First heard of the Faith in 1910 in the Salford, Lancashire area and with his wife Rebecca, her brother John Charles and his wife Hester Ann Craven, made contact with Sarah Ann Ridgway, one of the earliest British Bahá’ís, and later established the second Bahá’í Group in the British Isles. In 1912 Mr. Hall and Mr. Craven went to Liverpool and met ‘Abdu’l-Bahá at the boat. Five Tablets from the Master were received. In 1922 the first Spiritual Assembly was formed in Manchester with E. T. Hall as Secretary. He also “represented” Manchester on the first National Spiritual Council in 1922, and was a member of the National Assembly until 1928. He was entrusted by Shoghi Effendi with part of his early diaries and later maintained a close correspondence with the Guardian for many years. His book, “The Bahá’í Dawn; Manchester” paints a vivid picture of the early days of the Faith in Lancashire. Through Mr. Hall’s correspondence with the Editor of the ‘John O’Groats Journal’ (Mr. R. J. G. Millar) frequent reviews and letters were published for nineteen years until the Editor’s retirement. He passed away on 5 December 1962 aged 82.
MRS. THORNBURGH-CROPPER
One of the first Bahá’ís of the West and possibly the first Bahá’í resident in England. Her early Bahá’í life is described in “The Chosen Highway” and in “The Bahá’í World”, Vol. VIII, pp. 649–51. She was a member of the National Spiritual Assembly for its first two years and it was in her house in Westminster that the first meeting of the “All-England Bahá’í Council” was held on 6 June 1922. She passed away on 15 March 1938.
GEORGE PALGRAVE SIMPSON
Was associated with the Administration of the Faith in the British Isles from its earliest days. Elected as Chairman of the first “Spiritual Council” and President of the “National Spiritual Assembly” in 1923. He also served as the Assistant Secretary and the Treasurer for some years. All the early letters from the Guardian were addressed to him and the file copies of his letters to the Holy Land, some to the Guardian and others to the various secretaries, as well as the Minutes in his handwriting, give us our closest insight into the conditions obtaining in the 1920’s. At one stage he felt obliged to resign from the National Assembly but was still called upon to remain as its Treasurer and attend the meetings! He served the Cause with great distinction until his death on 31 August 1934. (See letter 30 September 1934.)