"The question of establishing colonies on Vancouver Island, being then under consideration by the British Government, it was thought that if the Latter-day Saints in Great Britain could go there, they might establish a colony or 'stake of Zion' and be under the immediate jurisdiction of the leaders of the church in America. On this account a petition for assistance from the British Government to this end was addressed to Her Majesty Queen Victoria and to every member of the British Parliament."
