March 24. On this date in 1892, Stanley Bolton was born in Ontario, Canada. He established the first Australian Bahá'í Summer School in Yerrinbool and served on the NSA of Australia and New Zealand from 1937 to 1958, occasionally as Chairman or Vice-Chairman.
Stanley Bolton was born in North Adelaide Township, Canada in on March 24, 1892 and attended Crathie School there. In 1905 his family moved to Strathroy, Ontario and Stanley attended Strathroy Collegiate. At the start of WW1 Stanley was conscripted into the Canadian Armed Forces. He enlisted on December 24, 1917 in Calgary, and was wounded in France. He found employment with the Fuller Brush Company in Winnipeg, Manitoba after the war.
He met Mariette Germain Roy in 1922 and they were married in 1923. The couple moved to Australia in 1924, arriving in Sydney on September 24. Stanley was still employed by the Fuller Brush Company and worked to establish the company in Australia, travelling across several states in the process.
The Bolton's first heard of the Bahá'í Faith when they met Hyde and Clara Dunn in 1925, but they did not become Bahá'ís until they met Keith Ransom-Kehlerwhen she visited Australia in 1931. Shoghi Effendi acknowledged their declarations personally in a letter written on his behalf:
In closing may I ask you to extend to all our Sydney Bahá'ís & especially to Mrs. & Mr. Bolton, who have newly embraced the Cause, the loving greetings of the Guardian. In his moments of meditation and prayer he will remember them all and ask the Almighty to bless their unceasing efforts for the greater spread of His Message.
The Fuller Brush Company closed down in 1929 due to Australian import restrictions and the Bolton’s moved to the United States in 1931, settling in Detroit where they assisted the local Bahá'í community. Shoghi Effendi approved of this move, having the following written to Mariette on his behalf:
The Guardian wishes me to acknowledge the receipt of your letter dated October 19. He was glad to hear that you have decided to settle for a while in Detroit and lend your valuable assistance to the Bahá'ís there. He is certain that you will help them to spread the Faith and to prepare the people to receive the Message. Shoghi Effendi deeply appreciates the eminent share that you and your husband are having in the services of the Cause; he has a profound and great confidence in your laborious endeavour, and values your assistance to the important task that he has been charged to fulfil by the Master.
In 1933 Bolton’s son Stanley Jr. was diagnosed with poliomyelitis and was unable to walk and required around the clock medical care. Bolton had been treated by a chiropractor for kidney stones while living in Canada and decided to seek Chiropractic treatment for his son. He contacted the Palmer College of Chiropractic who directed him to a chiropractor in Ontario. Stanley Jr.’s symptoms abated after chiropractic treatment and the Bolton’s moved to Davenport so Stanley and Mariette could attend Palmer College. They both became qualified chiropractors, and established a practice in Sydney when they returned to Australia in 1934.
In 1936 the Bolton’s bought three acres of land in Yerrinbool to be used to host Bahá'í Summer Schools. Hyde Dunn laid the cornerstone of the first building on the site on the 11th of October 1936. Siegfried Schopflocher visited the property shortly after the first building was completed and suggested that it be named Bolton Place. The property was officially opened at a ceremony chaired by Stanley during the second Australian and New Zealand National Convention on May 2nd, 1937. The Bolton's did not live on the property, but Stanley or Mariette traveled from Sydney to Yerrinbool every Wednesday from 1940 to 1943.
The first Australian Bahá'í Summer School was held on the property from the 8th to the 23rd of January 1938, and has been held there every year since. Stanley served as Chairman of the Summer School and both he and his wife delivered talks during sessions.Stanley and Mariette personally managed all of the affairs of the Summer School until 1945 when they transferred the responsibilities of management to the National Spiritual Assembly of Australia and New Zealand.
Stanley continued to serve as Secretary of the Summer School after the transfer, and he and Mariette were as caretakers of the property until they left Yerrinbool, moving to Orange, in 1963. In 1949 the Bolton's began proceedings to legally transfer ownership of the Yerrinbool property to the National Spiritual Assembly, which were completed in March 1963.
In May 1939 Stanley and Mariette visited New Zealand while Martha Root was in the country. Martha Root was suffering from breast cancer and the Bolton's accompanied her on her trip from New Zealand to Honolulu, caring for her on the journey.
In August 1943 the Bolton's moved to Yerrinbool, and began hosting Summer School attendees in their home. They served as inaugural members of the Local Spiritual Assembly of Yerrinbool when it was established in 1948. In 1947 the Bolton's invited Frank Khan, a prominent member of the Australian Muslim community, to give a talk on Islam at the Summer School. Frank's family became the first Australian Muslims to become Bahá'í's in December 1948. Frank Khan would serve on the NSA of Australia, as would his children Joy Vohradsky and Peter Khan, who also served on the International Teaching Centre and Universal House of Justice. In 2000, Peter Khan gave a talk to New Zealand Bahá'ís about their reaction to Alison Marshall's excommunication, partially annotated here, which received a rebuttal by Juan Cole.
In 1951 Stanley represented the Faith at a United Nations conference held in Indonesia. From October 21 to December 5 of the same year he undertook a teaching tour of Australia visiting Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia. Public meetings were held during this tour, at which video of the Gardens in Haifa were shown before Stanley delivered a talk about the Faith. Stanley also gave a seven minute talk on Ballarat radio, a twelve minute talk on Adelaide radio and spoke at the Australian Church in Melbourne during the tour.
In 1953 he attended the Asian Intercontinental Teaching Conference in New Delhi and delivered a talk. Stanley and Mariette also attended the European Intercontinental Teaching Conference in Stockholm, they visited Davenport while travelling to Stockholm and visited Hugh Chance, who they had first met in Australia in 1945, and discussed the Faith with him. The meeting piqued Chance's interest and he and his wife became Bahá'ís in January 1955. Stanley also attended the dedication of the Wilmette Temple and went on pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 1953. He was given a fez that belonged to 'Abdu'l-Bahá by Shoghi Effendi while on pilgrimage.
In 1956 he undertook a teaching tour of New Zealand, visiting the North and South Islands and travelling approximately 3800 miles. During his tour of the North Island he drove from Whangarei to Wellington with Hugh Blundell. They drove throughout the day and held meetings when they arrived at a destination at night. Thirty-two meetings were held which were attended by seven hundred people in total. Bolton used public transport during his tour of the South Island. The following year an independent National Spiritual Assembly of New Zealand was established, and Stanley chaired the Australian National Convention, as the Chairman of the Australian National Spiritual Assembly, Collis Featherstone, attended the first New Zealand National Convention.
Stanley died in 1966, and the Australian Bahá'ís held a Memorial service on May 8th. The Universal House of Justice sent the following cable after his death:
DEEPLY GRIEVED LEARN PASSING DEVOTED BELIEVER STANLEY BOLTON LONG OUTSTANDING SERVICES UPBUILDING FAITH AUSTRALIA NEW ZEALAND FROM EARLY DAYS UNFORGETTABLE ADVISE HOLDING MEMORIAL GATHERING TEMPLE STOP PLEASE CONVEY LOVING SYMPATHY MRS BOLTON FAMILY ASSURE PRAYERS SHRINES PROGRESS HIS SOUL
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