- 1924-11-22 — Martha Root made a three-day stopover in Durban while en route from Adelaide to Cape Town. During this time Florence Norman, an Australian nursing sister who had settled in Durban, learned of the Faith. She is thought of as "the mother of Durban". She cared for Agnes Carey during her later years. [A Pictorial History of the Bahá'í Faith in South Africa 191 to 1989 p31
- 1925-04-21 — The first Local Spiritual Assembly in South Africa was formed in the Carey home in Arcadia, Pretoria.
Agnes Carey was the first person from Pretoria to become a Bahá'í and served as a member of the Local assembly from 1925 to 1929. The Assembly was dissolved in 1931 due to the movement of the Bahá'ís. [PHBFp8; Progress of the Bahá'í Faith in South Africa since 1911]
Agnes Carey passed away in 1958 and her live story can be found in BW13p943 - 1937-00-00 — Two American Bahá'ís, Mrs. Loulie Matthews and Miss Ophelia Crum, attempted to revive the Bahá'í Community in South Africa with little success and they soon left.
Only one Bahá'í remained a firm believer from that period. She was Mrs. Agnes Carey, a social worker amongst women prisoners who had been released from Pretoria prison. Because of her staunchness she was later honoured with the title of "The Mother of the Bahá'ís of South Africa".
[Progress of the Bahá'í Faith in South Africa since 1911] - 1949-00-00 — The painter Reginald Turvey returned to South Africa from England where he had become a Bahá'í through his association with the well-known painter, Mark Tobey. He was unaware of the existence of Agnes Carey who was in a nursing home in Durban and so he spent a lonely 13-year period of steadfastness in the Faith. For his patience, devotion and subsequent services to the African Bahá'ís, he was given the title of "The Father of the Bahá'ís of South Africa" by Shoghi Effendi when he was on pilgrimage in 1956.
[Progress of the Bahá'í Faith in South Africa since 1911]
In 1986, the year of his passing, George Ronald published a book titled Reginal Turvey - Life and Art:annal, letters and recollections. It was collected and edited why Lowell Johnson.
A brief biography and some of his paintings can be found at Bahá'í Library Online and more of his paintings can be viewed at Strauss&co and at MutualArt.
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