A BRIEF HISTORY OF SCOUTING
Scouting was started by Lord Robert Baden-Powell (or B-P for
short). As a young boy, B-P enjoyed the great outdoors and liked to go camping,
boating and fishing. He often went on expeditions with his brothers, hiking
around the British countryside or boating around the coast carrying all they
needed with them. B-P would sometimes pretend to be a hunter or Indian scout.
When he left school B-P joined the British Army and served at home and in India, Afghanistan and Africa. Whilst in South Africa B-P led the defence of a town called Mafeking during the Boer war. He found himself in charge of a small number of soldiers, they were outnumbered nine to one. B-P asked local boys to help out and carry messages. He returned home a hero after successfully defending the town for seven months.
It was on his return home that B-P realised that young boys had
very little to do apart from sport. Remembering what he had enjoyed as a boy and
what he had learned in South Africa, B-P decided to teach the boys in Britain
the same skills. He tested out his methods in 1907 when he organised a special
camp on Brownsea Island, Poole Harbour, Dorset. He invited 20 boys from
different backgrounds and taught them exploring, fire-lighting and camping
skills which Scouts today still do.
After the camp, B-P wrote Scouting for Boys based on his experiences in the Army and at the Brownsea Island camp. Thousands of boys from all over the country bought the book and started to organise themselves into Patrols and then asked adults to help them and be their leaders forming Troops. One of the first troops being the 1st Birkenhead formed in the Y.M.C.A. closely followed by the 2nd Birkenhead which is still going today.
In 1919 a large piece of land in Epping Forest was given to the Scout Association called Gilwell Park. It has been a campsite and place of Leader training since then and has become known as the home of Scouting all over the world.
In 1920 B-P was given the title Chief Scout of the World, a title that no-one has held since his death in 1941.
In 1929 Birkenhead was the the host of the 3rd World Jamboree held at Arrowe
park to celebrate 21 years since the birth of Scouting. Also in 1929, B-P was
made a Lord and he chose to be known as Lord Baden Powell of Gilwell.
There are now more than 28 million Scouts, youth and adults, boys and girls, in 216 countries and territories. Only 7 countries in the world have no Scout movement. It is believed that since the birth of the movement over half a billion people in the world have been members of the Scout and Guide movements.
For more details on the history of Scouting visit Scoutbase or for an in depth look at the history of the movement visit milestones of Scouting.
