- 1920-05-15 —
Shoghi Effendi arrived in England to take up his studies at Oxford. His stated objective was:
"My sole aim is to perfect my English, to acquire the literary ability to write it well, speak it well & translate correctly & eloquently from Persian & Arabic into English. My aim is to concentrate for two years upon this object & to acquire it through the help of a tutor, by attending lectures, by associating with cultured & refined literary circles & by receiving exercises in Phonetics. I would be much obliged if you could help me along that line." [SEO61]
- He spent one week in London. He brought with him Tablets from the Master for Lady Blomfield, Lord Lamington and Major Tudor-Pole.
- 21 July: Shoghi Effendi met Dr. Esslemont at a meeting of the believers Lindsay Hall in Notting Hill Gate. The meeting was also attended by Mr and Mrs Ober visiting from America.
- 22 July: Dr Esslemont called on Shoghi Effendi at his hotel and they went to Miss Grand's home were the Obers were staying.
- 23 July: Dr Esslemont met Shoghi Effendi at Miss Rosenberg's and together they went to the Grand home where some 17 people were introduced to the Faith. [PG141]
- 26 July: Dr Esslemont came to London to meet Shoghi Effendi and they both visited Miss Herrick. [PG142]
- He relocated to Oxford and stayed at the Randolph Hotel. He met with professors and looked for tutors. [PG142]
- Probably in the early days of August Shoghi Effendi met with Lord Lamington. [PG142]
- Although it was still the long vacation Shoghi Effendi started his work with the assistance of a tutor. [PG142]
- 10-15 September: Shoghi Effendi visited Dr Esslemont at the sanitorium where he practiced in Bournemouth. They were joined by Shoghi Effendi's sister Rúhangíz and by a Persian believer Aflátún. [PG142-143]
- 1921-06-20 —
Shoghi Effendi at Oxford - The Long Vacation 1921
- Those students who wished to continue their studies during the vacation were required to move to an annex situated near Manchester College known as Holywell Annexe.
- His English style was influenced by his reading of the King James Bible as well as British historians Thomas Carlyle and Edward Gibbons, the author of The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. [SEO106; PP37]
- At some point during this period of his residency in England Shoghi Effendi made the acquaintance of Sir E Denison Ross, the first director of the University of London's School of Oriental Studies. He was the British Empire's leading scholar of the Persian and Arabic languages. His opinion was the gold standard and he had high praise for Shoghi Effendi's translation of The Dawn-Breakers. [PP216]
- Shoghi Effendi met with Edna True at her hotel in London as she was passing through. [PG178]
- He visited Dr. Esslemont in Bournemouth probably around the 20th of July for two weeks. [PG179]
- 26 July: He went to London to meet his sister and went with her to the home of Mrs Thornburgh-Cropper. [PG179]
- At some point during the vacation he visited Crow-borough. [PG179]
- Obedient to the instructions of the Master he spent some time during the break in rest in Torquay in August, at least from the 10th to the 29th of the month. [PG179-180]
- 25 September (approx.) He travelled to London to sent his sister to Scotland to resume her studies. She had been staying with Mrs Thornburg-Cropper (at 20 Bloomsbury Square?). While there he met with Lady Blomfield. [PG181]
- 1 to 6 October: Shoghi Effendi and his friend Díyá'u'lláh Asgharzádih travelled to Manchester, a community of some thirty believers. They stayed at the home of Jacob Joseph where a meeting of the community was held that evening. The group sent a letter to the Master which Shoghi Effendi translated the following day. He also sent a report of the situation in Manchester to the Master. [PG182-190]
- See PG206-207 for a photo of Shoghi Effendi with the Manchester Bahá'ís and with the Joseph brothers.
- See PG193 for a subsequent note from Shoghi Effendi to the friends in Manchester.
- See PG193-194 for the Master's response to their joint supplication dated 18 October, 1921 and excerpts from Tablets to individuals.
- 1921-12-01 —
Dr Esslemont made a trip from Bournemouth to London to visit Shoghi Effendi and offer support. He invited him back to Bournemouth where he stayed from the evening of the 2nd of December until the morning of the seventh. [PG199]
- Shoghi Effendi wrote to a Bahá'í student in London describing his reaction to the news of the Master's passing. It would appear he had reconciled himself to the situation. [PG100; PP40-41]
- See PG201 for the observations of others.
- On the 7th of December he received a cable from the Greatest Holy Leaf urging him to return to the Holy Land. He left for London immediately. [PG100]
- 1922-05-31 —
The communities of London, Manchester and Bournemouth elected a Bahá'í Spiritual Assembly for England. [EJR213; SBR28, 67]
- This was also known as the Spiritual Assembly for London and the All-England Bahá'í Council. [EJR2 13; SBR67]
- See EJR213 and SBR28 for membership.
- The social centre of the London group was Ethel Rosenburg with Mrs Thornburgh-Cropper and later Lady Blomfield also playing significant roles. The group in Manchester came from the working- or lower middle-class background with Edward Hall and other men in leadership positions. The group in Bournemouth developed around Dr. Esslemont. In addition to these centres there were a few scattered isolated believers. [SBBH5p220]
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