from six to seven hundred present from various parts of the country. (Whitney, p. 190)

At 5 p.m. we brought the conference to a close, having continued without interruption from 9 a.m. and appointed 7 o'clock the same evening to deliver our farewell addresses. At the appointed time we repaired to the 'Cock Pit' which was crowded to excess. Brother Hyde and myself spoke to them concerning our labors in that land, the success of the ministry, and the kindness we had experienced at their hands, and told them we expected before long to see them again, after we had visited the Church and our families in America. When we spoke of our departure their souls were melted; they gave vent to their feelings and wept like little children, and broke out in lamentations like the following: 'How can we part with our beloved brethren!' 'We may never see them again !' 'Oh, why must you leave us !' I could not restrain my feelings, and they found vent in a flood of tears. It would have been almost an impossibility for us to have left this affectionate people, if we had not had the most implicit confidence in the brethren who had been appointed to preside over them in our absence; but knowing they had the confidence of the Church, we felt that affairs would be conducted in righteousness.

"Immediately after dismissing the congregation, we met the official brethren, about eighty, and instructed them in their duties, and dismissed at 1 o'clock the next morning." (Whitney, p. 193)

Sources:

Livesey, Joseph. Reminiscences of Early Teetotalism 1884?
Walmsely, Thomas. President of the Preston Temperance Society. Reminiscences of the Preston Cockpit and the Old Teetotallers, Preston 1892
Whitney, Orson F., The Life of Heber C. Kimball. Bookcraft, Salt Lake City, (1992) First edition in 1888.

LDS Preston - Joseph Livesey & TeeTotal Movement

2010-03-15T10:39:00.000-07:00

Joseph Livesey was one of the great 'sons' of Preston. We will discuss some of the remarkable contributions of Joseph Livesey later, but it was his involvement in the Temperance movement that gave him both local, national and international fame. As a missionary of the Temperance movement Joseph was even referred to as the “John the Baptist of Teetotalism”. He published The Moral Reformer (1831-3) and then The Preston Temperance Advocate (starting 1834) - the first publication of the Teetotallers in Britain. (Slides). Most of the information below is taken from The Preston Temperance Advocate which he printed and published at his store in 28 Church Street.

Temperance societies had been formed in America during the early 1820’s and were first formed in Britain in 1829 (PTA, Dec 1837, p.91). (Note: the Blue plaque at this site incorrectly claims Livesey founded the Temperance movement. He did not. His contribution was for the founding of the Teetotal movement.)

By 1830 temperance societies were established in many towns, but the Preston society became so prominent due to its pledge of total abstinence. This decision is traced to a lecture given by James Tearl in the Independent Chapel in Grimshaw Street, Preston in June 1832. Afterwards Livesey and his associates drew up a preliminary total pledge in a room above his cheese shop and at a meeting of the society on 1 September the pledge was signed by “The Seven Men of Preston”

In 1833, 2,000 people attended the annual meeting of the Preston society, where a total abstinence pledge for one year was introduced. In the next twelve months 1,000 people signed it, and the movement began to spread nationally. At this meeting Richard (Dickey) Turner coined the word Teetotal . Joseph explained how the word Teetotal came to be used

“…in attempting to deprecate moderation, he (Dickey) observed, ‘nothing but tee- tee-total will do.’ The phrase was taken up immediately serving as a convenient substitute for the circumlocution which had previously been used. It spread rapidly, and is now the standing technical name both in England and America for the doctrine of abstinence from alcoholic liquors.” (PTA, April 1836)

The Preston Temperance Hotel was opened in 30 Church Street where they held meetings in addition to their meetings at the cockpit (PTA Oct 1837 p. 80 & Nov 1837, p. 85). This establishment aimed to provide a sober alternative to Preston's 292 Public Houses and Beer Houses. This meant there was a drinking establishment to every 32 private houses in Preston. ( PTA, Nov 1837, p. 87)

Livesey printed The Preston Collection of Hymns and Songs with missionary Temperance themes which included dittys such as:
I love the Temperance cause;
I join to spread its fame;
The source of health, and wealth, and peace
Its victories I’ll proclaim

And

Sign tee-total….just now
It will cure you….just now
We can prove it…just now
Come and try it…just now
And you’ll love it…just now
Sign tee-total …just now

Within five years of the founding of the Teetotal movement Livesey proudly declared “there are 19 Temperance papers published in the United States, two in South America and three or four in Canada, all of which advocate the principle of entire abstinence from intoxicating drinks or beverages” (PTA, June 1837, p.48)

Joseph encouraged his readers: “make not, drink not, give not, offer not, and discountenance its use in every possible way.” (PTA, October 1837, p.75)

He saw their mission as “to check the licentiousness, to correct the taste, to improve the disposition, and to regenerate the appetite of the age, and to enlighten, to instruct, to bless, and to civilize their fellow men.” (PTA November 1837, p. 85)

Could it be more than coincidence that these teachings of abstinence were preparing many hearts for the gospel and a special Christmas sermon? The story continues in the next post...

Discovering LDS Preston - Guess who...

2010-03-15T07:06:00.000-07:00

The following article was written in 1894, but it summarised the activity that began in Preston in the 1830s.

Brave Men of Preston

They formed themselves into a society, held meetings, distributed tract, sprung rattles, rung bells, [The bells & rattles were used to attract people to the meetings] made speeches, delivered lectures, gave their money, sought subscriptions and established societies.

They were hissed, misrepresented, boycotted, deserted, smitten, stoned, and beseiged. Their lives were threatened and buildings wrecked. But they pushed through abuse and the tactics of opposition, and hammered home the principles of the new doctrine.

Every weapon of enmity, every device of policy, every tongue to calumny has been tried against the movement but in vain. It arose without noble patronage to shine upon it, or secular power to defend it. It was born in poverty, cradled in storm, and has lived amid reproach, and advanced in the teeth of opposition...

With the pockets of the poor for its treasury, the prayers of its children for its benison, and the blessing of the Lord for its trust, it has gone forth and triumphed. It has spread to all lands. It has driven back despair, and opened a new door of hope to the future of mankind.

...it has done more than can be measured or weighed. Preston has reason to be proud of the fact that it was the birthplace of one of the greatest and grandest moral reforms ever accomplished in this country, and spread with amazing rapidity throughout the universe.

Well, you might be thinking this is talking about the establishment of the Mormon faith in Britain. But.. it is not. The details match wonderfully, but it has nothing to do with our church. This article was talking about the establishment of the Tee total movement in Preston - a movement that was just five years old when the missionaries arrived. Their similarities helped to prepare many hearts to accept the restored gospel.

To explain this connection I need to take you back to 1832....

Sources
Pilkington, W. Facts About the Origin of the Teetotal Principle and Pledge. 1894, p.65