NSA:Australia and New Zealand
Australia & New Zealand |
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 First NSA of Australia and New Zealand, 1934.
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| Membership | ||
| History: | ||
| - | Established | 1934 |
| - | Preceded | Australia (1957) |
| - | Preceded | New Zealand (1957) |
| Sister Projects | ||
The National Spiritual Assembly of Australia and New Zealand was the Administrative body of the Bahá’í communities of Australia and New Zealand from 1934 to 1957.
History[edit]
The Assembly was formed in May 1934 at the first National Convention for the Bahá’ís of Australia and New Zealand in Sydney. In accordance with a suggestion from the Guardian the NSA was elected by nine delegates, with three being elected from each Local Spiritual Assembly existent at the time (Adelaide, Sydney and Auckland).[1]
Due to costs associated with accommodating delegates from across such a large area the next National Convention was postponed until 1937,[2] and besides one annual meeting all consultation between members was conducted through correspondence.[3] Government restrictions due to World War II prevented the Bahá’í community from holding a National Convention from 1937 to 1944, and a Convention was not held in 1945.[4][5]
In 1946 accusations of electioneering were made at the National Convention, and Shoghi Effendi was contacted to resolve the issue. It was suggested that greater representation would help avoid contention in the future and Shoghi Effendi increased the number of delegates at future Conventions from nine to nineteen.[6]
In 1951 Shoghi Effendi stated that New Zealand was not ready to establish an independent National Spiritual Assembly in a letter written on his behalf, as there were not enough Local Spiritual Assemblies in the country. In 1954 he noted that several Local Spiritual Assemblies had been established in New Zealand and wrote the following:
"The multiplication of Bahá'í isolated centres, groups and Local Assemblies, in both Australia and New Zealand - a process that has been steadily and rapidly developing since the inauguration of the Ten Year Plan, is likewise of paramount importance in the years immediately ahead. The development of these institutions, particularly in New Zealand, will no doubt hasten the emergence of an independent National Spiritual Assembly in that territory, and will lend a tremendous impetus to the onward march of the Faith in those regions."[7]
The number of delegates at the National Convention was raised from nineteen to thirty-eight in 1954.[8]
The joint Assembly was disbanded when both Countries formed independent National Spiritual Assemblies in 1957.
Members[edit]
| Name | Served |
|---|---|
| Hyde Dunn | 1934 - 1935 |
| Margaret Stevenson | 1934 - 1939 |
| Oswald Whitaker | 1934 - 1938 1939 - 1942 |
| Percy Almond | 1934 - 1937 |
| Charlotte Moffitt | 1934 - 1937 1940 - 1944 |
| Robert Brown | 1934 - 1943 |
| Hilda Brooks | 1934 - 1948 |
| Silver Jackman | 1934 - 1948 |
| Ethel Blundell | 1934 - 1942 |
| Emily M. Axford | 1936 - 1944 |
| Guy M. Inman | 1936 - 1937 |
| Thomas R. Dowson | 1936 - 1939 1946 - 1948 |
| Jane Routh | 1936 - 1937 1938 - 1947 |
| Stanley Bolton | 1937 - 1941 1947 - 1957 |
| Hugh Blundell | 1941 - 1945 |
| Gretta Lamprill | 1942 - 1953 |
| Harold Fitzner | 1943 - 1946 1947 - 1948 |
| Dulcie Dive | 1943 - 1948 1951 - 1954 |
| G. Moody | 1944 - 1945 |
| Noel Walker | 1944 - 1948 1953 - 1957 |
| Jean Hutchinson-Smith | 1945 - 1947 |
| Walter Motteram | 1945 - 1947 |
| Jim Heggie | 1947 - 1951 1953 - 1957 |
| Mariette Bolton | 1948 - 1951 |
| Arthur Tunks | 1948 - 1950 |
| Ethel Dawe | 1948 - 1949 1950 - 1954 |
| Florence Fitzner | 1948 - 1949 |
| Bertha Dobbins | 1948 - 1950 |
| Collis Featherstone | 1949 - 1957 |
| M. Appleton | 1949 - 1950 |
| Alvin Blum | 1949 - 1953 |
| Frank Khan | 1950 - 1953 |
| Kit Crowder | 1950 - 1954 |
| Stanley Bolton, Jr. | 1951 - 1954 |
| Gertrude Blum | 1953 - 1954 |
| Greta Lake | 1953 - 1957 |
| Thelma Perks | 1953 - 1957 |
| Doris Whiting | 1953 - 1957 |
| Lilian Wyss | 1953 - 1954 |
| Doris Whiting | 1953 - 1957 |
| Meg Degotardi | 1954 - 1957 |
| Frank Wyss | 1954 - 1955 |
| Patricia Pennington | 1955 - 1957 |
Publications[edit]
- 1952 - The Crucial Year: A Message of Paramount Importance to Every Bahá'í[9]
References[edit]
- Bahá'í News, No. 91, p 15: 1934-1935 Assembly reported
- Bahá'í News, No. 113, p 8: 1937-1938 Assembly reported
- Bahá'í News, No. 142, p 10: 1938-1939 Assembly partially reported
- Bahá'í News, No. 148, p 8: 1941-1942 Assembly partially reported
- Bahá'í News, No. 174, p 20: 1943-1944 Assembly partially reported
Notes[edit]
- ↑ Hassall, G. Outpost of a World Religion, Journal of Religious History, 1993, Vol. 16, No. 3
- ↑ Baha'i World, Vol. 7, p792
- ↑ https://bahai-library.com/hassall_brooks_australian_bahais
- ↑ Hassall, G. Outpost of a World Religion, Journal of Religious History, 1991, 16(3)
- ↑ https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/248505200
- ↑ https://bahai-library.com/hassall_fitzners_portuguese_timor
- ↑ https://bahai-library.com/shoghi-effendi_messages_antipodes&chapter=1#1957
- ↑ Hassall, G. "The Baha'i Faith in Australia 1947-1963", Journal of Religious History, 46(4), 2012, pp. 563-576
- ↑ Collins, W. P. (1990). Bibliography of English-Language Works on the Babi and Baha'i Faiths 1844-1985. Oxford, UK: George Ronald. ISBN 0-85398-315-1., p 109
