Esslemont heard about the Baháʼí Faith in late 1914, from Katherine Parker, the wife of one of his professional associates. Having investigated many belief systems, Esslemont was interested to discover yet another in the Baháʼí Faith, borrowing a few pamphlets from Katherine Parker which intrigued him further. By March 1915, he had read several books and was beginning to adopt the patterns of Baháʼí life, becoming the first Baháʼí of Bournemouth. He helped form a Baháʼí group in Bournemouth and began to speak to various groups about the religion. He also contributed money to the Baháʼí temple fund in the United States and translated one of Baháʼu'lláh's early works, "The Hidden Words", into Esperanto.