William and Eliza Phelps Jenkins: The United Brethren Couple Whose Home Became a Gateway to the Restoration

William Jenkins and his wife Eliza Phelps Jenkins (1811–1890) were members of the United Brethren — a devout religious movement in Gloucestershire and Herefordshire, England whose members had been earnestly praying to find the true church of Jesus Christ.

When Elder Wilford Woodruff arrived in England in 1840 and made his way to Herefordshire, he discovered the United Brethren ready and waiting for the gospel. The Church history manual records: 'Mary Ann Weston lived in England with the William Jenkins family while learning dressmaking. Brother Jenkins was converted to the gospel, and Wilford Woodruff baptized the entire Jenkins household.'

Eliza Phelps Jenkins was among the very first six people baptized by Wilford Woodruff at the Benbow Farm pond — an event that began the most remarkable missionary harvest of the 19th century. She was also a preacher for the United Brethren herself, one of the women in that community known for her spiritual gifts.

The Jenkins home became a place where neighbors, apprentices (like Mary Ann Weston), and friends heard the gospel and were baptized. In this way, the conversion of a single couple rippled outward through their household and their social network, bringing many others into the fold.

William and Eliza Jenkins represent the divine pattern of the Restoration: God prepares hearts, sends missionaries, and then uses converted families as instruments to bring others to the truth.

Recording note: No verbatim first-person account by William or Eliza Phelps Jenkins survives in public archival sources. Their conversion and the baptism of the Jenkins household are recorded in Wilford Woodruff's journal (published by the Wilford Woodruff Papers, https://wilfordwoodruffpapers.org/subjects/eliza-phelps-jenkins) and summarized in 'Our Heritage,' chapter 5, the Church's published history of the Restoration. Eliza Phelps Jenkins (1811–1890) was a lay preacher among the United Brethren before her baptism and, with her husband William, opened their Hawcross home as one of the licensed preaching places Woodruff used throughout the Herefordshire harvest.