1. Henry Cole, quoted in Asa Briggs, Victorian People (New York: Harper Colophon Books, 1955), 16.

2. The term “Crystal Palace” first appeared in Punch 19 (November 2, 1850): A.

3. Upon seeing the Crystal Palace erected, Colonel Thomas Sibthorp, member of Parliament for Lincoln, declared in the House of Commons, “They might call it success but I call it failure. I do not wish to see that building destroyed by any acts of violence, but would to God that some hailstorm, or some visitation of lightning might descend to defeat the ill-advised project.” Quoted in Stanley Weintraub, Uncrowned King: The Life of Prince Albert (London: Free Press, 1997), 246.

4. Quoted in David Thomson, England in the Nineteenth Century, Penguin History of England, vol. 8 (Harmondsworth, U.K.: Penguin, 1951), 103.

5. [London] Times, May 2, 1851.

6. Manuscript History and Historical Reports, London Conference, May 1, 1851, Church Archives, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City (hereafter cited as Church Archives).

7. Gerry Avant, “1893: First Choir Out-of-State Tour: Singers Compete at Chicago Fair, Have Concerts in 4 Cities,” Church News, published by Deseret News, September 4, 1993. See also K. C. Terry, Great Moments in Mormonism (Santa Barbara: Butterfly Publishing, 1980).

8. Brent L. Top, “Legacy of the Mormon Pavilion,” Ensign 19 (October 1989): 22.

9. Exhibition Catalogue (1851) (London: Imperial College, Archive of the Commissioners of the Great Exhibition, 1851).

10. Tallis’s History and Description of the Crystal Palace (London, 1851), quoted in Francois Bedarida, A Social History of England, 1851–1990 (London: Routledge, 1991), 8.

11. William Edward Painter referred to the Crystal Palace as “the Idol of Science and Intellect.” William Edward Painter, The Theology and Morality of the Great Exhibition (London: By the author, 1851).

12. Painter, Theology and Morality of the Great Exhibition.

13. Exhibition Catalogue (1851), 151.

14. Letter number 375, Imperial College, Archive of the Commissioners of the Great Exhibition, London.

15. Contemporary documents include An Address to Foreigners Visiting the Great Exhibition of Arts in London—the Scriptures and the Sabbath in England (n.p.: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1851); Alexander Emerton, A Moral and Religious Guide to the Great Exhibition (n.p.: By the author, 1851); P. Macfarlane, The Crystal Palace Viewed in Some of Its Moral and Religious Aspects (Edinburgh: DC Budge, 1851); and A Walk through the Crystal Palace (n.p.: Religious Tract Society, 1851).

16. The Archive of the Commissioners of the Great Exhibition contains 870 letters written to the commissioners in 1850 and 1851 with no correspondence from any Latter-day Saints. Nor is any such correspondence is recorded in the Millennial Star.

17. “Statistical Report of the Church in the British Islands for the Half-Year Beginning December 1st, 1850,” Millennial Star 13 (January 1, 1851): 15.

18. “Statistical Report of the Church in the British Islands, for the Half-Year Beginning June 1st, 1851,” Millennial Star 13 (July 1, 1851): 207.

19. Wilford Woodruff, quoted in James B. Allen, Ronald K. Esplin, and David J. Whittaker, Men with a Mission, 1837–1841: The Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in the British Isles (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1992), 192.

20. Allen, Esplin, and Whittaker, Men with a Mission, 197.

21. James B. Allen and Malcolm R. Thorp, “The Mission of the Twelve to England, 1840–41: Mormon Apostles and the Working Classes,” BYU Studies 15, no. 4 (1975): 8.

22. Eli B. Kelsey, “A Communication from Elder Eli B. Kelsey,” Millennial Star 13 (May 1, 1851): 140.

23. “Editorial,” Millennial Star 13 (February 1, 1851): 41.

24. Kelsey, “Communication from Elder Eli B. Kelsey,” 141.

25. The first branch of the Church in Italy was organized in 1850.

26. Manuscript History and Historical Reports, British Mission, May 30, 1851, Church Archives.

27. Franklin D. Richards, Journal, May 28, 1851, Church Archives, also in Selected Collections from the Archives of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 2 vols. (Provo, Utah: Brigham Young University Press, 2002), vol. 1.

28. Richards, Journal, June 4, 1851.

29. Half-Yearly Report of the London Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Held in the City of London, Saturday and Sunday, May 31st, and June 1st, 1851 (London: W. Aubrey, 1851), 1, Church Archives.

30. Kelsey, “Communication from Elder Eli B. Kelsey,” 141.

31. Half-Yearly Report of the London Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Held in the City of London, Saturday and Sunday, December 6th and 7th, 1851 (London: J. B. Franklin, 1851), 5, Church Archives.

32. At about this same time, branches were created in Romford, Grays Chelmsford, Dunmow, Bishops Stortford, and Hockley. See English Branch Records, Church Archives; “Organizations and Appointments,” Millennial Star 13 (November 1, 1851).

33. Painter, Theology and Morality of the Great Exhibition.

34. Macfarlane, Crystal Palace Viewed in Some of Its Moral and Religious Aspects.

35. “We expect to hold a Conference in London the first sabbath in June. . . . By that time the Great Exhibition will be in all its Glory—therefore between sight seeing and the pleasure of beholding each others faces, we expect to pass a fortnight very agreeably.” Eli B. Kelsey to Brigham Young, April 25, 1851, Brigham Young Incoming Correspondence, Church Archives.

36. Brigham Young to Elder Eli B. Kelsey, Outgoing Correspondence, September 12, 1851, Church Archives.

37. It remained in place until on the night of November 30, 1936, it was destroyed by fire. Several iron towers remained standing but were taken down in 1941 because they provided an easy landmark for German bombers.

38. See Stephen Inwood, A History of London (London: Macmillan, 1998), 670.

39. The land upon which the Church building stands was originally a part of the commissioners estate but was sold to private investors. At the time the meetinghouse was built, the land was owned by Progress Property Investments Limited. The Church secured a long lease with title absolute registered December 5, 1966. English Land Registry, London, title number LN146953.

40. Author’s personal journal.

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