The Origin and Development of
Scouting
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| Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell was born on the 22nd
February 1857. He used to sneak out of boarding school
to the copse where he could snare rabbits and cook them
over a smokeless fire so as not to alert the teachers
(his first use of Scouting skills!). He did not excel
at school except in the school plays. But he did enough
to come 4th in the army exams and 2nd
in the cavalry exams. He therefore joined the cavalry
in India as a young officer. |
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During his time in the army BP became an expert at
tracking, building shelters in the jungle and spying on
the enemy. He became famous during the Boar War in
South Africa. The British Empire was at its peak,
but it was losing to the Boer farmers. For 217 days from
October 1899 to May 1900 BP defended the town of
Mafeking while outnumbered 5:1. He was so short of
soldiers that a corps of boys was formed to run messages
around the town, dodging bullets. When Mafeking was
relieved there was wild rejoicing in London and BP was
everybody’s hero.
Mafeking Siege Details |
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He had previously published a book “Aids To
Scouting” to help soldiers use scouting and
tracking skills. He revised the book to
make it more suitable for boys and published it
in fortnightly parts in 1908. “Scouting
For Boys” became an instant best seller and for
many years it was only outsold by the bible.
Boys read BP’s book
and formed themselves into Patrols of Scouts.
Some Patrols persuaded an adult to help them and
the first Scout Leaders appeared. In 1910
the King asked BP to leave the army (he was now
a Major-General) to focus on the Scout Movement
as the King felt this was so important for the
country. |
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| That
year BP attended a rally of 10,000 Scouts at Crystal
palace in London and was surprised to see some girls
amongst them. BP realised that the Victorian /
Edwardian attitudes of society would not support mixed
Scouting, so he created the Girl Guide Association.
Girls did not reappear as members of the UK
Scout Movement for more than 60 years. |
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Younger brothers clamoured to join Scouts, but BP felt
that they were too young. He therefore developed a
programme for their age group based upon the stories in
Rudyard Kipling’s “Jungle Book”. Wolf Cubs started in
1916 with Packs under the leadership of Akela (the
leader of the Wolf Pack). |
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| At a
rally in Gilwell Park in Essex BP was proclaimed “Chief
Scout of the World”, the only person to receive this
title. BP was 50 when he held the Brownsea Island
camp and Scouting dominated the last 30+ years
of his life. BP spent his last few years in Kenya for health
reasons and died there at the age of 83 on the 8th January
1941. There is a memorial to BP in Westminster Abbey. |
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Since then there have been huge changes in Scouting.
Senior Scouts and Rover Scouts gave way to Venture
Scouts in 1967, Ventures were replaced by Explorer
Scouts and Network Scouts in 2002. Beaver Scouts were
introduced in 1982. Girls were allowed into Venture
Scouts in 1973 and into the other Sections in 1988. |
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| Scouting spread overseas very rapidly. In many cases
this was because the families of British troops and
business men were stationed overseas. During the early
1900’s London had periodic “pea soup” fogs where the fog
was so thick it was very difficult to see. An American
was lost in such a fog and was amazed when a boy guided
him back to his hotel and refused a reward because
“Scouts help others”. The American found out more and
introduced Scouting to the USA. Scouting embraces
all religions, races and abilities. Scout
badges, stamps and other items are very popular,
just try a search for "Scout" on Ebay! |
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Scouting has spread particularly rapidly during the last
couple of decades as the communist governments of
Eastern Europe were replaced. Communists did not like
the independent spirit of Scouting and banned it. There
is now Scouting in about 200 countries – virtually
everywhere except Cuba, North Korea and China (apart from Hong Kong). There are now about
28 million Scouts throughout the world and the
headquarters is in Geneva, Switzerland. |
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| A
world jamboree of 30-40,000 Scouts takes place every 4
years. The last ones were in Thailand in 2003 and Essex in 2007, the centenary of the
Brownsea Island Camp. One of our Scouts went to
the Centenary World Jamboree, will you be
selected to go to Sweden in 2011?Scout
Development |
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1st
Appleby Magna with Measham.
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The
1st Measham was first registered on the 27th
December 1961. The 1st Appleby Magna was
registered on the 12th April 1972. The 2
Groups merged in January 1999 to become the 1st
Appleby Magna with Measham. |
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