In the mid-1840s, Latter-day Saint missionary work in the British Isles grew quickly, creating large numbers of new converts. As Church leaders began focusing on gathering members to a central community in the American West, many British converts prepared to cross the Atlantic and continue on to the Salt Lake Valley. This set the stage for a sustained, organized religious migration from Britain to Utah.
After the first Mormon pioneer settlement in the Salt Lake Valley, Church leaders increasingly directed migrating converts toward Utah as the center of community life. This decision gave British converts a specific destination and made emigration a central part of Church planning. It also tied transatlantic travel to an overland journey across the United States.
Church President Brigham Young announced a new fund to help poorer members pay the cost of emigrating to Utah. The Perpetual Emigrating Fund (often called the PEF) was designed as a revolving loan system: emigrants received aid and were expected to repay when able. This program made large-scale migration possible for many British converts who otherwise could not afford the trip.
Church and territorial leaders formally incorporated the Perpetual Emigrating Company in 1850, giving the emigration effort a legal and administrative structure in Utah. Incorporation helped the Church coordinate fundraising, recordkeeping, and travel logistics across oceans and continents. It also reinforced the idea that bringing converts to Utah was a long-term institutional priority.
As British emigration grew, Liverpool developed into the key departure point for Latter-day Saint emigrants leaving the British Isles. Church leaders and offices there helped organize travelers and connect sea voyages with onward travel in the United States. Over time, this made the Liverpool-to-America route a defining feature of the British-to-Utah migration system.
In 1855, financial strain and difficult harvest conditions in Utah pushed leaders to look for cheaper ways to move emigrants across the plains. Church leaders proposed using handcarts—two-wheeled carts pulled by people—instead of relying entirely on wagons and teams. The plan aimed to lower costs so more British and European converts could still reach Utah despite limited funds.
In 1856, the first handcart companies traveled from the United States outfitting point to Salt Lake City, showing that the lower-cost method could work. These early companies arrived in late September and early October, and their experiences influenced later planning and equipment changes. The handcart system became one of the best-known chapters of migration for many British and European converts.
Two late-departing handcart companies in 1856—the Willie and Martin companies—were caught by early winter conditions in present-day Wyoming. Church leaders and volunteers organized a major rescue effort from Utah, but deaths were severe, and the episode shaped later rules about departure timing and supplies. The tragedy became a lasting symbol of both hardship and community response within Latter-day Saint memory.
Rising conflict between federal authorities and the Utah territorial government during the Utah War created uncertainty for travel and settlement. During this period, Church leaders limited or prevented some European emigration, interrupting the regular movement of converts. The disruption highlighted how political conflict in the United States could directly affect transatlantic religious migration.
The completion of the first U.S. transcontinental railroad at Promontory Summit, Utah Territory, transformed travel to the Great Basin. For Latter-day Saint emigrants arriving from Britain, rail travel increasingly replaced long wagon or handcart journeys for the final approach to Utah. This shift reduced travel time and changed how organized migration was planned and financed.
By 1870, British-born Latter-day Saints made up a large share of Utah Territory’s population—about a quarter—showing the long-term impact of decades of emigration. Many British immigrants and their children became central to Utah’s labor force, farming communities, and church congregations. The scale of this settlement also shaped Utah’s culture and identity well beyond the migration years.
In 1887, Congress passed the Edmunds–Tucker Act as part of broader federal action against LDS Church practices, especially polygamy. Among its provisions, the law disincorporated the Perpetual Emigrating Fund Company and restricted territorial support for organizations that brought people into Utah. This sharply limited the Church’s ability to use a formal fund-based system to help British converts emigrate.
By the 1890s, Church leaders increasingly shifted away from urging members to gather to Utah and instead encouraged building congregations in home countries. In June 1894, British Saints were specifically encouraged to remain in Britain rather than emigrate in large numbers. This marked a clear end point for the earlier era when mass emigration from Britain to Utah was a central Church goal.
Latter-day Saint emigration from Britain to Utah (1840s–1890s)