September 5. On this date in 1973, John Ferraby, a Hand of the Cause of God and from 1959 to 1963 one of the nine Custodians, died. He wrote All Things Made New, which is notable for the changes made from the original publication in 1957 to subsequent editions published after the death of Shoghi Effendi. For example, comparing the original 1957 edition to the 1987 edition, among the numerous alterations, is the replacement of his dedication of the book to "The First Guardian of the Bahá'í Faith" to simply "The Guardian." Other references to "the Guardian" have been replaced with "the Universal House of Justice."

 

September 5. On this date in 1973, John Ferraby, a Hand of the Cause of God and from 1959 to 1963 one of the nine Custodians, died. He wrote All Things Made New, which is notable for the changes made from the original publication in 1957 to subsequent editions published after the death of Shoghi Effendi. For example, comparing the original 1957 edition to the 1987 edition, among the numerous alterations, is the replacement of his dedication of the book to "The First Guardian of the Bahá'í Faith" to simply "The Guardian." Other references to "the Guardian" have been replaced with "the Universal House of Justice."

 

Born on January 9, 1914, in Southsea, England, into a Jewish family, he was educated at Malvern College and King's College, Cambridge. He became a Bahá'í in 1941 and was elected as secretary of the National Spiritual Assembly, which he remained until 1959. In October 1957, Ferraby was appointed a Hand of the Cause of God by Shoghi Effendi. From 1959 to 1963, he served as one of the nine Custodians at the Bahá'í World Centre.

 

In 1941 that he was told about the Faith by a non-Bahá’í. Wanting to know more, he found John Esslemont's book Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era in a public library. John Esslemont's book Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era remains an important text that has been used in Bahá'í missionary activity. However, from in its initial publication to later editions, Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era has been significantly edited, with references to Avarih removed in subsequent editions published after Avarih's apostasy from the Bahá'í Faith.

 

Ferraby was by then living in London, so he started to look for the Bahá’ís there, but he had difficulty in finding them because during the blitz, the Bahá’í Centre was empty most of the time. However, finally he found someone and after a couple of visits he wanted to be accepted as a member of the community. Almost imediately he began to work for the Faith, becoming in less then an year a member of the London Spiritual Assembly and of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the British Isles. In 1943 he married a fellow member of the National Assembly, Dorothy Cansdale.

 

In 1946 he became secretary of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the British Isles, working at first in his spare time and from 1950 as full-time secretary. This work he continued, living in the National Hazíratu'l-Quds in London from December 1954, until he went to serve in the Holy Land at the end of 1959. During a good deal of the time he was also manager of the British Bahá’í Publishing Trust, as well as being an active teacher and committee member. From 1951 to 1956 he was busily involved in the work of the Africa Committee and during the opening of the various territories in Africa, at that time mostly colonies or protectorates, he attended to most of the government relationship, acting in his capacity of national secretary. He attended the first Intercontinental Conference, held in Kampala, Uganda, in 1958, as well as the successive Intercontinental Conferences which were held in Europe.

 

In January 1955, he made the Bahá'í pilgrimage. While in Haifa, Shoghi Effendi advised him to write his book All Things Made New. The book has been widely used, running to one edition of the British Isles and three in the United States. All Things Made New, which is notable for the changes made from the original publication in 1957 to subsequent editions published after the death of Shoghi Effendi. For example, comparing the original 1957 edition to the 1987 edition, among the numerous alterations, is the replacement of his dedication of the book to "The First Guardian of the Bahá'í Faith" to simply "The Guardian." Other references to "the Guardian" have been replaced with "the Universal House of Justice."

 

In 1957, Shoghi Effendi named Ferraby in the last group of Hands of the Cause. He carried a big share of the work and responsibility for the arrangements when Shoghi Effendi died and was buried in London. After that he took part in the gathering of the Hands of the Cause in Haifa and stayed on there for over three months to help. In December 1959, John went to live in Haifa as one of the Hands of the Cause resident in the Holy Land and remained there until Riḍván 1963. After that he returned to England and lived in Cambridge for the last ten years of his life, working for the first few years as one of the Hands of the Cause in the continent of Europe, dealing with their secretariat and traveling a good deal. Later it became no longer possible for him to serve in this way.

 

He died on September 5, 1973.