The history of Scouting
This pages serves as a brief history to Scouting including some major milestones. If you are interested in more detailed information there are many good sites available which should easily be found by searching the internet.
Baden-Powell
The Scout Movement was started in 1907 by Baron Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell, better known as Robert Baden-Powell who was born on 22nd February 1857 in London, UK.
In 1910 Baden-Powell asked his sister, Agnes Baden-Powell to help him form a similar movement for girls which became the Girl Guide Movement.
Later on Baden-Powell met Olave St Clair Soames who was also born on 22nd February in 1889. Olave became involved with the Girl Guide Movement and also married Baden-Powell on 30th October 1912.
Baden-Powell died in Africa on 8th January 1941 and was burred in Nyeri a town in Kenya. Olave then returned to England where she lived until her death on 19th June 1977 after which her ashes were taken back to Nyeri.
For their lifetime commitment to Scouting Baden-Powell became known as Chief Scout of the World whilst Olave is known as the World Chief Guide.
Baden-Powell became a hero
In 1876 Baden-Powell joined the British army and was positioned in Indian and Africa where he later became the youngest colonel in the British army. It was during the second Boer War in 1899-1902 that Baden-Powell became a hero.
Whilst carrying out his duties at the time he and his soldiers became trapped in the Siege of Mafeking by the Boer army which is believed to consist in excess of 8,000 men. Although Baden-Powell and his men were outnumbered they withstood the siege for 217 days by use of cunning military deceptions.
Aids to Scouting
A few years previously Baden Powel had written Aids to Scouting for N.C.O.s and Men which talked about how to train people for the army.
By the time the Boer War was over a lot of interest had been shown in the book thought largely due to the worldwide fame of the "Hero of Mafeking". This lead Baden-Powell to believe he could use the book to teach boy's as well as soldiers.
Brownsea Island
To try out his idea's Baden-Powell arranged a camp of 20 boy's from different social backgrounds between 1st and 8th August 1907 on Brownsea Island, Poole, Dorset, United Kingdom.
During the eight day event the boys took part in many activities including learning camping skills, cooking skills, first aid, studied animals, swam, signaled, hiked and played games. This was the first ever Scout Camp and signaled the birth of Scouting.
Following the camp Baden-Powell started to write his ideas in a book. Earlier books by Baden-Powell were written for military people but this time he wrote the books Scouting for Boys. The books were published in six installments from January to March 1908.
Over the years Scouting for Boys has been translated into many languages and sold many copies until 1967 when purchases started to decline.
Chief Scout
Across the United Kingdom boys and girls spontaneously formed Scout troops and the Scouting movement had started to develop and soon spread internationally. In 1909 a rally of 11,000 Scouts was held at Crystal Palace in London. It was here that Baden-Powell discovered the first Girl Scouts which lead to starting of Girl Guides with the aid of Baden-Powell's sister, Agnes Baden-Powell.
The Crystal Palace rally also marks the time that Baden-Powell became known as Chief Scout. The current Chief Scout is Peter Duncan who is a well known Blue Peter presenter from the 1980s.
Wolf Cubs
By As the popularity of Scouts increased, younger boys were also wanting to join in and so in 1916, Baden-Powell started the Wolf Cubs providing fun and adventure for boy's aged between eight to eleven. Activities included lighting fires, how to use a compass, give first aid, how to look after themselves and many other things. In 1967 Wolf Cubs had their name changed to Cub Scouts but the fun and excitement remained.
By 1920 the Scout Movement had spread to many countries including Australia, Canada, France, South Africa and The United Sates of America. Later that year there was a huge gathering of 8000 Scouts from 34 different Countries at Olympia, London, this was the first ever World Jamboree.
There have been 20 World Scout Jamborees since 1920 and the next one will be the 21st taking place from 27th July till 8th August 2007 at Hylands Park, Chelmsford in the United Kingdom.
Lord Baden-Powell
At the 3rd World Scout Jamboree that was held at Arrowe Park, Birkenhead, England in 1929 Baden-Powell became Lord Baden-Powell of Gilwell. Gilwell Park which is on the edge of Epping Forest was given to the Scout Association in 1919 by William De Bois Maclaren to be used as a camping venue and international training center for Scout leaders. It is still used for this purpose today and is the official home to the Scout Association in the United Kingdom.
Lord Baden-Powell traveled all over the World for many years afterwards visiting Scouts of all nationalities until 1937 when at the age of 80 he settled down in Kenya with is wife Olive where lived for the rest of his Scouting days.
Beaver Scouts
By After the introduction of Wolf Cubs, there was always a pressure from younger people to join Scouting so in the 1980s a new section was established, Beaver Scouts catering for six to eight year olds. Initially Beavers were introduced in October 1982 however they did not become an official section of the Scout Association in the United Kingdom until 1st April 1986. However, in reality, Beaver Scouts were first started as early as 1963 in Northern Ireland.
The 6-25 Programme
In 2002 Scouting went through a radical update both visually and structurally. Visually the old logo was replaced by the new one that incorporates the Scouting motto and also there was a new uniform introduced for all members of the Scouting Association. Structural changes saw a new section called Explorers for older Scouts and a revamped overall program for all sections to follow.
The future is ...
To date the Scout Association has over 25 million members World-wide in over 215 Countries and will continue to grow into the next Centenary.