George Townshend (Baháʼí)

George Townshend (1876–1957) was born in Ireland and was a well-known writer, clergyman before his conversion to the Baháʼí Faith in which he became a Hand of the Cause.

Early accomplishments

Townshend went to the University of Oxford for a time, then returned to Ireland where he was a lead writer for The Irish Times from 1900 to 1904. In 1904 he emigrated to the United States and was ordained in Salt Lake City. He then went to Sewanee, Tennessee, where he became Associate Professor of English at the University of the South.

Return to Ireland

Townshend spent many years near Ballinasloe, County Galway, where he was incumbent of Ahascragh and Archdeacon of Clonfert. Around this time he achieved recognition with "The Alter on the Hearth (1927)" and more widely with "The Genius of Ireland (1930)". He then moved to Dublin where he became a Canon of St. Patrick's Cathedral. However, this lasted for only a short time before his resignation.

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Baháʼí life

In 1918, Townshend started correspondence with Abdu'l-Bahá. He later became a Baháʼí and it was his activities in this faith, including his writing of two books, The Heart of the Gospel and The Promise of All Ages, which created increasing tensions between Townshend and other clergy and eventually caused Shoghi Effendi to call for his resignation as a canon of St Patrick's Cathedral.

In 1947, at the age of 70, Townshend renounced his Anglican orders and wrote a pamphlet to all Christians under the title The Old Churches and the New World Faith which was sent to 10,000 people in the British Isles on the occasion of his resignation. He then moved to a small bungalow outside of Dublin where he spent his last decade. Townshend was one of the founding members of the Dublin Local Spiritual Assembly and in 1951 was designated by Shoghi Effendi, then head of the religion, as a Hand of the Cause of God. With this designation he rendered many services to the religion, mainly in the area of writing, as Shoghi Effendi thought of him as "the best writer we have ... the pre-eminent Baháʼí writer". Townshend wrote the introduction the book God Passes By which recounted the events of the first century of the Baháʼí faith. In the introduction he was the first Baháʼí to mention the 1844 Edict of Toleration.[1] Townshend also completed another book, Christ and Baháʼu'lláh, which Shoghi Effendi called "his crowning achievement" shortly before Townshend died from Parkinson's disease in 1957 at the age of 81.

Family

George had a wife Nancy, a son Brian and a daughter Una. Una and Brian helped him to write "Christ and Baháʼu'lláh" by writing down his dictations as he was dying from Parkinson's. Brian died in 1988 and Una in 2003. Una married Richard "Dick" Dean, Baháʼí and one time Harlem Globetrotter, she also was a founding member of the Dublin Local Spiritual Assembly as well as a Knight of Baháʼu'lláh, a designation given to those Baháʼís who were the first to reside in a country, hers being Malta.[2]

Works

Shoghi Effendi once said about George Townshend that he feels "Mr. Townshend's services to the Faith can best be rendered by his writing about it, as he obviously has an outstanding ability in this direction..." (The Unfolding Destiny of the British Baha'i Community, p. 198).

  • Townshend, George (1966). Christ and Baháʼu'lláh. Oxford, UK: George Ronald. ISBN 0-85398-005-5.

Christ and Baháʼu'lláh is notable for the changes made from the original publication to subsequent editions published after the passing of Shoghi Effendi. For example, a statement about the "first and present Guardian" has been removed and a section discussing "the lineage of succeeding Guardians" has been replaced with a section discussing "divinely guided institutions" in general.[3]

  • Townshend, George (1957). Abdu'l-Baha: The Master. Oxford, UK: George Ronald. ISBN 0-85398-253-8.
  • Townshend, George (1972) [1948]. Promise of All Ages, The. Oxford, UK: George Ronald. ISBN 0-85398-044-6.
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References
  1. Sours, Michael (1998). "The 1844 Ottoman 'Edict of Toleration' in Baha'i Secondary Literature". Journal of Bahá'í Studies. 8 (3): 53–80.
  2. "Historic role in Ireland and Malta | Baháʼí World News Service (BWNS)". Baháʼí World News Service. 8 March 2003. Retrieved 22 January 2019.
  3. Salisbury, Vance (1997). "A Critical Examination of 20th-Century Baha'i Literature". Baháʼí Library Online. Retrieved 25 December 2016.
  • Hofman, David (1983). George Townshend. Oxford, UK: George Ronald. ISBN 0-85398-126-4.
  • Harper, Barron (1997). Lights of Fortitude (Paperback ed.). Oxford, UK: George Ronald. ISBN 0-85398-413-1.
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