BURNLEY, England — David M.W. Pickup was born in a benchmark year for the Church in England. It was 1958, the year President David O. McKay would dedicate the London Temple.

Photo by Henry G. Pickup

Brother Pickup wears traditional horsehair wig in his barrister duties.

Photo by Henry G. Pickup

British judge David Pickup outside a courthouse.

The dedication of that sacred edifice marked a pivotal moment for members in the United Kingdom, a land where the faithful had traditionally emigrated to the United States to participate in the programs of Church in full.

The opening of the London Temple "was a literal and spiritual landmark that had great significance for the future of the Church here that few could have anticipated," Brother Pickup said. "I was sealed to my parents as a baby just as soon as they could get to the temple. From that point onwards, the Church began to grow. Gradually, members stopped emigrating and stayed to build up the Church here."

Now, Brother Pickup — a well-versed witness of the evolving Church in England — plays the central role in another historic moment of LDS British history. The returned missionary was recently appointed by the Lord Chancellor of Great Britain as a judge, becoming the first Latter-day Saint to fill that position in England. A high councilor in the Chorley England Stake, Brother Pickup presides in an Asylum and Immigration court in Manchester. Then in January this year he received a second judicial appointment: as a chairman of the Mental Health Review Tribunal, which determines the legality of the detention of the mentally ill in hospitals. Also in January, he was appointed a Special Advocate by the Treasury Solicitor, with top secret security clearance.

Brother Pickup is no stranger to LDS firsts in England's legal community. In 1984, he was the first LDS barrister called to the Bar of England and Wales, serving as a trial advocate in the criminal and civil courts on the Northern Circuit of Her Majesty's Crown Court. In that position, he was (and still is) required to wear the traditional garb of the English barrister, including the familiar curled horsehair wig, black gown, wing collar and Geneva bands.

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve became acquainted with Brother Pickup about two decades ago when the latter was serving as a counselor in the Preston England Stake presidency. Elder Holland remains impressed with this "multi-talented man."

"David has continued to be a fine leader in the Church and the community," Elder Holland said. He added that Brother Pickup is something of a pioneer in England who has helped chronicle the history of the Church in his country, and is recognized as something of an authority on Church history in Great Britain. He is the author of The Pick and Flower of England, the Story of the Latter-day Saints in Victorian England.

The new judge was raised in a time when professional opportunities were just becoming available to Church members in England.

"There were very few, if any, members with professional qualifications when I was a school youth," Brother Pickup said. "I didn't know anyone who had served a mission and didn't know anyone in the Church who had been to university. Almost everyone was a convert from the working classes. Missionaries couldn't get access to the more affluent homes and the Church was ridiculed as a weird sect by the so-called educated."

Brother Pickup's generation — children born and raised in the Church in Great Britain from the late 1950s to the early 1960s — was the first to serve missions in number. Brother Pickup served in France. Many from his generation returned from missionary service and sought higher education. It was a time when missionary service and university studies were not considered compatible.

"I was told that because of the British system of university education, if I served a mission I would not be able to go to university," he said. "But as one of the first to study seminary in Britain, I remembered the counsel of the prophet Spencer W. Kimball, who advised us to follow the path of mission, marriage, children and education, in that order. I had faith that if I did what the prophet counseled, somehow things would work out for the best."

Brother Pickup said the Lord indeed "opened the way." Following his mission, he married a convert, Janet Robertson. They are parents of seven children (five living.) Despite having little in the way of cash or contacts, he secured acceptance to Leeds University Faculty of Law, from which he graduated with high honors. Additional schooling would follow before he was called to the Bar.

His first few years in the legal profession were challenging. His growing family had little money. "There were times when we lived in student digs or rented accommodations without carpet or even curtains. Everything we had was secondhand or homemade."

But the family trusted the Lord and persevered. Brother Pickup learned his way around a hammer and a sewing machine, making curtains and performing construction tasks around the house. Sister Pickup made clothes for herself and the children, "and made home a little piece of heaven."

A school teacher, Sister Pickup has some legal experience of her own; she serves as a lay magistrate in the low criminal courts.

Through those years, Brother Pickup remained active and busy in the Church. He served in bishoprics, on high councils and as a member of two stake presidencies, and as a counselor to two mission presidents. The Pickups are members of the Burnley Ward, Chorley England Stake.

His talents extend beyond the courtroom and legal journals. Church News readers will recognize his name from the articles and photographs he regularly contributes to the publication.

While challenges await, Brother Pickup said he is hopeful for the future of the Church in England.

"Certainly, there will be an increase in converts, but it is heartening to see the young people mature, marry and raise their children," he said. "In that way, the growth of the Church here is remarkable, and as each generation is raised in the Church, the membership is doubling and children have a firm foundation." — Jason Swensen

E-mail to: jswensen@desnews.com