The History of Scouting

Welcome to the worlds biggest family!

Welcome to the worlds biggest family!As a scout you are part

of a family of 30 million!

You are part of the world biggest youth

organisation!Somebody who is/was a scout has been to has been to everywhere on earth, from the oceans, to Everest, and even to

the moon!

Lord Robert Baden-Powell

Lord Baden-Powell or Baden-Powell of Gilwell, was a lieutenant-general in the British Army, writer, founder and Chief Scout of the Scout Movement. Baden-Powell served in the British Army from 1876 until 1910 in India and Africa. His ideas, beliefs and attitude to life were the building blocks for scouting.

General Baden-Powell had become a national hero during the Boer War as a result of his successful defence during the Siege of Mafeking of 1899–1900. During the siege, the Mafeking Cadets, boys aged 12 to 15 who acted as messengers, had impressed him with their resourcefulness and courage. In the years following the war, he began discussing the idea of a new youth organisation with a number of people, including William Alexander Smith, founder of the Boys' Brigade, with whom he discussed setting up a Boys Brigade Scouting achievement.

Brownsea island experimental camp

1st August 1907: B-P tested his theory's of scouting on Brownsea island. He invited 21 boys from London based boys brigade units, and ran a week camp in a patrol style challenge. The camp was a huge success, and Baden Powell built on the concept to incorporate weekly meetings and regular trips away. The rest, as they say, is history.

Scout salute and promise

Baden Powell created the scout salute to accompany the military style flag breaks and procedures. It is made to represent the three aspects of a promise every would make, 1. Duty to god and the queen/king 2. Help other people 3. Keep the scout law

Scout lawScouts make a promise to keep to the ideals of the movement. Originally being nine laws, this has since be simplified to seven

A Scout is to be trusted

A Scout is loyal.

A Scout is friendly and considerate.

A Scout belongs to the worldwide family of Scouts.

A Scout has courage in all difficulties.

A Scout makes good use of time and is careful of possessions and property.

A Scout has self-respect and respect for others.

Left handed handshakeAccording to the Ashanti warrior version of the story, then-Colonel

Baden-Powell saluted them with his right hand, but the Ashanti chiefs offered their left hands and said, "In our land only the bravest of the brave shake hands with the left hand, because to do so we must drop our shields and our protection." The Ashantis knew of Baden-Powell's bravery because they had fought against him and with him, and they were proud to offer the left hand of bravery.

Highest Scouting Award

In 1909, King Edward VII granted the award of the King's Scout Badge as the highest achievement award for Boy Scouts on the recommendation of Robert Baden-Powell, the Movement Founder and Chief Scout of the World. Whether an award is either a Kings Scout, or Queens Scout, depends on the head of the monarchy at the time of the Award. It was lasted changed in 1953 for Queen Elizabeth II.

The Growth of Scouting

From 21 scouts on the Brownsea island camp, numbers grew to over 100,000 scouts and nearly 8000 leaders in 1910. In 1922 there became over 1,000,000 scouts. In 2007, it was believed that there were over 30,000,000 scouts in nearly every country in the world! only 6 of the world's 196 independent countries do not have Scouting: Andorra, Cuba, North Korea, Laos, Myanmar (Burma), and Vatican City. A seventh country, China (People's Republic), has no Scouting except in the former colonies of Hong Kong and Macau. Another 24 countries have the beginnings of Scouting, in an organising or building stage.

Scouting sectionsIn 1916, Wolf cubs were introduced to cater for the needs of younger children, aged 6-10. In the Uk this eventually changed to Cub Scouts.

The Beaver programme started in the 1960s and 1970s in various countries around the world, with Canada and Northern Ireland leading the way. It wasn't officially recognised in the UK until 1986. In Hong Kong, they are called grasshoppers, and in Australia they are called joeys!

In 1918, Rover Scouts were introduced so scouts could carry on scouting after there 18th birthday. In 1967 Venture Scouts replaced the Rover Scouts and Senior Scout sections and the Venture Scout section was eventually replaced by the Explorer Scout section and the Scout Network in 2003.

Leader Training, Wood Badge

In 1919 the first leader training programme was created, and ran at Gilwell Park. On completion, B-P presented the leaders with their wood Badge, and become members of 1st Gilwell Park, the worlds biggest group. This was not an actual badge but a set of wood beads on a leather thong. The idea came from a Zulu chief called Dinizulu who wore a 12 foot necklace containing over a 1000 beads on state occasions. Having being given beads from the necklace, B-P made the first award. A Turks head woggle was used, which has no beginning or end to symbolise the bond of scouting, and Gilwell scarf could then be worn.

World Scout JamboreeAt Olympia, London, England, 1920. 8,000 Scouts from 34 countries represented for the first world scout jamboree. Baden-Powell was also made the Chief Scout of the World. 95 years later, the 23rd WSJ will be held in japan and is planned to be the biggest scouting event in history.

The Death of Baden-Powell

January 8th, 1941, at 83 years of age, B-P died. He was buried in a simple grave at Nyeri within sight of Mount Kenya. Lady Olave Baden-Powell, B-P's wife and founder of the girl guides, carried on his work, promoting Scouting and Girl Guiding around the world until her death in 1977. His gravestone bears a circle with a dot in the centre "ʘ", which is the trail sign for "Going home", or "I have gone home". Africa has declared the grave site a national monument.