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The Bahá'í Faith in the United Kingdom started in 1898 when Mrs. Mary Thornburgh-Cropper (d. 1938), an American by birth, become the first Bahá'í in England and this year is therefore regarded as the founding of the British Bahá'í community.[1]. Through the 1930s, the number of Bahá'í in the United Kingdom grew, leading to a pioneer movement beginning after the Second World War with sixty percent of the British Bahá'í community eventually relocating. In 2004 Bahá'ís estimated there were about 5000 members in the UK[2] though the Association of Religion Data Archives (relying on World Christian Encyclopedia) estimated some 34,000 Bahá'ís.[3]
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Before there were any Bahá'ís in the United Kingdom, the first newspaper reference to the religious movement begun by the Báb occurred in The Times on 1 November 1845, only a little over a year after the Báb first stated his mission.[4] There was then a British mission in Tehran, Persia and it reported on the events regarding Babism during that period and after Bahá'u'lláh's banishment to Baghdad the British consul-general of Baghdad offered him British citizenship and also to arrange for a residence for him in India or any place he wished. Bahá'u'lláh refused the offer.[5] After being further banished from Baghdad, Bahá'u'lláh wrote an official letter or tablet to Queen Victoria commenting favourably on the British parliamentary system and commended the Queen for the fact that her government had ended slavery in the British Empire.[6] She, in response to the tablet, is reported to have said, though the original record is lost, that "If this is of God, it will endure; if not, it can do no harm."[7][8] In addition to newspaper coverage and official communications, in April 1890, Edward G. Browne of Cambridge University was granted four interviews with Bahá'u'lláh after he had arrived in the area of Akka and left the only detailed description by a Westerner.[1]
After Mrs. Mary Thornburgh-Cropper who became a Bahá'í in 1898, the second person and the first native person to become a Bahá'í was Miss Ethel Rosenberg (d.1930), in 1899. Dr. Frederick D'Evelyn was an Irishman from Belfast who moved to the United States and became a Bahá'í in 1901 and who served on the forerunner to the United States Bahá'í National Spiritual Assembly.[9] Another distinguished Bahá'í was Lady Blomfield, second wife to architect Sir Arthur Blomfield.[10] Lady Blomfield was a member of the National Spiritual Assembly of the British Isles for 8 years, an accomplished author and humanitarian who assisted in founding the Save the Children Fund and Geneva Declaration of the Rights of the Child and its adoption by the League of Nations;[10][11] she joined the Bahá'í Faith in 1907.[12] Other other noteworthy people who became early members of the Bahá'í Faith included George Townshend (an Irishman, but Ireland was then part of the United Kingdom) and Scotsman John Esslemont.
Other mentions of the Bahá'í Faith included the Archdeacon Wilberforce mentioning the religion in a sermon at the Church of St. John in Westminster in March 1911. Due to this mention, great interest was generated and a Bahá'í reading room was opened.[1]
In 1910, `Abdu'l-Bahá, then head of the Bahá'í Faith embarked on a three year journey to Egypt, Europe, and North America, spreading the Bahá'í message.[13] During his travels, he visited England in the autumn of 1911. On September 10 he made his first public appearance before an audience at the City Temple, London, with the English translation spoken by Wellesley Tudor Pole.[14][15] `Abdu'l-Bahá returned to the British Isles, visiting Bahá'ís in Liverpool, London, Edinburgh, Oxford, and Bristol in 1912-13.[1]
In 1914, the Bahá'ís present in England had organised themselves into a committee though it lapsed after February 1916.[1] Also the co-editor of the Encyclopaedia Biblica, Thomas Kelly Cheyne became a member of the religion by 1914, though he was to pass away the next year.[16]
During World War I Tudor Pole served in the Directorate of Military Intelligence in the Middle East and was directly involved in addressing the concerns raised by the Ottoman threats against `Abdu'l-Bahá which ultimately required General Allenby altering his plans for the prosecution of the war in the Palestine theatre.[15]
Following the events of the First World War and the knighting of `Abdu'l-Bahá by the British Mandate of Palestine for his humanitarian efforts during the war,[13] the Bahá'í administration for the United Kingdom started to form. In 1921, while Tudor Pole was Secretary of the Local Spiritual Assembly in London,[17] the telegram announcing the passing of `Abdu'l-Bahá by his sister, Bahíyyih Khánum, arrived at Tudor Pole's home in London and it was there read by Shoghi Effendi.[18] A Bahá'í Spiritual Assembly for England (also called All-England Bahá'í Council) was set up in May 1922 and held its first meeting in London on 17 June 1922 with the first Local Spiritual Assemblies being formed in London, Manchester and Bournemouth. On 13 October 1923, in London, the National Spiritual Assembly of England came into being; In 1930 this became the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the British Isles. Hasan Balyuzi came to England in 1932 and was immediately elected the National Assembly and was annually re-elected until 1960, as well as named a Hand of the Cause in 1957. Local Assemblies were founded in Bradford and Torquay in 1939.[1]
During this time notable Britons who became Bahá'ís include Richard St. Barbe Baker, forester, environmental activist, and author became a Bahá'í around 1924.[19] Mark Tobey, an American artist, who stayed in Britain from 1930–38, held Bahá'í study classes in Dartington Hall in Devon, and lectures in Torquay. As a result of this activity two famous artists became Bahá'ís: Bernard Leach, the world famous potter, in about 1940, and Reginald Turvey, a prominent South African painter in 1936. Also in the 1930s a whole host of activities began - a Bahá'í theatre group was formed in London, the Bahá'í Journal was instituted, Bahá'í summer schools began, and the tradition of a winter Bahá'í conference was established. Local Spiritual Assemblies were then formed in Bradford and Torquay in 1939 while the National Assembly achieved legal standing with its incorporation.[1] John Ferraby became a Bahá'í in 1941 and was named as a Hand of the Cause - the 4th of the nations' history - in 1957. Furthermore British Bahá'í families moving to Australia helped found the Bahá'í Faith in Australia during the 1920s.[20][21]
In 1946, a great pioneer movement began with sixty percent of the British Bahá'í community eventually relocating.[1] Internationally this effort would take the Bahá'í Faith to Scotland and Wales and raising the numbers of Local Assemblies in the British Isles from five to twenty-four, the four being in the large cities of Edinburgh, Belfast, and Cardiff. In 1950-1 the Baha'is of the British Isles pioneered to Tanganyika, Uganda, Kenya and in 1953, Bahá'í colonists went to the Scottish islands, as well as the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man.[1]
In 1955 Shoghi Effendi, the Guardian of the Bahá'í Faith, posthumously described three individuals as the "three luminaries of the Irish, English and Scottish Bahá'í communities".[22]
On 4 November 1957, Shoghi Effendi, Guardian of the Bahá'í Faith, died in London and thus the city has become a centre to which Bahá'ís from all over the world come. His mortal remains lie in the New Southgate Cemetery in London. Directions to his resting place are posted online.
In 1963, the number of Bahá'í Local Spiritual Assemblies in the United Kingdom was 50, and the British community hosted the first Bahá'í World Congress held in Royal Albert Hall and chaired by Enoch Olinga where approximately 6,000 Bahá'ís from around the world gathered.[30][31] It was called to commemorate the hundredth anniversary of the declaration of Bahá'u'lláh, and announce and present the election of the first members of the Universal House of Justice with the participation of over 50 National Spiritual Assemblies' members.
The National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the British Isles was registered as a charity in 1967 and in 1972 the single National Spiritual Assembly was reformed into two — one of the United Kingdom, and one of the Republic of Ireland established that year. In 1973 there were 102 Local Spiritual Assemblies in the United Kingdom. In 1978 the Bahá'í marriage ceremony was recognised in Scotland and in 1978 the Bahá’í Holy Days were recognised by local education authorities throughout the United Kingdom.[32] It is estimated that between 1951 and 1993, Bahá'ís from the United Kingdom settled in 138 countries. It is probable that only the Bahá'í communities of Iran and United States have sent out more pioneers than the United Kingdom, and they have much larger Bahá'í communities.
Since it's inception the religion has had involvement in socio-economic development beginning by giving greater freedom to women,[33] promulgating the promotion of female education as a priority concern,[34] and that involvement was given practical expression by creating schools, agricultural coops, and clinics.[33] The religion entered a new phase of activity when a message of the Universal House of Justice dated 20 October 1983 was released.[35] Bahá'ís were urged to seek out ways, compatible with the Bahá'í teachings, in which they could become involved in the social and economic development of the communities in which they lived. Worldwide in 1979 there were 129 officially recognized Bahá'í socio-economic development projects. By 1987, the number of officially recognized development projects had increased to 1482. Recently, British Bahá'ís have been involved in Agenda 21 activities in the UK,[36] and have established an Institute for Social Cohesion as an agency of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United Kingdom responding to the challenges of the large diversity of the citizens in the vicinity of Hackney Central, and Britain in general including six Parliamentary seminars and two major conferences from 2001 to 2004.[2]
In February 2009 two open letters were published with lists including British citizens registering their opposition to the trial of Bahá'í leaders in Iran. The first was when some British were among the two hundred and sixty seven non-Bahá'í Iranian academics, writers, artists, journalists and activists from some 21 countries including Iran signed an open letter of apology posted to Iranian.com and stating they were "ashamed" and pledging their support in Bahá'ís achieving the rights detailed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights for the Bahá'ís in Iran.[37] The second letter a few weeks later was when entertainers David Baddiel, Bill Bailey, Morwenna Banks, Sanjeev Bhaskar, Jo Brand, Russell Brand,Rob Brydon, Jimmy Carr, Jack Dee, Omid Djalili, Sean Lock, Lee Mack, Alexei Sayle, Meera Syal, Mark Thomas said in an open letter printed in the The Times of London of the Bahá'í leaders to be on trial in Iran: "In reality, their only “crime”, which the current regime finds intolerable, is that they hold a religious belief that is different from the majority…. we register our solidarity with all those in Iran who are being persecuted for promoting the best development of society …(and) with the governments, human rights organisations and people of goodwill throughout the world who have so far raised their voices calling for a fair trial, if not the complete release of the Baha’i leaders in Iran."[38] In between the open letters, on the 16th, British Foreign Office Minister Bill Rammell expressed concern over the trial.[39] See Persecution of Bahá'ís.
Though not part of the United Kingdom, in 1993, a Local Spiritual Assembly was established on the Isle of Man[28] under the jurisdiction of the National Spiritual Assembly of the United Kingdom. In 2004 Bahá'ís estimated there were over 5,000 Bahá'í in the United Kingdom[2] though the Association of Religion Data Archives (relying on World Christian Encyclopedia) estimated some 34,000 members.[3]
Currently Omid Djalili and Inder Manocha are accomplished comedians who are Bahá'ís.[40][41]
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