George Townshend (June 14, 1876 – March 25, 1957) was born in Ireland and was a well-known writer and

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

clergyman who converted to the

Baháʼí Faith The Baháʼí Faith is a religion founded in the 19th century that teaches the Baháʼí Faith and the unity of religion, essential worth of all religions and Baháʼí Faith and the unity of humanity, the unity of all people. Established by ...

at age 70. Baháʼí leader

Shoghi Effendi Shoghí Effendi (; ;1896 or 1897 – 4 November 1957) was Guardian of the Baháʼí Faith from 1922 until his death in 1957. As the grandson and successor of ʻAbdu'l-Bahá, he was charged with guiding the development of the Baháʼí Faith, in ...

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 o ...

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

Early accomplishments

Townshend went to the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

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 was launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is Ireland's leading n ...

'' 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 or SLC, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in the state. The city is the core of the Salt Lake Ci ...

. 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 Winchester, Tennessee Micropolitan Statistical Area. Sewanee is best known as the home ...

, 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, United States. It is owned by 28 southern dioceses of the Episcopal Church, and its School of Theology is an off ...

Return to Ireland

Townshend spent many years near

Ballinasloe Ballinasloe ( ; ) is a town in the easternmost part of County Galway, Ireland. 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-centur ...

, County Galway, where he was incumbent of

Ahascragh Ahascragh () is a village in east County Galway, Ireland. It is located north-west of Ballinasloe on the Ahascragh/Bunowen River, a tributary of the River Suck. The R358 road (Ireland), R358 Regional road (Ireland), regional road passes through ...

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 is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

where he became a

Canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the material accepted as officially written by an author or an ascribed author * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western canon, th ...

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 (, ), was the eldest son of Baháʼu'lláh, founder of the Bahá’í Faith, who designated him to be his successor and head of the Baháʼí Faith from 1892 un ...

, the leader of the

. Townshend then adopted the

Baháʼí teachings The teachings of the Baháʼí Faith are derived from the writings of Baháʼu'lláh, its founder. A corpus of Baháʼí literature include books and writings of the Báb and Baháʼu'lláh, along with the public talks and writings of ‘Abdu� ...

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: * A socio-political or established or existing order, e.g. World order, Ancien Regime, Pax Britannica * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * H ...

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 an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, 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 Hebrides, Inner and Outer Hebr ...

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 ''God Passes By'', written by Shoghi Effendi, head of the Baháʼí Faith in the first half of the 20th century, is a book which provides a historical summary of the first century of the Baháʼí Faith, from 1844 to 1944. While historical episod ...

'' 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 suffer religious persecution for engaging in their traditions' practices. Edicts may imply tacit acceptance of a state r ...

. 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 neurodegenerative disease primarily of the central nervous system, affecting both motor and non-motor systems. Symptoms typically develop gradually and non-motor issues become more prevalen ...

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

Harlem Globetrotter The Harlem Globetrotters is an American exhibition basketball team. They combine athleticism, theater, entertainment, and comedy in their style of play. Over the years, they have played more than 26,000 exhibition games in 124 countries and ter ...

, 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.

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