Historical Vignette: Benbow's Farm & Pond
Source: The following information is from a report by the BBC on 6 April 2006, which was also posted online.
John Gailey was associated with John Benbow, was a preacher for the United Brethren, and was most likely baptized in Benbow's Pond.
From the BBC website:
To mark the 175th anniversary of the organisation of the Mormons, or The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints - to give them their proper title - we're running a special series taking you back to the 1840's when the first ever preachers of the church, one of them Wilford Woodruff - arrived in Herefordshire from America.
The story starts on a farm in Castle Frome; Louise Manning - who isn't a member of the church - now lives there and she's fascinated by its history.
The farm was owned by John Benbow, one of the early converts of the Mormon Church in Herefordshire.
This is where more than six hundred converts were baptised into the faith in the pond on the farm.
John and his wife Jane were originally members of the United Brethren and they were introduced to the Mormon faith by Wilford Woodruff, who had come across to England from America.
Wilford arrived at Worcester in a horse-drawn carriage and then he walked the fourteen miles or so to the farm at Castle Frome, to talk with John and Jane Benbow.
A religious revival, which at the time was a huge event, was held in a barn at Benbows Farm; at three meetings that day, over a thousand people went to hear the message of Wilford Woodruff.
As a result, many sold up and moved to America.
Current Day Photos of Benbow's Farm and Pond:
- John Gailey: History
- Historical vignette of Elder Woodruff's account of his 1840 mission in England
- Historical vignette of LDS Church history in Herefordshire, England
