the same evening and so became the first woman believer in
Australia. She accompanied Martha Root on the latter's lecture tour of New
Zealand and, learning of the New Zealand Baha'is projected journey to the
Holy Land in 1925, Effie sold her home and joined the pilgrims.

After the bounty of visiting the Shrines and meeting with the Guardian and
the Greatest Holy Leaf, Effie acceded to Shoghi Effendi's request and
accompanied the New Zealand friends to London so as to contact the British
Baha'i community. She planned to return to Australia and assist the Dunns,
and had accepted an invitation from the Ladies of the Holy Family to stop
over in Haifa on her homeward journey, but on arriving there in June, she
found Shoghi Effendi was away from the Holy Land and so decided to wait
until he returned. Her offer to serve was accepted and she remained at the
World Centre of the Baha'i Faith in Israel for the next eleven years where
she assumed the duties of hostess, welcoming the friends to the Pilgrim
House, using her artistry and talent to photograph events in Haifa for the
Guardian. In 1930, when the need arose to secure photographs of places in
Persia associated with the early history of the Baha'i Faith, Effie
undertook arduous journeys by road through Syria and Iraq, undeterred by
danger from hostile bandits. This intrepid worker now embarked on an
exacting and fruitful period of direct service to the Guardian, often
using cars supplied by the Persian believers, at times travelling on
horseback, mule or donkey to all but a few sites where it was too
dangerous for a westerner to venture. The unique photographic record she
obtained was immortalised by being selected by the Guardian for inclusion
in Nabil's "The Dawnbreakers".

In 1936, Effie returned to her homeland, Australia, where she looked after
the National Archives over a long period. Her last years were spent in a
small flat in the Haziratu'l-Quds in Sydney at the invitation of the
National Spiritual Assembly of Australia and New Zealand who had been
requested by the Guardian to take care of her until her passing on January
2nd, 1968.

Note 5. (Letter No. 15)

Mrs Amy Dewing and her son Bertram were among New Zealand's earliest
Baha'is; Mrs Dewing came from an orthodox Church of England background and
viewed with disapproval her son's questioning attitude which led him to
describe himself as a Rationalist. They heard of and accepted the Truth of
the Baha