Microfilm of diaries and notes kept by Phillip Margetts during his missions to England (1857-1861 1891) and South Africa (1862). The first volume is a notebook kept during his 1857-1859 mission to England, and much of it consists of pages of poems, notes (including a list of cities visited), accounts, and drafts of letters. A second 1891 diary briefly recounts a second mission to England. It is followed by a detailed autobiography and diary of the 1857-1858 mission to England and a final volume of Margett's 1861 mission to England, which also includes a diary kept while he was sailing on the Sidney in 1862 to South Africa, where he spent time in Mowbray, Port Elizabeth, and Oliphants Hoek. All inquiries about this item should be directed to the H. Russell Smith Curator of Western Historical Manuscripts at the Huntington Library, San Marino, CA. For access please contact Manuscripts Department;Microfilm. San Marino, Calif. : Huntington Library Photographic Dept., 1950. 1 microfilm reel : negative 35 mm. Forms part of the Manuscripts Department's Mormon file, c.1805-1995. Phillip (Philip) Nephi Margetts was born on February 10, 1829, in Warwickshire, England, where he worked as a mechanic and engine driver. He was baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1841 and traveled to Salt Lake City in 1850. Later that year he joined the Nauvoo Brass Band, whose members organized Utah's first dramatic company, the Deseret Dramatic Association. Margetts, who became one of the Utah's most renowned comedic actors, later formed his own acting company, the Mechanic's Dramatic Association. He retired from acting in 1905 and died in 1914. The Philip Margetts Arena Theatre at Brigham Young University was named in his honor.
Margetts, Phillip, 1829-1914 Mormon missionaries--England Mormon missioanries--South Africa Transatlantic voyages England--Description and travel Great Britain--History--19th century South Africa--Description and travel South Africa--History--1836-1909 1857-1891 1891 Diaries England 19th century. (aat) Diaries South Africa 19th century. (aat)
Source
Mormon Manuscripts at the Huntington Library Mormonism and the West, Huntington Digital Library
Provenance
Microfilm of original loaned by Ralph Margetts, June 14, 1950.
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