George Townshend (1876–1957) was born in Ireland and was a well-known writer and

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of t ...

clergyman who converted to the

Baháʼí Faith The Baháʼí Faith is a religion founded in the 19th century that teaches the essential worth of all religions and the unity of all people. Established by Baháʼu'lláh in the 19th century, it initially developed in Iran and parts of the ...

at age 70. Baháʼí leader

Shoghi Effendi Shoghí Effendi (; 1 March 1897 – 4 November 1957) was the grandson and successor of ʻAbdu'l-Bahá, appointed to the role of Guardian of the Baháʼí Faith from 1921 until his death in 1957. He created a series of teaching plans that over ...

named Townshend a

Hand of the Cause of God Hand of the Cause was a title given to prominent early members of the Baháʼí Faith, appointed for life by the religion's founders. Of the fifty individuals given the title, the last living was ʻAlí-Muhammad Varqá who died in 2007. Hands of ...

and one of the United Kingdom's three luminaries of the Baháʼí Faith.

Early accomplishments

Townshend went to the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

for a time, then returned to Ireland where he was a lead writer for ''

The Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is considered a newspaper ...

'' from 1900 to 1904. In 1904 he emigrated to the United States and was ordained in

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the capital and most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in Utah. With a population of 200,133 in 2020, th ...

. He then went to

Sewanee, Tennessee Sewanee () is a census-designated place (CDP) in Franklin County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 2,535 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Tullahoma, Tennessee Micropolitan Statistical Area. Sewanee is best known as the home of ...

, where he became Associate Professor of English at the

University of the South The University of the South, familiarly known as Sewanee (), is a private Episcopal liberal arts college in Sewanee, Tennessee. It is owned by 28 southern dioceses of the Episcopal Church, and its School of Theology is an official seminary of ...

Return to Ireland

Townshend spent many years near

Ballinasloe Ballinasloe ( ; ) is a town in the easternmost part of County Galway in Connacht. Located at an ancient crossing point on the River Suck, evidence of ancient settlement in the area includes a number of Bronze Age sites. Built around a 12th-ce ...

, 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 Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...

where he became a

Canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the conceptual material accepted as official in a fictional universe by its fan base * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western ca ...

of St. Patrick's Cathedral. However, this lasted for only a short time before his resignation.

Baháʼí life

In 1918, Townshend started correspondence with

ʻAbdu'l-Bahá ʻAbdu'l-Bahá (; Persian: ‎, 23 May 1844 – 28 November 1921), born ʻAbbás ( fa, عباس), was the eldest son of Baháʼu'lláh and served as head of the Baháʼí Faith from 1892 until 1921. ʻAbdu'l-Bahá was later canonized as the ...

, the leader of the

. Townshend then adopted the

Baháʼí teachings The Baháʼí teachings represent a considerable number of theological, ethical, social, and spiritual ideas that were established in the Baháʼí Faith by Baháʼu'lláh, the founder of the religion, and clarified by its successive leaders: ʻA ...

within his work as an

clergyman, including his writing of two books, ''The Heart of the Gospel'' and ''The Promise of All Ages''. This created increasing tensions between Townshend and other clergy and eventually caused

, the succeeding leader of the Baháʼí Faith, to call for Townshend to resign as a

of St. Patrick's Cathedral. In 1947, at the age of 70, Townshend renounced his Anglican

orders Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * Heterarchy, a system of organization wherein the elements have the potential to be ranked a number of ...

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 The British Isles are a group of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner and Outer Hebrides, the Northern Isl ...

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 Spiritual Assembly is a term given by ʻAbdu'l-Bahá to refer to elected councils that govern the Baháʼí Faith. Because the Baháʼí Faith has no clergy, they carry out the affairs of the community. In addition to existing at the local level ...

and in 1951 was designated by Shoghi Effendi, then head of the religion, as a

Hand of the Cause Hand of the Cause was a title given to prominent early members of the Baháʼí Faith, appointed for life by the religion's founders. Of the fifty individuals given the title, the last living was ʻAlí-Muhammad Varqá who died in 2007. Hands of ...

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 An edict of toleration is a declaration, made by a government or ruler, and states that members of a given religion will not be persecuted for engaging in their religious practices and traditions. The edict implies tacit acceptance of the religion ...

. 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 Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms becom ...

. Brian died in 1988 and Una in 2003. Una married Richard "Dick" Dean, Baháʼí and one time

Harlem Globetrotter The Harlem Globetrotters are an American exhibition basketball team. They combine athleticism, theater, and comedy in their style of play. Created in 1926 by Tommy Brookins in Chicago, Illinois, the team adopted the name ''Harlem'' because of i ...

, she also was a founding member of the Dublin Local Spiritual Assembly as well as a

Knight of Baháʼu'lláh A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the Christian denomination, church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood ...

, a designation given to those Baháʼís who were the first to reside in a country, hers being Malta.

Works

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). * ''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 Guardian usually refers to: * Legal guardian, a person with the authority and duty to care for the interests of another * ''The Guardian'', a British daily newspaper (The) Guardian(s) may also refer to: Places * Guardian, West Virginia, Unit ...

" has been removed and a section discussing "the lineage of succeeding Guardians" has been replaced with a section discussing "divinely guided institutions" in general. * * *

References

* *

External links

Baháʼí Reference Library ArticleBooksBiographyUna's Obituary ArticleEntry in The Townsend (Townshend) Family Records
{{DEFAULTSORT:Townshend, George Irish Bahá'ís Converts to the Bahá'í Faith from Anglicanism Hands of the Cause Irish journalists Sewanee: The University of the South faculty 1876 births 1957 deaths 20th-century Bahá'ís