William Sutherland Maxwell

1874 to 1952. Canadian architect. Hand of the Cause of God. Designer of the superstructure of the Shrine of the Báb on Mount Carmel — the colonnade, octagon, drum, and golden dome that crown the original sepulchre 'Abdu'l-Bahá built in 1899. Husband of May Maxwell. Father of Rúḥíyyih Khánum. Father-in-law of Shoghi Effendi.

Early life

William Sutherland Maxwell was born in Montreal in 1874, the son of a Scottish-Canadian family of established wealth and considerable cultural seriousness. He showed an early gift for drawing and was sent, in his early twenties, to study architecture — first at the Boston School of Architecture, then at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. The latter was, at the turn of the twentieth century, the most prestigious school of architectural education in the world.

He spent six years in Paris, taking the rigorous École training that produced many of the most distinguished architects of the early twentieth century. He came home to Montreal in his late twenties and joined his older brother Edward in the Maxwell & Maxwell architectural firm.

The encounter with the Faith

In Paris in 1900–1902 Sutherland Maxwell met May Bolles — the young American Bahá'í who was the spiritual centre of the small Paris Bahá'í community. He was drawn to her personally and, through her teaching, to the Faith she represented. They became engaged in 1901 and were married in May 1902 in London. Sutherland had, by the time of the marriage, recognised the Faith.

They settled in Montreal. Sutherland continued his architectural practice. May became — by sheer fact of her residence — the first Bahá'í of Canada. Together they made the Maxwell home at 716 Pine Avenue West a centre of Bahá'í teaching for the next four decades.

The Maxwell architectural practice

Through the early decades of the twentieth century the Maxwell firm — first under Edward, then increasingly under Sutherland — designed many of the principal public and private buildings of Montreal and elsewhere in eastern Canada. Among Sutherland's notable works:

The wings of the Quebec Parliament Building in Quebec City.
The Saskatchewan Legislative Building in Regina (with his brother).
The Reford-Brodie House and many other Montreal residences.
The Bank of Montreal's building in Calgary.
The Manoir Richelieu hotel at Pointe-au-Pic, Quebec.
Numerous churches, schools, and civic buildings across Canada.

He had, by the early 1940s, become one of the most respected Canadian architects of his generation. He was a Fellow of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada and held many of the principal professional honours.

The visit of 'Abdu'l-Bahá

In August and September 1912, during 'Abdu'l-Bahá's American journey, the Master visited Montreal — the only Canadian city of His Western travels. He stayed at the Maxwell home for several days. Sutherland received Him as host. The encounter shaped Sutherland's life thereafter.

The summons to Haifa

In 1937 Sutherland and May Maxwell travelled to Haifa for the marriage of their daughter Mary to Shoghi Effendi. After the marriage, Mary remained in Haifa as the wife of the Guardian. May and Sutherland returned to Montreal. May died, on a teaching trip to South America, in 1940.

Sutherland — now a widower in his late sixties — was invited by Shoghi Effendi to come to Haifa. The Guardian had a particular task in mind: the construction of the long-planned superstructure of the Shrine of the Báb on Mount Carmel. The original Shrine, built by 'Abdu'l-Bahá between 1899 and 1909, was a stone sepulchre of nine rooms. Bahá'u'lláh had pointed out the spot; 'Abdu'l-Bahá had built the foundation; the crowning superstructure — the colonnade, the octagon, the drum, the golden dome — had been envisioned for decades but had not yet been built.

Shoghi Effendi asked Sutherland Maxwell to design it. Sutherland accepted.

The Shrine of the Báb

Sutherland Maxwell devoted the remaining decade of his life to the design and construction of the Shrine. He moved to Haifa. He worked out, in close consultation with the Guardian, the architectural scheme — Greek classical in its sources but adapted to the particular climate, materials, and spiritual significance of the Mount Carmel setting. He oversaw the procurement of marble from Italy, the casting of the gilded tiles for the dome, the importation of Greek-trained stone-cutters and other craftsmen, the construction itself.

The colonnade and the octagon were completed by 1948. The drum followed. The dome — with its 12,000 hand-cast gilded tiles — was completed in 1953, after Sutherland's death.

The Shrine of the Báb in its current form is, by common consent, one of the most beautiful religious buildings of the twentieth century. Sutherland Maxwell's name is associated with it as permanently as Christopher Wren's is with St. Paul's Cathedral.

The appointment as Hand

In December 1951 Shoghi Effendi appointed the first contingent of living Hands of the Cause of God. Sutherland Maxwell was among them. He was seventy-seven; the appointment was a recognition of the totality of his service over the past four decades.

The death

Sutherland Maxwell died in Montreal on 25 March 1952 at the age of seventy-seven. He had been in Canada for medical care. He was buried, at his own request, in the small cemetery near his Quebec country house. His grave is marked simply.

Shoghi Effendi cabled the world. He named Sutherland Maxwell in the most affectionate terms — "loved father-in-law, dear collaborator, distinguished member, much-esteemed Hand Cause God…" He directed that the work on the Shrine continue and dedicated the completed building, in 1953, to Sutherland's memory.

The Maxwell family home at 716 Pine Avenue West in Montreal is now a Bahá'í Shrine — preserved by the Bahá'í community after Sutherland's death and Rúḥíyyih Khánum's later inheritance. Sutherland's drawings, models, and architectural papers are preserved at the Bahá'í World Centre.