Scouting History Introduction

Scouting History > Introduction

Introduction

Scouting first started in Britain by Lord Baden Powell (a.k.a. BP), and evolved as the result of 2 unrelated developments.

One of the developments was BP's first review of the Boy's Brigade in 1903 and 1904. The Boy's Brigade is a uniformed semi-military organisation for English boys. When he first met the boys in the Boy's Brigade he was impressed by the enthusiasm and interest but was sorely troubled by the militarism implicit in their drilling, uniforms and toy rifle practices.

The second development was his review of his military manual, Aids to Scouting. It was an astounding success with the English boys. BP realised that it would never do as a book for boys. It was written to prepare men for war. He wanted a book to prepare boys for peace.

With these in mind, BP began on a quest to search for literature around the world about preparing boys for manhood. The search was in every possible genre and topic.

By 1907, his thoughts had crystallised sufficiently to receive reactions from men whose opinions he respected. The replies were encouraging, and by summer, BP sought to experiment his specially designed training scheme with some English boys.

To test out his training scheme, he organised the world's first Boy Scout Camp. A small group of 22 boys from all walks of life were chosen to go to BrownSea Island off the English Southern Coast, to camp as the pioneer batch of Scouts.

At the heart of BP's idea was the patrol system and the first thing done at the camp was to divide the boys into 4 patrols. At that time their uniforms were whatever the boys had that was suitable to the camp. Coloured streamers were attached on the shoulders of the boys to identify themselves with their patrols.

The first camp was not very different from the scout camps that we have now. It had plenty of Scoutcraft practice, games and competitions, campfires, and patrol overnight camps away from the troop.

The camp was a rousing success in the eyes of both BP and the pioneer scouts. The secret revealed by BP on a later date was the patrol system. "Each patrol leader was given the full responsibility for the behaviour of his patrol members at all times...Responsibility, discipline and friendly competitive rivalry were thus established and a good standard of development was ensured throughout the troop."

BP then went on to write the handbook for boys and a booklet for the Scoutmasters with the results of successful trial on BrownSea Island. The handbook was titled "Scouting for Boys" and was published in five parts in early 1908, and later that year in book form. The book was an instant success.

Within a few months, there were tens of thousands of Boy Scouts in Great Britain, guided by the book Scouting for Boys and a new weekly magazine, The Scout. BP then went on to form what has become the British Boy Scouts Association.

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