George D. Watt

Who was George D. Watt?

George Darling Watt was the first convert to Mormonism baptized in the British Isles. As a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Watt was a secretary to Brigham Young, the primary editor of the Journal of Discourses and the primary inventor of the Deseret Alphabet.

Watt was born in Manchester, England. While living in Preston as a young man, Watt was a member of the Reverend James Fielding's congregation. Fielding's brother Joseph had joined the Latter Day Saint church in Upper Canada and had written to James about the new church. In 1837, Latter Day Saint missionaries Heber C. Kimball, Orson Hyde, Willard Richards, and Joseph Fielding traveled to Preston and were given permission by James Fielding to preach in his chapel.

Watt was baptized a Latter Day Saint on July 30, 1837 by Heber C. Kimball in the River Ribble. Watt won the right to be the first official British Latter Day Saint convert by winning a footrace against eight others from Fielding's congregation that desired to join the Mormons. In 1840 and 1841 Watt served as a Mormon missionary in Scotland. In 1842, Watt left England to join the gathering of the Latter Day Saints in Nauvoo, Illinois.