We were up early this morning for a brief visit to Winchester Cathedral, where Jane Austen is buried. Then we drove to Chawton, where Jane lived her last eight years. We walked over to Chawton House, one of the estates that belonged to her brother — that’s a slightly strange and complicated story, including his changing his surname from Austen to Knight — and saw there the graves of her mother and her sister, as well as a small... Read more
We attended church at the Hyde Park Chapel on Exhibition Road this morning. What a marvelous location! It’s very near to the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Natural History Museum, the Science Museum, Royal Albert Hall, and the Albert Memorial. Every time I’ve attended sacrament meeting at Hyde Park, I’ve run into interesting people. One significant occasion was in 2012, which was probably the worst year of my life thus far. My parents were already gone by that time,... Read more
Yesterday, we did a walking tour in Southwark that focused on the dark and impoverished side of greater London in the nineteenth century. This morning, we walked through the Mayfair district, one of the most expensive areas in the world. (It’s also apparently the most expensive item in the London version of Monopoly.). Mayfair is a section of the City of Westminster, in Central London. Part of the West End, it lies between Oxford Street on the north, Regent... Read more
In the morning, we did a walking tour in the borough of Southwark, which lies at the south end of London Bridge. It’s where Shakespeare’s famous Globe Theatre stood in Southwark. But our focus was on the dark underside of the Victorian city, in which conditions for the poor were truly miserable. We had a local guide named Sue, because Peter Fagg was unable to be with us today. I wish that he had been, because, if I’m not... Read more
This new item has now gone up on the website of the Interpreter Foundation: The Temple: Plates, Patterns, & Patriarchs: “From Jared to Jacob: The Motif of Divine Ascensus and Descensus in Genesis, the Book of Moses, and the Enochic Tradition,” written by Matthew L. Bowen and Jeffrey M. Bradshaw. We left Cardiff this morning to drive to Oxford. En route, Peter Fagg shared some passages from Dylan Thomas’s 1954 BBC radio play Under Milk Wood, an interesting portrayal... Read more
I’m very pleased to report that video- and audio recordings of the recent Interpreter Foundation conference on “Abraham and His Family in Scripture, History, and Tradition” — which was held on the campus of Brigham Young University on two successive Saturdays (3 May 2025 and 10 May 2025) — are now available on the Interpreter Foundation’s website. I hope that you will enjoy them. I also call your attention to the latest installment in an ongoing series of Interpreter... Read more
Two new items went up today on the website of the Interpreter Foundation: Come, Follow Me — Doctrine and Covenants Study and Teaching Helps (2025) — Doctrine and Covenants 51–57, May 26 – June 1: “A Faithful, a Just, and a Wise Steward” Jonn Claybaugh has generously supplied another concise set of notes for students and teachers of the “Come, Follow Me” curriculum. “Interpreter Radio: Come, Follow Me in Context: May 26 – June 1: “A Faithful, a Just,... Read more
Today, we entered the area known as the Staffordshire Potteries, which is particularly associated in Latter-day Saint history with the missionary labors of Wilford Woodruff. First, we visited World of Wedgwood in Stoke-on-Trent. It is the headquarters and principal factory of Waterford Wedgwood Royal Doulton, an English manufacturer of fine china, porcelain, and luxury accessories that was founded on 1 May 1759 by the potter and entrepreneur Josiah Wedgwood. I confess to having only, at best, a mild interest... Read more
After leaving the Lake District yesterday afternoon, our group drove through Milnthorpe, where John Taylor is generally thought to have been born in 1808. We also visited the house in Beetham, near Milnthorpe, where his parents, James and Agnes Taylor ,lived and in which John grew up. He emigrated to Canada in 1832, where, having been taught by Parley P. Pratt, he and his wife, Leonora Cannon Taylor, joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1836.... Read more
Our group headed up to the Lake District today, devoting much of our time to William Wordsworth (1770-1850) and to his wife, Mary, and his sister, Dorothy, who were both very important elements of his life and his creativity. It might seem odd that a tour focused on Latter-day Saint history should devote the better part of a day to the greatest of the English Romantic poets, but it makes entire sense to me. For one thing, Grasmere and... Read more
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