William Howells

Who is William Howells?

William Howells was a Welsh Mormon missionary. He was the first missionary of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to preach in France.

Howells was born in Penmark, Wales and was christened at St Donats on 18 September 1816. He was raised as a Baptist and married Martha Williams in September 1839. Howells became a storeowner and was financially successful. For a brief period of time he was a Baptist missionary in Brittany, where he learned to speak French.

In 1847, Howells was intrigued by a vigorous dispute in the area between Mormon missionaries and Baptist ministers. Howells obtained some of the missionaries' pamphlets and came to the determination that the Mormons were correct. He was baptized by Dan Jones. By 1849, Howells had baptized 100 of his family and associates into the LDS Church.

In 1849, Howells was ordained a high priest and sent to France as the first missionary for the LDS Church in that country. He preached first in Le Havre, where he baptized Augustus Saint d'Anna as the first French convert. After a month of preaching, Howells returned to Wales to visit his family, returning a few weeks later with his daughter Ann, who preached with him for the next three months. They were joined by William C. Dunbar a Scottish convert who had been sent to France via the Channel Islands to aid in the missionary work. In 1849–50, Howells briefly returned to Wales three more times, each time returning to France to continue his preaching.