Maxwells of Montreal, Volume 1
Early Years 1870-1922

One family, bonded in their love for the Bahá’í Faith and for each other, committed through decades of uninterrupted service to the promotion and establishment of that Faith worldwide. They were born during the Heroic Age of the Faith – the parents during the lifetime of Bahá’u’lláh, the child during the Ministry of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá – and they lived to serve the Guardian of the Cause during the early decades of the Formative Age at the most critical time of his ministry. The mother became a ‘beloved handmaid and distinguished disciple’ of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, of whom He wrote that ‘her company uplifts and develops the soul’. The father was a noble, cultured and saintly man, an outstanding architect, not only of the Shrine of the Báb but also as a partner in the largest and most preeminent architectural firm in Canada during the first quarter of the 20th century. And the daughter grew up to play a unique role in history as the wife of the Guardian of the Bahá’í Faith. Their names were May Bolles, William Sutherland and Mary – the Maxwells of Montreal.