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Margaret Beveridge Stevenson was born on 30 November 1865 in Onehunga, Auckland, New Zealand.[1][2] Her parents were Scottish immigrants William Stevenson and Margaret Turnbull.[3]
She was the first person in New Zealand to join the Baha'i Faith. In her own words:
For nearly ten years, she was the only Baha'i living in New Zealand. Then, in 1922, Clara and Hyde Dunn visited from Australia and worked with Margaret to establish a local community. The first Nineteen Day Feast was held at Margaret's home.[5] In 1924, she was elected president of a formally-established New Zealand Baha'i group (later to become a Spiritual Assembly in 1926).[4]
In 1925, Margaret Stevenson travelled with a group of other Baha'is living in Australia and New Zealand to the Holy Land[6], by way of London.[7]
She was elected to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Australia and New Zealand in 1934, and served as Secretary of that institution until her sudden death on 11 February 1941.[4][8][9] She never married nor had children.
She is buried in Hillsborough Cemetery, Auckland, New Zealand.[10]
Sources
- ↑ Births Marriages And Deaths - "STEVENSON - At Onehunga, on November 30, the wife of Mr. W. Stevenson, of a daughter.", NEW ZEALANDER, VOLUME XXIII, ISSUE 2594, 2 DECEMBER 1865. Accessed 18 Mar 2020. PapersPast https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZ18651202.2.2
- ↑ Elsmore, Bronwyn. 'Stevenson, Margaret Beveridge', Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, first published in 1998. Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/biographies/4s46/stevenson-margaret-beveridge (accessed 17 March 2020)
- ↑ Birth record for Margaret Beveridge Stevenson, Birth, Death and Marriage Historical Records, New Zealand. Reg. no. 1866/24812. Parents: William, Margaret
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 "Miss Margaret Stevenson". In The Baha'i World. 600-602. Vol. IX. New York: National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the United States and Canada, 1945. Accessed 18 Mar 2020. http://bahai-library.com/usnsa_bahai_world_9.
- ↑ “The First Baha'i Feast in New Zealand.” Star of the West, April 1923-March 1924. https://bahai.works/Star_of_the_West/Volume_14/Issue_1/Text.
- ↑ "Note 1. (Letter No. 1)". In Arohanui: Letters Arohanui: Letters from Shoghi Effendi to New Zealand. 90-93. Fiji: Bahá’í Publishing Trust of Suva, 1982. Accessed 18 Mar 2020. https://reference.bahai.org/en/t/se/ARO/aro-83.html
- ↑ Social News - "Miss Margaret B. Stevenson, of Auckland, reached London on Easter Monday...", NEW ZEALAND HERALD, VOLUME LXII, ISSUE 19040, 10 JUNE 1925. Accessed on 17 Mar 2020. PapersPast https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZH19250610.2.185.1
- ↑ Death record for Margaret Beveridge Stevenson, Birth, Death and Marriage Historical Records, New Zealand. Reg. no. 1941/17132 75Y.
- ↑ Deaths - Margaret Beveridge Stevenson, AUCKLAND STAR, VOLUME LXXII, ISSUE 38, 15 FEBRUARY 1941. Accessed on 18 Mar 2020. PapersPast https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/AS19410215.2.3
- ↑ Find A Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 17 March 2020), memorial page for Margaret Beveridge Stevenson (30 Nov 1865–2 Feb 1941), Find A Grave: Memorial #139092421, citing Hillsborough Cemetery, Hillsborough, Auckland Council, Auckland, New Zealand ; Maintained by Candace Hill (contributor 47629018) .
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