Preston, River Ribble Virtual Tour

In 1837, when Elder Heber C. Kimball arrived in Preston as the President of the British Mission - members of James Fielding’s non-conformist congregation were anxious to both see him and to hear his message.  These people had been prepared to hear the restored gospel through letters from fellow missionary Joseph Fielding and his sisters, Mary and Mercy, who while in Canada, had written several letters to their brother minister there, letters which he had previously read to his congregation.   This congregation had also prayed fervently for these missionaries and longed to hear their message.  After three sermons in Reverend Fielding’s Vauxhall Chapel, several desired to be baptised.  With so much interest, those first baptisms in England were witnessed by eight thousand onlookers.

However, the forces of evil were anxious to keep them away. On the morning of the first baptisms, these evil spirits attacked Elder Kimball and others and threatened to destroy them.

This informative Virtual Tour speaks of their preaching in front of the Preston Obelisk on many occasions, and often in a converted building known as “The Cockpit” or Temperance Hall.

On the morning of Sunday, July 30, 1837, the following nine people were baptised in the River Ribble as the first baptisms in England: George D. Watt, Thomas and Ann Elizabeth Walmsley, George Wate, Henry Billsbury, Mary Ann Brown, Miles Hodgen, Ann Dawson (Miles Hodgen’s mother-in-law), and Charles Miller.

Family records held by descendents of Henry Clegg note that he was the one who ran with George D. Watt to be the first person baptized in Britain, however, church records are silent about his possible baptism that day (July 30, 1837). Those records note that he was baptized a short time thereafter.