Charles Dunning
Charles Dunning | |
|---|---|
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| Born | Charles William Dunning March 27, 1885 Leeds, Yorkshire, England |
| Died | December 25, 1967 Cardiff, Wales |
Charles William Dunning (March 27, 1885 - December 25, 1967) was an English Bahá’í who was the first pioneer to the Orkney Islands for which he was named a Knight of Bahá’u’lláh.
Biography[edit]
Dunning was born in or near Leeds in West Yorkshire, England, into a large family in 1885. He received his education at a Church school and studied the Bible in his youth but began working at a coal mine when he was thirteen driving a pit pony. In approximately 1900 he began working as a galley boy on a ship which sailed between Truro, Cornwall, and Lancaster, returned to working in the coal mines for a time and then worked at a cotton mill.[1]
Dunning had a troubled youth being prosecuted for vagrancy and petty theft in his teenage years and being imprisoned for indecent assault for two months in 1903. He attempted suicide on two occasions in 1906, received criminal convictions for housebreaking and being "an incorrigible rogue" in 1907 and 1908 and was ultimately sentenced to five years in prison for burglary in 1909.[2]
In 1914 Dunning was released from prison and hired to serve on a German ship which was transporting coal from Cardiff to the Canary Islands however the First World War began during the voyage which resulted in the crew including Dunning being taken aboard a German warship and returned to England. He immediately joined the crew of another ship which sailed to Arkhangelsk in Russia and he developed an interest in Siberian culture.[1]
After returning to England from Russia Dunning joined the Royal Flying Corps training at Hampton Corps then being stationed near Rouen in France as a truck driver throughout World War I.[1] He was discharged from the military in 1917.[2]
Dunning struggled after leaving the military and was sentenced to another five years in prison for shop breaking in 1919. After his release he worked as a tram driver but he was imprisoned for housebreaking again until 1929. Shortly after his release he was sentenced to three years in prison again for receiving stolen goods however he was released in 1930 and had no legal issues throughout the rest of his life. A research article on recidivism which covered Dunning's criminal record stated
"His conversion/embracing of Baha’ism appeared to happen after his last offence had been dealt with, and his devotion and the support offered by the Baha’i religious community must have supported his efforts to lead a good and useful life."[2]
Dunning was able to return to the military during World War II by giving an incorrect age when enlisting and he served in Brittany before being evacuated with the rest of the British Forces. He then trained as a commando with the Welsh Guards but transferred to the Royal Air Force and served as a bomber pilot. After the war he received major surgery at Leeds Hospital,[1] and was employed by the company Metropolitan Vickers as a storekeeper in Manchester.[2]
In 1947 Dunning visited the Manchester Bahá’í Centre as he was studying different religions due to seeking mental reassurance after his experiences in the military. He studied the religion for six months learning from British Bahá’ís Alfred Sugar and John Craven and he also met Bahá’ís Isobel Sabri and John Marshall on a holiday to Edinburgh before declaring. A fortnight after declaring he attended a teaching conference at which he volunteered to pioneer to Belfast, Northern Ireland. He consulted with a Bahá’í Committee in Birmingham and undertook some training in Cardiff before sailing to Belfast from Liverpool in March, 1948.[1]
After arriving in Belfast Dunning began organizing public meetings with George Townshend speaking at some of them. He remained in Belfast for one year but moved to Cardiff in 1949 to recuperate due to suffering severe bronchitis. He intended to return to Belfast but he was instead asked to pioneer to Sheffield in England to help establish a Local Spiritual Assembly. He found work as a baker and was able to serve in Sheffield until 1953.[3]
In 1953 the Ten Year Crusade was launched with one of its goals being to establish the Faith in unopened territories. Dunning volunteered to pioneer to a goal territory and traveled to Glasgow to consult with fellow volunteer Brigitte Hasselblatt on posts ultimately deciding to move to Kirkwall in the Orkney Islands. He arrived in Kirkwall in September, 1953,[3] and began actively taught the Faith but found he was distrusted and resented by many with a gang of boys chasing and abusing him on one occasion. In January 1957 Dunning went on pilgrimage to the Holy Land and met Shoghi Effendi who, after meeting him, recommended that he tour Britain to visit Bahá’í communities before returning to the Orkney Islands.[4]
Dunning was forced to return to Cardiff later in 1957 due to ill health. He remained an active member of the Cardiff Bahá’í community until suffering a bad fall in early 1967 and he passed away in December that year.[4]
Notes[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1974). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 14 (1963-1968), Pg(s) 306. View as PDF.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 David Cox, Barry Godfrey, Helen Johnston, and Joanne Turner, On licence: Understanding punishment, recidivism, and desistance in penal policy, 1853-1945, Transnational Penal Cultures: New Perspectives on Discipline, Punishment and Desistance (184-201). Abingdon: Routledge, 2014 p 193
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1974). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 14 (1963-1968), Pg(s) 307. View as PDF.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1974). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 14 (1963-1968), Pg(s) 308. View as PDF.
