Early Saints Remembered

On April 3, 1857, while visiting in the Leigh Branch of the Manchester Conference, Elder Mark Forscutt recorded in his journal: "visited Bro Hindley & wife with whom I had some conversation and engaged in prayer ..."  I have not uncovered any other reference to the Hindleys from Leigh Branch in missionary journals.  With such limited detail, it is very fortunate that the Leigh Branch membership records survive.  They include only one Hindley family, that of Robert Hindley , which makes the couple in this journal entry identifiable.  He appears in the records multiple times.  His parents are reportedly Joseph Hindley and Catherine Newgent.  According to the records, Robert was born February 7, 1814 in Bedford or Leigh, was baptized in the Leigh Branch by Charles E. Walsh on March 13, 1855, was confirmed by Joseph Moss, held the office of elder, and died on February 12, 1883. Three of his children are noted as members of the Leigh Branch, as well.  ...

Last fall I graduated from the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, Scotland.  Their MSc program in Genealogical Studies permitted me to focus my dissertation research on three of my favorite topics: ENGLAND GENEALOGY, MISSIONARY WORK, and the MORMON MIGRATION.  My paper highlighted the journals/diaries of early Latter-day Saint missionaries as an underutilized resource for genealogists.  It also looked closely at the characteristics of early English converts to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in an attempt to learn more about those who did not  migrate to "Zion." As a result of the research conducted, I found myself uncovering the names of many people who had once been members of the Church, but who did not (for a wide variety of reasons), move with the massive migrations of Saints to the western U.S.  Migrant Saints are often well-studied.  Non-migrant Saints are less-studied, and in many cases, they have been lost to Church History....