Robert
Baden-Powell, Scouting and Guiding, 33 Henrietta Street WC2
(next to the National Westminster Bank and currently the offices of Hempsons,
Solicitors). Bedford Mansions contained the first office of the Boy Scouts and
was established Arthur Pearson, Baden-Powell’s publisher.
Robert Baden-Powell (1857-1941) was an accomplished soldier and first came to wide public notice as the ‘hero of the Siege of Mafeking’. In 1885 he started collecting material for a book on army scouting, which was eventually published in 1899 and, because of his celebrity status, became an instant bestseller. The ideas were seized upon by a number of people working with boys and young men and he was encouraged to write a version for boys. He was also working on his own ideas about education. His concern was that boys should learn to be good citizens (rather than soldiers as some have argued - see Jeal (1989: 365) and that they should learn to act on their own initiative. He placed a special emphasis on adventure, cheerful upbringing (‘children should be brought up as cheerfully and as happily as possible’); and happiness (‘in this life one ought to take as much pleasure as one possible... because if one is happy, one has it in one’s power to make all those around happy’). (From a speech made in 1902 and reported in the Johannesburg Star July 10, 1902 - quoted by Jeal 1989).
The Boys Brigade (founded October 4, 1883 in Glasgow by William Smith [1854-1914) was an obvious place for his work - but while there were many things for him to admire in their activities he was put off by the emphasis on drill and what he saw as a lack of attention to developing the mind and sympathy with others. In July 1907 he conducted the famous Brownsea Island Experimental Camp. He wanted to test out the ideas he had been working on for a scheme of work for ‘Boy Scouts’. He has completed the first draft of Scouting for Boys. Convinced of his scheme he began a long series of promotional lectures around the country arranged with the YMCA (Reynolds 1942: 147-8).
On
January 15, 1908, the first part of Scouting for Boys
was published. Like modern day ‘bit-parts’ it appeared at fortnightly intervals
(6 parts) price at 4d each. It quickly appeared in book form (May 1). Sales were
extra-ordinary and quickly groups of young men (and women) were approaching
suitable adults to form troups Springhll 1977). The involvement of Pearson had
given the whole enterprise an unedifying commercial edge. Baden-Powell had
unwisely entered into a ‘gentleman’s agreement’ with him. Considerable efforts
were thus made to set up a separate organization and to limit the publisher’s
power. The headquarters of the moved to 116-188 Victoria Street SW1 - but the
popular journal The Scout continued to be published out this office.
Scouting for Boys was also read and taken up by a significant number of middle class girls on a self-organized basis (Kerr 1936: 16). In September 1908 at Crystal Palace the first big rally was held with some 10,000 Boy Scouts as well as a number of self-organized Girls Scouts attending (Reynolds 1942: 150). Baden Powell was approached by some Girl Scouts asking him to do something for them also. In the second edition of Scouting for Boys he suggest a uniform for Girl Scouts - blue, khaki or grey shirt (as with the boys) and blue skirt and knickers. However, he had decided to set up a separate organization and scheme. He decided ‘Scout’ was inapproapriate and alighted on ‘Girl Guide’. The scheme was ‘to make girls better mothers and guides to the next generation’. In his mind though, it was to be fairly similar in structure and activity as the boys - ‘Girls must be partners and comrades rather than dolls’ (Jeal 1989: 470). (Details of Baden-Powell's 'Scheme for "Girl Guides"' was published in the Scout's Headquarters Gazette in Novemer 1909. It is reproduced in full by Kerr [1932: 29-34]). With the move to Victoria, the Girl Guides were allocated a separate office and Agnes Baden-Powell (Robert’ sister) was asked to form a committee.
References
Baden-Powell, R. S. S. (1899) Aids to Scouting for N. C. O.s and Men, Aldershot: Gale and Polden.
Baden-Powell, R. S. S. (1908) Scouting for Boys (in six parts), London: Horace Cox. (A complete set of the six parts was republished in 1935 by the Scout Book Club). The first book edition details are as follows: R. S. S. Baden-Powell (1908) Scouting for Boys. A Handbook for instruction in good citizenship, London: Horace Cox. A substantially revised edition was published by Pearson in 1909.
Jeal, T. (1989) Baden Powell, London: Hutchinson
Kerr, R. (1932) The Story of the Girl Guides, London: The Girl Guide Association.
Kerr, R. (1936) The Story of a Million Girls. Guiding and Girl Scouting round the world, London: The Girl Guides Association.
Reynolds, E. E. (1942) Baden-Powell. A biography of Lord Baden-Powell of Gilwell, London: Oxford University Press.
Springhall, J. (1977) Youth, Empire and Society. British Youth Movements 1883-1940, Beckenham: Croom Helm.
Note: This page is part of our virtual walk around the history of informal education (in central London).
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© Mark K. Smith. First published August 7, 1997. Last update: October 01, 2008
