Chronology of the Bahá'í Faith in Canada

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Date 1968-07, descending sort earliest first

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1968 10 Jul The passing of Mariette Germaine Roy Bolton (b. 1900 Québec) in New South Wales, Australia. She was buried in the Macquarie Park Cemetery and Crematorium North Ryde, Ryde City, New South Wales, Australia.

Mariette G. Roy was born into a Catholic French Canadian family of farmers. In 1923 she married Stanley Bolton and the couple emigrated to Sydney, Australia in 1924. She first heard of the Bahá'í Faith from the Dunns in 1925 and she and Stanley declared after meeting Keith Ransome-Kehler in 1931.

The Bolton's moved to Detroit in the United States in 1931. Their son Stanley Jr. fell ill and was treated by a chiropractor prompting the Boltons to move to Iowa and study chiropractic at Palmer College in Davenport. They established a chiropractic practice when they returned to Sydney in 1934.

In 1936 the Bolton's purchased land in Yerrinbool and built the first Australian Bahá'í Summer School on the property. Siegfried Schopflocher visited shortly after the first building was completed and suggested it be named 'Bolton Place'.

The Boltons moved to Yerrinbool in 1943 and both Stanley and Mariette served on the first Yerrinbool Local Spiritual Assembly. Mariette and Stanley managed the Yerrinbool School themselves before turning over administration to the National Spiritual Assembly in 1945. They continued to serve as caretakers of the Summer School property until moving to Orange, NSW in 1963.

Mariette and Stanley undertook a teaching trip to New Caledonia in February 1952. Her knowledge of French allowed her to teach the Faith effectively, and at least one local became a Bahá'í during her visit. They were among the first teachers to the Pacific Islands, a process which culminated in the formation of the National Spiritual Assembly of the South West Pacific Ocean, with its seat in Noumea, at Riḍván, 1971. [BN No 255 May 1952 p10; BN No 257 July 1952 p5]

In 1953 she travelled extensively with Stanley, attending Intercontinental Teaching Conferences in Stockholm and Delhi, attending the dedication of the American House of Worship as representatives of the Australian National Spiritual Assembly, and making a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. She is believed to be the only French Canadian believer to have met the Guardian.

She was a member of the National Spiritual Assembly of Australia and New Zealand serving as secretary from 1948 until 1951.

She made teaching trips to the United States and Canada in 1957 and 1963 when she attended the Most Great Jubilee in London in that year. Her last teaching trip abroad was in 1968 when she visited Noumea, New Caledonia a few months prior to her death on July 10. She must surely be recognized as one of the most succesful Bahá'í teachers in Australia. [OBCC100n34; Find a grave; BW15p435-437]

Mariette Bolton the only French Canadian believer to have met the Guardian.

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