# Alice Buckton: Baha'i Mystic

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> Source: Bahá'í Library Online (bahai-library.com), curated by Jonah Winters. Used by permission of the curator. Original citation: Lil Osborn, Alice Buckton: Baha'i Mystic, bahai-library.com.
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> 
> Alice Buckton - Baha’i Mystic
> 
> Lil Osborn
> Independent Scholar
> 
> Of the people who counted themselves as Baha’is in Britain during the early decades of the last
> century, perhaps the one most well known to the public at the time was Alice Mary Buckton
> (1867 – 1944). Buckton was already a published poet and playwright by the time she
> encountered the Baha’i teaching s presumably around 1908 through Wellesley Tudor Pole.
> However, despite being in some respects high profile, her life is not easy to piece together, this is
> in part because her papers and records are not available, and because she appears to have
> been involved in very many different activities often falling out with her co workers before moving
> on to her next project. This paper looks at her involvement with the Baha’i Movement and
> attempts to evaluate perceptions of her role from inside the Movement.
> 
> Background
> Alice Buckton was born on the ninth day of March 1867, in Haselmere, Surrey. She seems to
> have kept close links with the county while she worked in London, prior to her move to
> Glastonbury. Her early life has been pieced together by Tracy Cutting in the short biography
> Beneath the Silent Tor. Alice Buckton was the eldest of the seven children of George Bowder
> Buckton and Mary Ann Olding. George Buckton was a gentleman scholar, interested in
> astronomy, and later in natural history. He published a number of works on aphids and flies, his
> work was beautifully illustrated and Cutting speculates his daughters may have assisted in the
> colouring of these pictures (Cutting, 2004, p. 8).
> 
> One brother, George Merrick Bell Buckton, born in 1876, died only three years later, however,
> the rest of Alice’s siblings, Jessie May (10th May 1868), Maud Elizabeth (10th September 1869)
> Florence Emily (27th August 1870) Eveleen (30th April 1872) and William Woodyer Buckton (6th
> March 1875) all lived into adulthood. Little is known about them, it seems they were educated at
> home, there is evidence that both William and Florence got married (Cutting, 2004, p. 10), but
> there is no information about the other siblings apart from Alice’s youngest sister Eveleen.
> 
> Eveleen Buckton RA (1872 – 1962), was an artist in a number of mediums; according to the
> British Council website:
> 
> Eveleen Buckton was a pupil of Frank Short. Her works were mainly landscapes and she
> exhibited with the New English Art Club and the Royal Academy. Her etchings are much
> in the style of Short. http://collection.britishcouncil.org/collection/artist/5/17735
> 
> Eveleen, like Alice never married and appears to have been quiet a prolific producer of water
> colour landscapes, she had a studio in Hampstead and a cottage near Salisbury. It is possible
> that she and Alice, as the sisters involved in the arts may have remained close there is no
> evidence to support such conjecture. Eveleen died in Hampstead aged ninety.
> 
> The area where the Buckton family lived was a centre of literary activity, in his book The Hilltop
> Writers Bob Trotter lists a colony of no less than sixty five writers living in the Surrey Hills in the
> later decades of the nineteenth century. These include the folklorist Rev. Sabine Bearing-Gould
> (1834 – 1924), whose novel The Broomsquire was set in the area, George Bernard Shaw (1856-
> 1950) but most importantly Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809-1885) (Trotter, 2003).
> 
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> Alice Buckton - Baha’i Mystic
> 
> That Alice Buckton was acquainted with Tennyson has been acknowledged by every author who
> has written about her, but curiously the importance of this relationship is seemingly overlooked.
> Tennyson was the person who singlehandedly repackaged King Arthur for a late Victorian and
> Edwardian audience. Central to his reinvention of the Arthurian Legends were the stories around
> the quest for the Holy Grail. Tennyson’s The Idylls of the King, published between 1859 and
> 1885, is a cycle of twelve narrative poems which retell the legend of King Arthur, his knights, his
> love for Guinevere and her tragic betrayal of him, and the rise and fall of Arthur's kingdom. The
> whole work recounts Arthur's attempt and failure to lift up mankind and create a perfect kingdom,
> from his coming to power to his death at the hands of the traitor Mordred. Individual poems detail
> the deeds of various knights, including Lancelot, Geraint, Galahad, and Balin and Balan, and
> also Merlin and the Lady of the Lake. There is little transition between Idylls, but the central figure
> of Arthur links all the stories. Through Tennyson Buckton was steeped in the Arthurian world
> long before she encountered Tudor Pole and the Blue Bowl he had recovered from the well in
> Glastonbury.
> 
> Tennyson’s influence remained on Buckton throughout her life; the Manchester Guardian printed
> a story about a gathering of Tennyson admirers visiting the poet’s home in Surrey in 1925:
> 
> TENNYSON AT ALDWORTH.
> The Manchester Guardian gives the following picturesque description of the recent visit of
> many of Tennyson's ad mirers to Aldworth: —
> 'On the bowling green where Tennyson loved to sit the visitors yesterday gathered to
> listen to reminiscences of him and to readings— rather too copious—of his poems. Mr.
> W. F; Rawnsley, who was actually present at Tennyson's wed ding in 1810, and who
> often visited him at Aldworth, gave us some glimpses of the great man among his
> friends.’1
> 
> The article goes on to assure readers that both Mr Rawnsley and “Miss Alys Buckton who also
> reminisced” pointed out that Tennyson was neither “gruff nor difficult”, that Buckton was still
> involved with Tennyson activities over a quarter of a century after his death, is a clear indication
> of the importance of his influence in her life.
> 
> In 1899 Alice was present at a memorial service for Tennyson in her family’s parish church in
> Surrey; there she would recall “His voice above everything remains with me. I have never heard
> such a wonderful voice, and it was as rich and melodic a month before he died as it ever was”,
> she spoke of holding a candle for him as he read and walking through the fields with him. Years
> later she still wore a cloak Tennyson had given her (Chalice Well Trust, 2009, p. 28).
> 
> The main event of the service was the unveiling of a memorial window by the Bishop of Ripon. A number of
> sources describe a memorial window as being by Edward Burne-Jones, and indeed it does appear to be
> based upon his tapestry “The Attainment” which depicts Sir Galahad and the Grail, but according to the
> “Buckton Family Website”:
> 
> “Eveleen also designed a Stained Glass Window for Haslemere Church, as part of the Tennyson
> Memorial there. The window was unveiled on 8th August 1899, and depicts the Holy Grail.”
> 
> The Register (Adelaide, SA : 1901 - 1929), Saturday 17 October 1925, page 4
> 
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> Alice Buckton - Baha’i Mystic
> 
> http://bucktonfamily.co.uk/interesting-bucktons/eveleen-buckton
> 
> However an advertisement for a “Tennyson Weekend, Part of the Haslemere Festival 22nd -
> 24th May 2009 A celebration of the life of Alfred, Lord Tennyson in his Surrey home of
> Haslemere” ascribes the design of the window to John Henry Dearle:
> 
> “In 1899 a Memorial Window by J.H.Dearle, after the Grail Tapestry by Burne-Jones, was
> placed in St Bartholomew’s Church, Haslemere.”
> http://www.haslemere.com/tennyson/booking.pdf
> 
> Dearle is the most likely designer of the window as following Morris's death in 1896, he was
> appointed Art Director of the Morris & Co, and became its principal stained glass designer on the death of
> Burne-Jones in 1898. It is quite possible that Eveleen Buckton may have been involved in the
> commissioning and procurement of the window, certainly the Buckton family were represented at the
> memorial service and as a leading local family would have contributed financially (probably substantially) to
> the memorial. The choice of subject the window depicts suggests the Grail legends were a subject of
> interest in the Buckton family long before Alice went to Glastonbury.
> 
> Sesame House
> It was also in 1899 that the Sesame Child Garden opened with Buckton, then aged thirty two as
> vice principal and her partner Annette Schepel as the senior mistress, teaching the child garden
> pupils. It is known that Alice Buckton worked for a time with Octavia Hill in her work amongst the
> poor of London, what her role was and the dates of her involvement are not recorded. However,
> it seems her interest moved on from direct settlement work to education and in particular the
> ideas of Friedrich Wilhelm August Froebel (Fröbel) (1782 – 1852) who pioneered the concept of
> early years education and “child gardens” where children’s creativity could grow. Buckton’s
> interest in Frobelian educational theory is addressed in Stephanie Mathivet’s Alice Buckton
> (1867 – 1944): The Legacy of a Frobelian in the Landscape of Glastonbury, which examines the
> influence of Frobel on Buckton’s work in Glastonbury (Mathivet, March 2006).
> 
> The Sesame Child Garden was the project of the Sesame League, the institution was not simply
> a nursery school or playgroup, the child garden was only part of its function. The underlying
> purpose was the training of women in the kind of skills they would need for the changing role of
> women in modern life. The role of women in both the spiritual and mundane spheres was
> something that interested Buckton throughout her life.
> 
> The Sesame Club provided a platform for various forms of progressive education ... By
> 1899 the Sesame Club had nine hundred members, but there were associated with it
> people who were interested in its educational aims but did not want to belong to a
> social club: they formed the Sesame League, and resolved to open a house for Home
> Life Training on the lines of Pestalozzi Froebel Haus in Berlin, and persuaded Fraulein
> Schepel, ... to come over from Berlin to become its first Principal2.
> http://www.friedrichfroebel.com/sesame.html
> 
> This may not be entirely accurate as the prospectus for the school names Miss Emily Last as the
> principal and Schepel as a “certified mistress” http://studentzone.roehampton.ac.uk/library/digital-
> collection/froebel-archive/froebel-extracts/Extract%207.pdf
> 
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> Alice Buckton - Baha’i Mystic
> 
> It may be significant that Professor Geddes and his wife were both on the committee of the
> school; Geddes was the publisher of Fiona Macleod, the female alter-ego of William Sharpe, he
> was also acquainted with Thomas Pole, the father of Wellesley Pole through the Garden City
> Movement. Geddes would later play an important role in the visit of Abdul Baha to Edinburgh.
> 
> The report on the first year of the school’s work states:
> 
> This training college, which is planned on the lines of the Pestalozzi Froebel Haus in
> Berlin was opened in July 1899 by the Marchioness of Ripon, under the auspices of the
> Sesame Club, Piccadilly. The aims of the training at Sesame House have been fully
> explained elsewhere. Suffice it here to say that its general purpose is to fit girls and
> women more fully for the woman’s life – a life whose natural character has been
> somewhat outweighted in these days by an excessive attention to intellectual
> accomplishment, and whose real charm and power lies in other as important things.
> http://studentzone.roehampton.ac.uk/library/digital-collection/froebel-archive/froebel-
> extracts/Extract%204.pdf
> 
> The skills taught were supposed to be those of a German farmer’s wife, although the syllabus
> suggests that rather more was actually taught, the mornings were devoted to cookery,
> needlework, house management and gardening. The afternoons concentrated on psychology,
> botany, zoology, singing, elocution, geometry and the work of educational reformers, as well as
> walks in London and Epping Forest (Chalice Well Trust, 2009, p. 29).
> 
> The school part of the enterprise seems to have been successful, as it was deemed “efficient”
> some four years after it’s founding:
> 
> SESAME HOUSE Acacia Road. Listed in 1903 by the London School Board as an
> efficient elementary school.
> https://www.westminster.gov.uk/sites/default/files/uploads/workspace/assets/publications/
> Schools-in-Marylebone-Paddington-1243691873.pdf
> 
> The school closed in 1916, three years after Buckton and Schepel departed for Somerset, this
> may have been due to a general distrust of anything with German antecedents at that time or
> simply that many young women would have been involved in war work.
> 
> The importance of Sesame House is that it was in some senses the forerunner of the
> establishment that Buckton and Schepel would set up in Glastonbury. It signifies the apex of
> Buckton’s involvement with the Frobelian educational movement.
> 
> How much time Buckton actually spent working at Sesame House is unclear, as it is also the
> period in which she was most productive as a writer. In 1901 she published her first book of
> poems, Through Human Eyes. She must also have been working on her most famous play,
> Eager Heart, around this time, as it was first produced in 1904. It was also in 1904 that her The
> Burden of Engela: A Ballad-epic was published, this was a narrative verse sequence about the
> Boer war, which took place from October 1899 to November 1902. The central characters are
> Engela and Piet de Waal, her husband and their son Geert, whose death at the hands of the
> 
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> Alice Buckton - Baha’i Mystic
> 
> British is central to an eponymous poem in the sequence. It is an indication of both Buckton’s
> independence of thought and courage that she published a pro-Boer poem at a time when such
> sentiments would have been deeply unpopular. The same year Masques and Dances was
> published, followed a year later by the Pastor of Wydon Fell another ballad sequence.
> 
> A letter dated 24th January 1906 addressed to Lucy Broadwood, a collector of folk songs from
> Alice Buckton at Sesame House, 43A Acacia Road, St John’s Wood, is listed in the Broadwood Archive.
> In it, Buckton reintroduces herself to Lucy, recalling the latter's performance of 'When the Thorn is
> White with Blossom' in the old assembly rooms at Haslemere. She goes on to say that she has written
> a sacred play cast in an old form for which Gustav von Holst is preparing the music and she hopes Lucy
> will attend the play reading to take place shortly and participate in the discussion afterwards.3 This
> letter is significant for a number of reasons; it shows Buckton was still active in cultural events in
> Surrey and that she was aware of but not involved with the folk music and song revival at this time.
> 
> A Fateful Meeting
> In July 1907 a meeting took place which had life changing consequences for Alice Buckton, she
> was one a large gathering at the home of Basil Wilberforce who heard Wellesley Tudor Pole
> explain the finding of the bowl in the well at Glastonbury. How she knew Wilberforce is not
> apparent, but he was a well known figure in numerous radical movements and their paths could
> have crossed in a number of ways. There is no record of Buckton’s reaction to the presentation
> by Pole but her interest in Arthurian legends and feminism would seem to have made the grail
> and it’s triad of maidens irresistible as on the 23rd of September she visited Glastonbury for the
> first time.
> 
> In 1908 Pole encountered the Baha’i teachings on his first visit to Constantinople; he must have
> shared them with Buckton and Schepel on his return. What they made of them can only be
> guessed at, clearly they all accepted them in so far as the information they had allowed and it
> seems to have left them thirsting for further information. The period between being introduced to
> the Baha’i teachings and the first visit of Abul Baha to the British Isles appears to have been one
> on intense activity for Buckton. In 1908 she published Songs of Joy. Sometime in 1909 an article
> by Buckton appeared in the Havelock Journal "The Forerunner". Havelock North was the town in
> which another Baha’i with esoteric interest, Robert Felkin would settle.
> 
> The1910 June Star of the West reports on Buckton and Shepel’s visit to the Holy Land, which
> suggests the visit, took place in early 1910.
> 
> The BAHAI NEWS comes to us with refreshing tidings of progress in all lands.
> Our hearts have been made glad with the supremest joy in hearing the verbal messages
> brought us by Miss Buckton and Miss Schepel who have spent a few weeks at Acca.
> Miss Buckton is a strong club woman here and her return has been the means of
> spreading the "Glad-tidings" among many who otherwise would have waited long for this
> Message. 1-6-13
> 
> Pole visited Abdul Baha in 1910, during the winter of that year, probably to finalise arrangements
> for Abdul Baha’s visit to the United Kingdom. Buckton visited the United States early in 1911,
> 
> Alice M Buckton, to Lucy Broadwood; 2185/LEB/1/318 24 Jan 1906
> 
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> Alice Buckton - Baha’i Mystic
> 
> the main reason for her visit was to promote her play Eager Heart, and for example she is
> reported in the Harvard Crimson of 26th January 1911:
> 
> Miss Buckton of England, will read her mystery-play, "Eager Heart," under the auspices of
> the Dramatic Club in Emerson A this afternoon at 4.30 o'clock. The play, which has met
> with great success in England, is to be given a trial performance under the auspices of a
> committee of Boston men and women on February 11. Miss Buckton wishes to obtain the
> aid of Harvard men in acting it. The reading will be open to the public.
> http://www.thecrimson.com/article/1911/1/26/miss-buckton-to-read-eager-heart/
> 
> She took the opportunity to meet the American Baha’is and further spread the words of Abdul
> Baha. Tthe 1911 March Star of the West reported her visit:
> 
> BOSTON, MASS.--During the recent visit to Boston of Miss Alice Mary Buckton, of London, England, the
> Bahai teachings were presented to hundreds of eager listeners. God's blessings have been manifest on every
> hand and in His power alone will be the “increase” to the seeds thus sown.
> A question that Abdul-Baha asked Miss Buckton during her stay in Acca is one that might well be asked of
> every Bahai. He said: “Do you not say in the West that this is the ‘Day of the Comforter?’” To which she
> replied in the affirmative. He then said: “Are you comforting? Are you doing the work of the Comforter?” - SW,
> Vol. 2, No. 1, p. 7
> 
> It was also in 1911 that the First Universal Races Congress was held at the University of London
> from July 26 to 29. This was an important event and it was hoped that Abdul Baha would attend.
> In the event that proved impossible, however, a letter from Abdul Baha was read out by Tudor
> Pole. Many Baha’i s attended the Conference, including Louise Waite, an American who had
> written a number of Baha’i hymns and published them.
> 
> Waite later recounted her experience with Buckton:
> 
> When I was in London in 1911 at the Races Congress, Miss B-was very anxious for me to
> make changes in our hymns, that they might be "universally used" and also sell generally
> and bring in more money for the Temple. She took one of the hymn books and some of
> her blue pencil changes were: "Songs of Peace and Praise", not "Bahai Hymns of Peace
> and Praise". The hymn of the "Greatest Name" was left out entirely (after such a
> wonderful Tablet about it). Then, "Tell the Wondrous story, tell it far and near of the loving
> Father, holy Name so dear" not "of Baha'u'l-lah". Also, in "Softly His Voice Is Calling" not
> "Abdul Baha we turn to Thee", etc., but "Love is the power which giveth life, Love is the
> perfect way." There were many other changes writ-ten in, but these were the most
> important. I told her I would pray over it.
> 
> I returned to America and prayed and thought deeply over it, but it seemed as if my heart
> would be hurt to change those hymns, written to the Beloved Himself. Yet I wanted to
> cooperate in every way possible with Miss B.
> 
> When 'Abdu'l-Baha was in Chicago, Waite had an interview with him on 5 May 1912. She
> showed him the copy of Bahai Hymns of Peace and Praise that Buckton had marked and
> asked him what she should do. He asked who had requested such changes. When Waite
> replied that it was Buckton, he explained that she was very ''young' ' in the Faith and that
> 
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> Alice Buckton - Baha’i Mystic
> 
> Waite should only make changes if he told her to do so. (Armstrong-Ingram, 1987, p.
> 91/92)
> 
> This is a really interesting insight; it is rare to come across evaluations of individuals by their
> peers yet alone by Abdu’l Baha. Buckton, it seems was trying to be helpful and she wanted to
> maximise sales of Waite’s book by playing down the Baha’i references and making it more all
> encompassing. It would appear this was not simply a casual suggestion but a full edit making
> significant changes, one gets the impression that Buckton lacked a certain subtlety in dealing
> with others. This incident demonstrates her attitude to and understanding of Bahaism, for her it
> was subsidiary to unity; contrast her attitude to that of Waite for whom the most important thing
> was that the Baha’i teachings shone through the pages of her book. I have written elsewhere
> about the Baha’i Movement being a supplementary religious movement and compared it to the
> modern Baha’i Faith which is an independent religion and argued that the degree to which the
> individual found relevance in the Baha’i message was he factor which determined whether or not
> they internalised the message and the Baha’i Faith became their religion. Here we have a good
> example of these tensions; Waite perceives Baha’i as her dominant belief system, while for
> Buckton it is merely an addition to her other interests and one which she is prepared to subsume
> for the sake of a wider audience. Waite was somewhat discombobulated; she desperately
> wanted to do the “right Baha’i thing” but the force of Buckton as an individual of prominence both
> inside and outside of the Baha’i Movement intimidated her enough to cause her to question her
> own poetry and how it should be presented. Waite asked Abdu’l Baha for advice; by 1912 he
> would have met Buckton on numerous occasions on his visit to the British Isles as well as the
> two pilgrimages she had made to Egypt, so his evaluation was based on sound knowledge,
> despite her high profile as a public speaker for the Baha’i Movement and the respect she
> commanded, Abdu’l Baha describes her as “young in the Faith”, it suggests he saw something in
> her that was not apparent to everyone, what that was will be discussed later.
> 
> Around this time Buckton and Schepel were deeply immersed in Baha’i activities in London, their
> work seems to have centred on the Passmore Edwards Settlement, quiet what their connection
> was with this institution is unclear. The settlement was linked originally to the Non Conformist
> University College of the University of London, two men who wrote about the Baha’i Faith; J.
> Estlin Carpenter and Phillip Wicksteed who were both connected to the Settlement through
> Manchester New College, Oxford. The Settlement was important for a host of reasons, one of
> which was that it was home to the Esperance Morris Team, an all female Morris dance team that
> was led by Mary Neal, one of the most influential people in the revival of English folk dance.
> According to an article entitled The Baha’i Message by Harrold Johnson in The Christian
> Commonwealth, of September 6, 1911 it seems that Baha’is had started meeting there during the
> Universal Races Congress, which was held in the nearby University of London and were building
> on interest generated by the conference to run regular study meetings, it is noteworthy that Annet
> Schepel is given as the secretary and contact:
> 
> Last Friday, at 37, Tavistock Place, W. C., the Bahá’í Community of London opened a
> new centre and reading-room, which will be open daily from 11 a. m. to 6 p. m. The
> friends present at the gathering hailed from Egypt, Syria, West Africa, United States,
> Mexico, Holland, etc. The opening of this centre is the direct outcome of the series of
> public meetings held at the Passmore Edwards Settlement and at Caxton Hall, at the time
> of the first Universal Races Congress. A study-circle is held every Friday at 4.45 p. m.
> 
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> Alice Buckton - Baha’i Mystic
> 
> All information may be had of the hon. sec. Miss Annet Hamminck Schepel.
> 
> The meetings were doubtless used to develop interest immediately prior to the visit to the British
> isles of Abdu’l Baha. He arrived on the 4th September 1911 and stayed until the 3rd October,
> during this time he addressed numerous meetings, both large formal public events and informal
> “at home” style gatherings in the homes of supporters. On the 9th September he visited Vanners,
> the country home of Buckton and Shepel (Hammond, 1912, p. p.84). The story of Abdu’l Baha’s
> visits to the West has been recounted many times and thus only the role of Buckton in relation to
> these visits will be touched upon here. She is visible in photographs taken at the Pole family
> guest house in Clifton, Bristol, where Abdu’l Baha stayed between 23rd and 25th and where he
> encountered both the Blue Bowl and the women who along with Tudor Pole had found the
> vessel. (Hammond, 1912) (1911) (CC 27th Sept 1911& SW Vol. 2, No 12 p.7,8-11). At the end of
> the month on 28th September Abdu’l Baha returned to Byfleet to again enjoy Buckton’s hospitality
> and mix informally with the people of the village.
> 
> That Buckton and her concerns remained with Abdu’l Baha after he returned to the Middle East
> is evidenced by the pilgrim notes of Harriet M. Wise who visited between 9th and 21st June, 1912.
> These note form part of a collection of four hundred and seventy eight translated tablets and
> other English documents from the library of American collector Dwight Barstow. Notes numbered
> 351-B(3) and 356 refer to Allice Buckton:
> 
> Date, Jul. 9-21, 1912, 6 pp Words (pilgrim notes) to Harriet M. Wise, Cooper & Goodall--
> notes by Wise
> 
> 3) 351-B: He told Miss Buckton to not tamper with the psychic forces in this world. It
> hampers & retards the condition of the body, both in this world & especially the world to
> come. Same as 356
> 
> Clearly, Abdul Baha was so concerned about what he perceived as Buckton’s tampering with
> psychic forces, whatever that may mean, and the danger it posed, that months after seeing her
> he felt compelled to send a warning through a third party. This may explain his rather cryptic
> remark to Louise Waite describing Buckton as “young in the faith”.
> 
> Abdu’l Baha made a second visit to Britain from the 12th December 1912 to January 21st 1913;
> this visit took place after a long sojourn in the United States. The second visit was different in
> style from the first, with more emphasis on meetings with officials and rather less press
> coverage.
> 
> On the 12th December ‘Abdu’l Baha addressed his first major public meeting of his second visit in
> London, Alice Buckton was prominent, she addressed the hall; she read from the Hidden Words
> and described the circumstances of their revelation. She talked about peace and a recent peace
> conference and then “emphasised the fact that this was no new religion, it sought the unity of all
> religions, shutting out none of them, but finding a common meeting place for all. She likened it to
> a garden of flowers where vast variety did away with monotony and made an interesting unity.”
> The next speaker was Charlotte Despard, president of the Woman’s Freedom League, she and
> Buckton seem to have been closely associated. Mrs. Despard spoke of ‘The Master’ and the
> message he was bringing the world. Despard referred to the unrest in the world but concluded it
> was a healthy symptom of change and that the “mighty movements—the women’s movement,
> 
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> Alice Buckton - Baha’i Mystic
> 
> the religious movement, the spiritual movement” were all part of a unifying force for change. It is
> clear that for Despard ‘Abdu’l-Bahá is relevant as “one of the great Masters,” in other words, not
> unique, and the leader of one of the great movements. Another interesting point she made was
> to refer to “the presence here in our western isle of this eastern Master,” a reference to the
> revival of the Western magical traditions in which she and Alice Buckton were steeped. SW Vol.
> 3, 19,4
> 
> Two days later, after spending the afternoon walking in the park with some of his followers, which
> included Buckton and in the evening ‘Abdu’l Baha attended a performance of Buckton’s play
> Eager Heart. There are several accounts of ‘Abdu’l Baha’s reaction to the play and the
> discussion about it amongst his friends and followers. The play was based on medieval mystery
> plays, Buckton had laid down strict conditions for its performance, for example the names of the
> actors were not to be revealed and the ownership of the play was put in the hands of a
> committee which met annually to discuss its progress. The plot was simple; it concerns Eager
> Heart and her sisters Eager Fame and Eager Sense and their reactions to their meeting with the
> Christ Child. This play is the only one of Buckton’s numerous works which she controlled in this
> way; she seems to have believed it was uniquely powerful and possibly perceived its
> performance as a ritual. She would have been delighted with and seen much significance in
> ‘Abdu’l Baha’s positive reaction to the performance.
> 
> The longest period Abdu’l-Bahá spent outside of London was the week he spent in Edinburgh,
> from Friday, 3 January to Friday, 10 January. Whilst he was in Scotland he met Professor
> Geddes who had been involved with the Sesame House activities of Buckton as well as being
> known to the Pole family. According to Ahmad Sohrab’s diary and interesting conversation took
> place on the train back to London:
> 
> Since his return to London he is anxious that teachers may go to Edinburgh and
> yesterday the name of Miss Buckton]was mentioned in the train; that is she knows how to
> speak with Church people, she is certainly the one to go there for awhile and try to teach
> and water the seeds that the Master has sown; for there were many people who have
> expressed their desire to join the Bahai movement. Therefore this morning when Miss
> Chapel and Miss Buckton came in, the Master called them in and after greeting them and
> inquiring about their health said {to the latter}, Thou must go to Scotland. The people are
> immensely interested. Edinburgh has great capability. There are many people who are
> interested.
> Sorab’s Diary 11th January 1913
> http://bahai-library.com/sohrab_diary_edinburgh_1913
> 
> Thus we have another insight into the perceptions of the Baha’is and Abdu’l Baha of Alice
> Buckton, she is acknowledged as someone who can “speak with Church people”, clearly an
> organiser and public speaker, despite being “young” in the Faith and over fond of psychic forces.
> She is, like Pole a public face, however, she does not seem to have the same intimacy with
> Abdu’l Baha and his family that Pole had even before his service in the war.
> 
> It should be noted that Buckton often spoke on subjects close to her own interests, mainly the
> role of women. On the 11th January Abdu’l Baha addressed a large public meeting at Caxton
> 
> 9|Page
> Alice Buckton - Baha’i Mystic
> 
> Hall, Buckton also spoke.‘Abdu’l-Bahá made another trip to the Clifton Guest House in Bristol,
> leaving London on Thursday, 16 January; Buckton was part of his entourage. He addressed a
> meeting of about one hundred and fifty persons that evening and returned to London the
> following day.
> 
> Glastonbury
> Buckton had great plans for her new venture in Glastonbury; but she was not alone in choosing
> to relocate there, Glastonbury had become a centre for artistic and spiritual
> 
> It is unclear exactly when it was that Alice Buckton bought Tor House and with it the Chalice
> Well, some sources say 1912 others early 1913, there is anecdotal evidence that ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
> encouraged her to make the purchase. There is nothing to substantiate this, however, it was the
> period in which Buckton was most deeply involved with the Baha’is and when ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, if not
> actually in England would have been easily contactable in Europe when news the property was
> on the market reached Buckton. It would seem unlikely she would have made such an important
> decision without consulting ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and impossible for her to go ahead unless he had been
> supportive. According to her biographer, Buckton’s bid was unlikely to succeed as a wealthy
> American and an industrialist were both keen to acquire the site, providentially the American was
> delayed and against the odds Buckton’s bid was accepted (Cutting, 2004, pp. 20-21). It is
> noticeable that Pole does not seem to be involved in this venture, many years later he wrote:
> 
> The Belgian Order of the Sacred Heart sold the Chalice Well property as a whole in 1909,
> after it had been empty for a while, Alice Buckton bought it and ruled there for many
> years. Results were mixed and ultimately the good lady became deranged and eccentric
> to a degree. (Pole, 1979, p. 138)
> 
> Pole points out that the de-consecration of the site by the departing Roman Catholic Order led to
> a spiritual void and implies that this was at least in part, the cause of Buckton’s eccentricity.
> Clearly, at least in retrospect, he was not supportive of her venture, although he purchase the
> site himself in 1959, when presumably the spiritual void had been dealt with. It is suggestive that
> Pole and Buckton, although publically working together for the Baha’i Cause, had started to
> diverge in their respective understandings of Glastonbury.
> 
> Her project of “The Chalice Well Training College for Women and Pilgrims’ Hostel” which opened
> its doors in May 1913 was in many ways a continuation of the work begun at Sesame House; its
> curriculum included "gardening, bee-keeping, book binding, weaving, and needlework, combined
> with the study of heraldry, elocution and legendary drama, however it could also be seen as a
> Baha’i inspired venture. Baha’is prioritise the education and training of women, there is also a
> strong tradition of hospitality, both of which were present in Buckton’s vision of her college.
> 
> The following year 1914 saw the first Glastonbury festival, as well as another venture by Buckton
> which may have been inspired by contact with the Baha’is, this was a play entitled “The Meeting
> in the Gate: A Christmas interlude” first published in The Challenge4 magazine, it concerns a
> conversation between Muslims and Christians during the First Crusade, the title is a pun on the
> title of the forerunner of Baha’u’llah, whose title - The Bab, means “The Gate” in Arabic. In that
> summer of that year war broke out and Europe would be engulfed in conflict for several years.
> 
> Christmas number, December 24th, 1915."p.11
> 
> 10 | P a g e
> Alice Buckton - Baha’i Mystic
> 
> Buckton’s college concept would have struggled in favourable circumstances, Glastonbury,
> although it had a railway station at that time, was still remote from most large urban centres, and
> what had worked well in St John’s Wood was less attractive in remote Somerset. With the
> disruption of the War and many potential trainees entering war work, the likelihood of the college
> being a financial success was severely diminished. Buckton gradually dropped the training
> college aspect and the property became a guest house, she continued to purchase other
> properties as they came on the market until financial constraints caused her to sell off her
> portfolio, the reasons for this will be discussed later.
> 
> During the First World War Buckton was resident in Glastonbury, while the conflict may have
> impacted negatively on her attempts to set up a training college for women and hostel for
> pilgrims, one very significant visitor to her establishment in 1915 was the archaeologist Margaret
> Murray. Murray wrote that she chose to go to Glastonbury because she knew nobody there
> (Murrray, 1963, p. 104), however, Buckton was the god mother of one of Finders Petrie’s two
> children and Petrie was Murray’s mentor in the Archaeology Department of University College
> London, it is likely that it was through Petrie that Murray was introduced to Alice Buckton. In her
> autobiography Murray commented:
> 
> One cannot stay in Glastonbury without becoming interested in Joseph of Arimathea and
> the Holy Grail. As soon as I got back to London I did a careful piece of research, which
> resulted in a paper on Egyptian Elements in the Grail Romance. (Murrray, 1963, p. 104)
> 
> Murray goes on to explain that most of her research for The Witch Cult in Western Europe was
> done during the war, she claims to have forgotten who it was who first piqued her interest in
> witches but as she had written nothing on the subject before the war, it is very possible that
> conversations which took place in Glastonbury were the spark which caused her to turn her
> attention to witches after she had explored the Grail legends in the context of Ancient Egypt.
> 
> Murray was not the only important figure in the resurgence of magick to stay with Alice. In 1921
> Dion Fortune (1890-1946) stayed at Alice Buckton’s community guest house in Glastonbury,
> before purchasing her own property in the town. Fortune, who was arguably the most important
> figure in the revival of occultism in Britain, wrote extensively about Buckton in her book about
> Glastonbury, Avalon of the Heart.
> 
> Although based mainly in Glastonbury, both Buckton and Schepel appear on the voting list of the
> London electors of the first National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of the United Kingdom,
> unlike Pole it seems they chose to remain within the Baha’i community when it began to
> organise. In my opinion Pole’s decision to remain outside demonstrates a deeper understanding
> than that of Buckton and Schepel, who I would argue chose to be included because they did not
> grasp the full significance of the development. They certainly cease to be involved in Baha’i
> activities from this point on and dedicate themselves to their work in Glastonbury.
> 
> Pageant and pilgrimage , cinema and radio
> Notwithstanding her interest in ancient forms of drama, she was also instrumental in making a
> film, The History of Glastonbury, for which she wrote a scenario presenting the town’s
> development by means of pageant. Though the film proved technically inadequate, it is
> interesting to see her then turning her creative energies to the new technology of radio, creating
> 
> 11 | P a g e
> Alice Buckton - Baha’i Mystic
> 
> the first Arthurian play designed for the medium. Her scheme was ambitious and employed
> music specially written by Warwick Braithwaite, the conductor of the Cardiff Station Orchestra
> (and later conductor of the National Orchestra of Wales). The play was called Arthurian Legends
> 1. The Wooing of Guinevere (c 28th June 1925), and was performed by the 5WA Radio Players
> and the station SO conducted by Braithwaite. ….
> 
> According to a preview in the Western Mail, Buckton had planned a series of six works on this
> theme to be given at monthly intervals. No trace is extant of these intended sequels. (Simpson,
> 2008, pp. 17 -18)
> 
> The Final Years
> The last reference I can find to Buckton in a Baha’i context is a mention of her in Balyuzi’s
> biography of ‘Abdu’l Baha:
> 
> The present writer met both Mrs Whyte and Alice Buckton sometime in the early thirties, at the
> home of Lady Blomfield, 8, Burgess Hill, London NW2. Both were then noticeably aged. Mrs
> Whyte had moved to London and lived very quietly at 22, Church Row, Hampstead. Alice
> Buckton was still active, particularly for the Chalice Well, Glastonbury. (Balyuzi, 1971, p. 355n)
> 
> It is purely speculation but two possibilities occur from Balyuzi’s reminiscence, firstly that it is
> possible that Buckton was visiting her sister Eveleen, who was also a resident of Hampstead and
> secondly, that the death of Buckton’s long time partner, Annette Schepel in 1931 may have been
> significant in her drifting away from the Baha’is. Little is known of Schepel, no writings in English
> exist, although, she may have been writing in her native German. She certainly accompanied
> Buckton in her work for the Baha’i cause and it is possible that she was the more deeply
> committed of the two and that after her death Buckton’s interest waned. A list of “isolated
> believers” published in the February 1938 Baha’i Journal does not include Alice Buckton, I can
> find no obituary in any Baha’i publication, this suggests that for some years prior to her death she
> had not been active in the Baha’i community.
> 
> In the final years of her life Buckton was facing financial difficulties and wrestling with the
> problem of the future of her work in Glastonbury after her death. She expended a great deal of
> energy attempting to set up a limited company that would safeguard her work financially, with the
> hope that it would preserve the well and the properties she had acquired as single unit. After her
> death in December 1944, the estate was gradually broken up and her work would have appeared
> to be doomed to oblivion, however, the Chalice Well aspect at least was revived by her sometime
> friend and fellow Baha’i Wellesley Tudor Pole who established the Chalice Well Trust in 1959
> and purchased the Well and some of the land around it, enabling it to be turned into the present
> garden and visitor centre.
> 
> Buckton’s funeral service was held in Wells Cathedral and a few days later a memorial service
> took place at St John’s church in Glastonbury, an indication she remained at least technically
> loyal to the Anglican Church until the end of her life. Cutting gives a list of people who attended,
> the funeral and although it might not be complete, it does not include any known Baha’is, another
> indication she had drifted away. A memorial to her exists within the church, her ashes were
> scattered on the Tor. Perhaps the last word should be to the Rev Lionel Lewis, the Vicar of St.
> John’s whose eulogy, spoken at her funeral was printed in the parish magazine:
> 
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> Alice Buckton - Baha’i Mystic
> 
> There passed away early in the morning of Sunday, Dec.13th, a great soul, a great mind, and a
> great heart, Alys Mary Buckton. She was a genius, a most remarkable personality. Her mind was
> as wide as her heart. Gifted also with musical voice, a strong will, the keenest intelligence, an
> extraordinary critical judgment, and an extraordinary capacity for forgiveness, an unfailing
> enthusiasm. She managed to accomplish things where other people would have been daunted.
> Twenty years ago it would have been a waste of time to have told Glastonbury, which she loved
> so dearly, what she had done for Glastonbury. But men come and go, so the writer, who had the
> privilege of being her parish priest, for nearly the last quarter century of her life (a period to be
> looked back upon without one ruffled thought) would fain bear one tiny testimony. When he came
> here, he found Chalice Well and Miss Buckton, a centre of art, music, drama, crafts and lofty
> thought, to which she had attracted the most intelligent and good-living youth of the place.
> 
> That good work continued until increasing years made her give up her hostel. But her influence
> lives on in the hearts and minds of her pupils whom she illumined. Her whole outlook on life was
> great, and here was an ever-ready sympathy. It is needless to speak of her years of work for the
> poor in the slums under Miss Octavia Hill, and her unfailing passion for education, or of her
> powers as a dramatist. The authoress of ‘Eager Heart’ is world-famed. Being so great she had
> the power of attracting great minds.
> http://www.chalicewell.org.uk/index.cfm/glastonbury/HistoricalArchive.Article/article_id/1
> 
> Conclusions
> Buckton remains something of an enigma, although she wrote and published a great deal, much
> of her thinking and beliefs remain obscure. I have addressed
> 
> •   What was her connection with Finders Petrie?
> •   What was she doing at the Passmore Edwards Settlement?
> •   Who and what was behind the move to Glastonbury?
> •   When did she and WTP drift apart?
> •   Why did she end up so isolated?
> •   What happened to distance her from the Baha’is?
> 
> 13 | P a g e
>
> — *Alice Buckton: Baha'i Mystic (Used by permission of the curator)*