Early Latter-day Saint Records in Britain

History

At the beginning of Queen Victoria’s reign, Herber C. Kimball arrived in Liverpool on 20 July 1837 to open a mission in England for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. On 6 August 1837, the first branch of the church was organized in Preston, Lancashire. In 1839, missionaries were sent to Scotland, where more than 50 branches were formed by 1850. Missionary work in Ireland was focused in Belfast in 1840 and was later introduced into Dublin in 1850. In October 1840, missionaries arrived in Wales and in 1845 the Welsh mission was formed.

On 6 June 1840, the first group of church members left Liverpool and emigrated to the United States to join church members in North America. This small group of forty-one Saints began the journey that more than 50,000 British converts made to join church members who were gathering in Utah.

Record Availability

The Church History Library, located in Salt Lake City, Utah, houses many of the early records for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saint. Their online catalog can be searched at https://catalog.churchofjesuschrist.org.

The FamilySearch Library in Salt Lake City, Utah, contains church membership, branch, and conference records on microfilm and can be viewed at the library. The FamilySearch Library’s catalog is accessible online at https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog.

Locating Early British Church Membership Records in the FamilySearch Library

The FamilySearch Library holds membership records for more than 570 branches in England, around 35 for Wales, approximately 90 for Scotland, and a handful for Ireland and the Channel Islands. An index for the Latter-day Saint membership records for Britain does not exist. However, an incomplete card index of early Britain church members can be found at the FamilySearch Library in the database titled “Historian's Office record of members: known as the "Minnie Margetts" file,” film numbers 415443- 415457.

This card index is arranged alphabetically by surname and can include:

• Name

• Date and place of birth
• Parent’s names
• Date and place of baptism
• Name of individual who performed the baptism
• Priesthood ordination
• Residence
• Emigration
• Remarks

The following steps will take you through the process of locating church records for early Latter-day Saints in Britain:

Screenshot example of Mormon Places Maps.

1. Search the "Minnie Margetts" card index to find your ancestor. If successful, note the branch and/or conference name, any dates and relations, the film number with book, page, and line number, and proceed to step 4. Remember this index is incomplete, so if your ancestor was not located in this database, continue to step 2.
2. To discover the name of the branch that your ancestor might have joined, or the name of the conference they attended, it is necessary to have the name of the town in which your ancestor lived. To find this information, research census records, civil registrations, and church records, including Church of England and nonconformist.
3. After knowing the name of your ancestor’s town, it is necessary to locate it on a map. An excellent resource to locate a British location on a map is GENUKI.
4. Next, visit the interactive map located at http://mormonplaces.byu.edu/map.html. Type the name of the branch or conference into the search bar at the top right, if this information was discovered in the Minnie Margetts card index. If you were not able to find your ancestor in the card index, click the link to the interactive map and zoom in to the location of the town in which your ancestor lived and consider the closest branch or conference that your ancestor most likely attended. Click on the name of the branch (in blue writing) on the map. A purple colored area will appear that indicates the boundaries of the branch. A small box will pop up that will include information about the branch.
5. Click on the “Detailed View” (in blue writing) in the bottom of the box to view databases that might contain your ancestor’s information in the branch/conference that is selected. On this page, towards the bottom, there is additional information listed following the words "SEE ALSO" Look for the line that is similar to: "SEE ALSO: FS Library Record of Members (CATALOG ENTRY: www.familysearch.org, SOURCE PART: 1849-1889 Mem 086,977). The last number listed within the parenthesis is the film number and should be noted before leaving this page. Click the blue link: www.familysearch.org, that is blue and found within the parenthesis. This will direct you to the FamilySearch catalog. There will likely be more than one item listed on the catalog page, as more than one branch is on a film. Within the list of items, look for the item number that has your branch listed. Note the item number and click on that item to see if additional details are available to assist with finding your ancestor's record on the film.
6. Request the film from a staff member or missionary at the Library Services window on the B1 floor.
7. Load the film onto a microfilm reader and use the item number to help you locate your ancestor within the records. If you found your ancestor in the Minnie Margetts card index, use the book number, page number, and line number to find your ancestor's record. When searching for a book number on a film, it will be labeled as "Libre" on the title pages.

The resource binder used to assist with finding your ancestor in early church membership records in Britain, formerly used in the FamilySearch Library, known as the “LDS in Britain” binder, is digitized and can be found HERE.

Record Types and Content

The records kept by the early leaders of the church in Britain were membership, branch and Conference records. Historically, the church was organized by congregations called branches. Large church conferences were held that included multiple branches. Conference boundaries included at least one county and, at times, multiple counties. The records that contain information on the members for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are referred to as membership records and can be found in historical branch record databases. More information about membership records can be found at the Records of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Wiki Pageand the Membership Records of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Wiki Page. Information about church members was also recorded on the conference level, thus creating conference records.

Early membership, branch, and conference records could contain the following information:

• Name of the individual
• Baptism date
• Name of individual who baptized them
• Name of their branch or ward
• Name of mother and father
• Name of spouse
• Date of birth
• Birthplace
• Emigration date
• Removal date and location
• Ordination information
• Priesthood information
• Disciplinary actions

Additional Resources

There are additional historical records that were kept by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on early British church members. For example, the Perpetual Emigration Fund (also known as PEF) was formed to help church members borrow the funds necessary to make the journey to America. This program began in 1849 and was discontinued in 1887. Lists of individuals who participated in the Perpetual Emigration Fund can be found in the book Names of Persons and Sureties Indebted to the Perpetual Emigrating Fund Company from 1850 to 1877 Inclusive. The book has been digitized and can be viewed at www.archive.org . Approximately 30,000 individuals used this fund to assist them with the expenses to emigrate. Although a record was not made for each person who benefited from the Perpetual Emigration Fund, existing records can be researched at the Church History Library. Additional information about the Perpetual Emigration Fund can be found at the Perpetual Emigration Fund Wiki Page.

The database titled “Saints by Sea” includes international converts who immigrated from 1840-1932. Information in this database has been compiled from autobiographies, journals, diaries, reminiscences, and letters belonging to church members. The database is located at Saints by Sea.

The “European emigration card index, 1849-1925” (also known as Crossing the ocean index, 1849-1925) is available at the FamilySearch Library and can be viewed in the library’s catalog HERE. The database is an alphabetical card index of members of the church who emigrated from European countries to the United States. The index is incomplete but could contain:

• Name
• Age
• Nationality
• Number of individuals in group
• Name of ship
• Date and location of departure and arrival
• Source of information

Additional Reading

Additional resources to read for more information:

• James Linforth, Route from Liverpool to Great Salt Lake Valley (Liverpool, England: Franklin D. Richards, 1855). Title No 38867
• James R. and LaVelle R. Moss, “Names and Places: Locales of British LDS Interest,” Ensign, Jul 1987, 17. Link
• Noel R. Barton, Latter-day Saint sources for tracing early British Mormons (Salt Lake City, Utah: Corporation of the President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1980). Call No 929.1 W893 1980 v. 6 pt. 1
• V. Ben Bloxham, James R. Moss, Larry C. Porter, Truth will prevail: the rise of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the British Isles, 1837-1987 (Solihull, England: Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1987). Call No 942 K2tw