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Joseph Fielding (March 26, 1797 – December 19, 1863) was an early leader of the Latter Day Saint movement. He served as the second president of the British Mission (1838–1840), coordinating the activities of missionaries in sections of the United Kingdom and parts of Europe. He was the brother of Mary Fielding, the second wife of Hyrum Smith, and an uncle of Joseph F. Smith, the sixth president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Fielding was born in Honeydon, Bedfordshire, England, to John Fielding and Rachel Ibbotson, who braved the scorn and persecution of the established church to become members of the Square Chapel Independent congregation, led by the famous minister Titus Knight, in their home town of Halifax, Yorkshire. James was christened there on 5 May 1793. The family then moved to Honidon, Bedfordshire, where the Fielding family were active in the growing Methodist movement in the area. For many years they regularly walked the four miles to attend the Methodist chapel at St Neots. It is significant that of the ten children, at least eight were to spend their lives closely involved with the evangelism of the gospel, albeit within differing religions.
James preached in first the Methodist Church, but became disaffected and, at the instigation of his brother-in-law Timothy Matthews (a priest), went to Preston, accompanied by two of his sisters, Martha and Mary, to preach in the Semi-Episcopalian and Primitive Episcopalian churches. Martha Ibbotson Fielding married Peter Isaac Watson (a minister) in Preston in 1836. Thomas Fielding served the ministry in the Church of England, initially at Papworth under the rector, Harvey James Sperling.
In 1832, Joseph Fielding emigrated to Canada with his sister, Mercy Rachel. The siblings established a farm in Charleton, nine miles northwest of York, Upper Canada. They were joined a short time later by his younger sister, Mary. Between 1834 and 1836, Fielding and his sisters participated in a religious study group in Toronto. Other members included John and Leonora Taylor, who later also became prominent in the Latter Day Saint faith. The group discussed problems and concerns with their Methodist faith, and quickly became known as the "Dissenters."
Fielding was baptized into the Church of the Latter Day Saints on May 21, 1836 by Parley P. Pratt. He was ordained a teacher in the summer of 1836 and a priest in May 1837. He then moved his family to Kirtland, Ohio to join the general body of the church in May 1837. HIs sister Mercy Fielding, born 15 June 1807, married fellow Latter-day Saint Robert Blashel Thompson, who served as a faithful missionary to Canada and later became associate editor of Times and Seasons. He died of consumption in 1841. In 1837, Mary Fielding met and married widower Hyrum Smith, Patriarch of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and brother to the prophet Joseph Smith. She became stepmother to his six children by his first wife and on 13 November 1838 bore him a son, Joseph F. Smith, and later a daughter Martha Ann. Joseph F. Smith was to serve as counsellor to four prophets before becoming the sixth President of the Church in 1901, at the age of 62. His own child, Hyrum and Mary’s grandson, Joseph Fielding Smith, born 19 July 1876, became the 10th President of the Church in 1970, at the age of 93. Another grandson, Hyrum Mack Smith, was ordained an apostle in 1901 and his grandson, M Russell Ballard is a serving apostle, called in 1985.
