Joseph Fielding (March 26, 1797 – December 19, 1863) was an early leader of the Latter Day Saint movement. He served as the second president of the British Mission (1838–1840), coordinating the activities of missionaries in sections of the United Kingdom and parts of Europe. He was the brother of Mary Fielding, the second wife of Hyrum Smith, and an uncle of Joseph F. Smith, the sixth president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church).
Family history Fielding was born in Honeydon, Bedfordshire, England, to John Fielding and Rachel Ibbotson, who braved the scorn and persecution of the established church to become members of the Square Chapel Independent congregation, led by the famous minister Titus Knight, in their hometown of Halifax, Yorkshire. James was christened there on 5 May 1793. The family then moved to Honidon, Bedfordshire, where the Fielding family were active in the growing Methodist movement in the area. For many years they regularly walked the four miles to attend the Methodist chapel at St Neots. It is significant that of the ten children, at least eight were to spend their lives closely involved with the evangelism of the gospel, albeit within differing religions.'The Pick & Flower of England, the Story of the Mormons in Victorian England, David MW Pickup, Living Legend, 2001.
James preached in first the Methodist Church, but became disaffected and, at the instigation of his brother-in-law, Timothy Matthews (a priest), went to Preston, accompanied by two of his sisters, Martha and Mary, to preach in the Semi-Episcopalian and Primitive Episcopalian churches. Martha Ibbotson Fielding married Peter Isaac Watson (a minister) in Preston in 1836. Thomas Fielding served the ministry in the Church of England, initially at Papworth under the rector, Harvey James Sperling.
In 1832, Joseph Fielding emigrated to Canada with his sister, Mercy Rachel. The siblings established a farm in Charleton, nine miles northwest of York, Upper Canada. They were joined a short time later by his younger sister, Mary. Between 1834 and 1836, Fielding and his sisters participated in a religious study group in Toronto. Other members included John and Leonora Taylor, who later also became prominent in the Latter Day Saint faith. The group discussed problems and concerns with their Methodist faith, and quickly became known as the "Dissenters."
Fielding was baptized into the Church of the Latter Day Saints on May 21, 1836 by Parley P. Pratt. He was ordained a teacher in the summer of 1836 and a priest in May 1837.Biography of Joseph Fielding, The Joseph Smith Papers (accessed December 28, 2011) He then moved his family to Kirtland, Ohio to join the general body of the church in May 1837. His sister, Mercy, born 15 June 1807, married fellow Latter Day Saint Robert Blashel Thompson, who served as a missionary to Canada and later became associate editor of Times and Seasons. He died of consumption in 1841. In 1837, Mary Fielding met and married widower Hyrum Smith, patriarch of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and brother to the movement's founder, Joseph Smith. She became stepmother to his six children by his first wife and on 13 November 1838 bore him a son, Joseph F. Smith, and later a daughter, Martha Ann. Joseph F. Smith would serve as counselor to four LDS Church presidents before becoming the sixth president in 1901, at the age of 62. His own child, Hyrum and Mary’s grandson, Joseph Fielding Smith, became the 10th church president in 1970, at the age of 93. Another grandson, Hyrum Mack Smith, was ordained an apostle in 1901 and his grandson, M. Russell Ballard, called as an apostle in 1985, and served as Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles from January 2018 until his death in November 2023.
Mission to England Between 1837 and 1840, Fielding was called to serve as part of the first Latter Day Saint mission to England. In June, he accompanied apostles Heber C. Kimball and Orson Hyde, along with four other missionaries on board 'The Garrick', across the Atlantic from New York to Liverpool, where they landed on 19 July 1837. Fielding was ordained both an elder and a high priest while in England.Biography of Joseph Fielding, The Joseph Smith Papers (accessed December 28, 2011) He later served as President of the British Mission, when the remaining missionaries other than Willard Richards returned to America in April 1838.
The importance of the Fieldings in the growth of the Latter Day Saints in England lay not just in the diligent missionary service of Joseph Fielding. The early success of this first mission was due largely to the willingness of Joseph's brother, James Fielding, to open his pulpit to the missionaries. Missionary work also began in Bedfordshire because of the Fielding family connection. In August 1837, Richards and Goodson travelled to Bedford and their first action on arriving in Bedford was to contact Matthews, who invited them to preach in his chapel. Later missionary efforts also took advantage of Fielding family connections. During the second apostolic mission of 1840, when John Taylor and Joseph Fielding took the gospel to Liverpool in January 1840, it was yet again the Fielding family connection which opened the door. Matthews had established a congregation on Hope Street, Liverpool, adapting principles of the Latter Day Saint gospel to suit his own purposes. Although they were refused permission to preach in the Hope Street chapel, it was there that they found their first convert.'The Pick & Flower of England, the Story of the Mormons in Victorian England, David MW Pickup, Living Legend, 2001. Joseph Fielding had high hopes that his brother and other members of his family remaining in England would join the Church and spent much of the voyage praying to that end. However, he was to be sadly disappointed.
The decision of the missionaries to go first to Preston, Lancashire, was because Joseph and his friend John Taylor had written about this new, restored gospel to James Fielding. James had read those letters to his congregation at the Vauxhall Road Chapel, but kept back the parts that talked about baptism, as his non-conformist congregation, known in Preston as Semi-episcopalians, did not practice baptism. He was aware that the missionaries were coming to England and eagerly awaited their arrival in Preston. According to Joseph his brother had, "raised their expectations very high."Diary of Heber C. Kimball In this way, James laid much of the ground work for the conversion of his members to the Mormon faith when they were invited by him to preach in his chapel, which they did for the first time on Sunday 23 July 1837, speaking at two services and again during the week. When the missionaries preached, many came forward desiring to be baptised. Learning of the proposed baptisms, and foreseeing correctly that he was going to lose his flock, James visited Apostle Heber C. Kimball, the mission leader, the night before, forbidding him from doing so. Elder Kimball simply replied that God was no respecter of persons and he would proceed with the baptisms.. Those first baptisms east of the Atlantic took place the following Sunday, 30 July 1837, in the River Ribble near the Old Tram Bridge, in what is now Avenham Park, Preston. The nine baptised were all from James Fielding's congregation.'The Pick & Flower of England, the Story of the Mormons in Victorian England, David MW Pickup, Living Legend, 2001.
His brother did not take kindly to losing his flock, most of whom would join the Church, despite a late attempt to have Robert Aitken (an English priest and preacher) offer baptism to his congregation. By 21 September 1837, Heber C. Kimball was able to note of James Fielding that, "His church has left him and he is an object of pity." James was made something of a laughing stock in Preston, and referred to his brother as a 'sheep stealer.'; James later published pamphlets attacking the Church. But more lay behind his bitterness than just the loss of his congregation. At the date of the missionaries' arrival James was doing so well that his congregation had outgrown the 500 seat Vauxhall Chapel, and he had contracted to build a new, larger chapel a few streets away on Avenham Lane, which opened in January 1838 as the Primitive Episcopalian Church. It had cost £1,500 to build and the builders and contractors were pressing for payment of their bills. Without much of a congregation and therefore unable to meet the demands, James was compelled to sell the building. Ever anxious to eliminate 'dissenting' congregations, and in genuine need of more Church of England places of worship to accommodate Preston's growing population, Roger Carus Wilson, Vicar of Preston, bought the newly built chapel in April 1838 at the much reduced price of £1,000.‘Our Churches and Chapels,’ A Hewitson, (1872) and ‘History of Preston in Amounderness,’ H W Clemsha, (1912). The chapel was dedicated to St James and consecrated as a Church of England place of worship on 9 June 1841. The whole affair was of considerable embarrassment to James. By the beginning of January 1838, he became seriously ill. Many in Preston blamed Joseph, saying that he had broken his brother's heart by stealing his congregation. James eventually recovered his health but not his congregation. Joseph Fielding recorded that his brother finally left his church in March 1839. However, according to his own statement, James continued to preach elsewhere in the Preston area for a further 13 years.'The Pick & Flower of England, the Story of the Mormons in Victorian England, David MW Pickup, Living Legend, 2001.
Joseph was described as a good and kindly man, anxious to serve the Lord faithfully, but he felt less worthy and successful than some of his missionary companions, particularly Elders Hyde and Kimball, and struggled with his own missionary service. He was saddened by his brother's eventual rejection of the Latter-day Saint gospel and confided to his diary that he felt, "rather lonely." His missionary companions Heber C Kimball and Orson Hyde were busy with their individual evangelism; both were experiencing great success but each tended to work alone. For often weeks at a time Joseph Fielding was left very much to his own labours in Preston. Elder Kimball, perhaps in keeping with his frontier background, felt more comfortable in spending most of his time in the country areas outside of Preston. Joseph greatly admired Elders Kimball and Hyde and felt highly favoured in having their companionship. Hyde, an eloquent speaker, he saw as very faithful and diligent, with great power in preaching; so much so that other preachers did not dare come against him. He was said to be making Methodist preachers scarce, having baptised some thirteen of them. Joseph wrote in his diary that Hyde's preaching was "very engaging and has attracted many hearers." To Joseph, Elder Kimball was a spiritual giant: "I like brother K's company, but he is so far before me that it casts me down, and I have grieved the Spirit of God by murmuring when I ought to have rejoiced and been thankful." Kimball and Hyde, it seemed to Joseph, worked in perfect unison, being on the same spiritual plane.
Despite the rapid growth in converts, Joseph Fielding was frequently disappointed with his own performance and sense of weakness. He felt that the Lord would never make much of him, yet was determined to keep him humble. At other times, however, his diligent service resulted in feelings that he was blessed with both an increase in faith and an enlargement of the mind, "it is evident that I am most pleasing to the Lord when I am most engaged in the work," he confided to his diary.'The Pick & Flower of England, the Story of the Mormons in Victorian England, David MW Pickup, Living Legend, 2001.