{"alias":"contentPage","byline":null,"standfirst":null,"content":{"layouts":[{"type":"singleColumn","areas":[{"items":[{"gridType":"RichTextBlock","content":"\u003Cp\u003EIt\u0027s impossible to say with certainty which was the first Scout Troop to be formed.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ERobert Baden-Powell, who started Scouts, had not initially planned to start a separate Scout Movement. It took a while for the infrastructure of the organisation to be formed, but in the meantime Scouts was taking off all over the country.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EFor the first 11 years of Scouts, local associations were registered at HQ and troops were registered locally. This was the same for Cub Packs from 1914 onwards. It wasn\u2019t until 1919 that troops and packs were registered at Headquarters. This means that evidence of early troops and packs can be difficult to find and verify.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EReturning in 1901 from the war in South Africa, Robert Baden-Powell found that his book, \u2018Aids to Scouting\u2019, was being used by youth organisations all over the UK.\u00A0\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe book had originally been written for soldiers. Urged on by Sir William Smith, Founder of the Boys\u2019 Brigade, Baden-Powell decided to rewrite it with an intended readership of young boys.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EBefore doing so, however, he wanted to try out some of his ideas. It was with this in mind that he brought together 20 boys at a camp on Brownsea Island in Poole Harbour, Dorset, during the first week of August 1907.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EHaving tried out his ideas, Baden-Powell set about writing his handbook.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EHe had selected Pearson\u2019s as the publisher having been impressed with the charity work Arthur Pearson, who ran the company, was already involved in.\u00A0\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EPearson\u2019s saw the great potential in the Scouts and, prior to publication, Baden-Powell travelled the country raising awareness and anticipation in advance of the launch. For this reason, some Scout Patrols were started before the handbook was even published.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe first issue of \u2018Scouting for Boys\u2019 went on sale in January 1908. It was published in fortnightly parts for fourpence a copy, sometimes known as a groat or fourpenny bit. Its sales were terrific.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ESoon Scout Patrols, as suggested in \u2018Scouting for Boys\u2019, were emerging all over the country.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EOn the 24 January 1908, Baden-Powell publicly announced the launch of a specific Scout Movement. This occurred during a publicity visit to the Birkenhead branch of the YMCA.\u00A0\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIn April of the same year, a special office had to be set up to deal with the large number of enquiries coming in concerning Scouts.\u003C/p\u003E","gtmId":"","gtmClass":""},{"gridType":"gridImageBlock","gtmId":"","gtmClass":"","image":"/media/15708/birkenhead-ymca-plaque-24-jan-1908-768x1080.jpg","width":768,"height":1080,"altText":"A plaque marking the location of the launch of the Boy Scout Movement by Robert Baden-Powell","caption":"A plaque marking the location of the launch of the Boy Scout Movement","link":null},{"gridType":"RichTextBlock","content":"\u003Cp\u003EThe following extracts from \u2018Twenty-one years of Scouting\u2019 by Mrs E.K. Wade, who was for many years Secretary to the Chief Scout, records the first Troop that Robert Baden-Powell visited.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIt references to other early Troops. Another \u2018first Scout Troop\u2019 to compete for the title was the 1st Glasgow Scouts, which has in its possession a registration certificate dated 26 January 1908. It was founded by Mr Robert Young.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIn another entry in his diary, the Chief mentions that, on 4 February 1908, he arranged for the starting of three Scout Troops in Nottingham. They were created under Mr Hemmingway of the YMCA. Therefore, the Nottingham Scouts are close to the Sunderland and Glasgow groups in the matter of \u2018firstness\u2019.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe Hampstead Troop, known as \u2018The Firsts\u2019, was another Troop very early in the field. With their Scout volunteer, Captain Colbron Pearce, they took part in the first inter-Troop competition to be held, alongside the 1st SW London Troop. This took place on Wimbledon Common in May 1908 and involved competitions in cooking, tent-pitching, fire-lighting and tree-felling.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThese factors all prove how difficult it is to say exactly which was the first Troop to be formed.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe spectacular growth of Scouts, from a handful of boys at that first camp on Brownsea Island in 1907 to a world membership of around 50 million Scouts, is a phenomenon unequalled in world history. The Movement has grown so fast that hours could have separated the formation of first Troops and records may not have kept pace with these developments.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Ch3\u003EA list of troops who are thought to have started in 1908\u003C/h3\u003E\n\u003Cul\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003E1908 foundation - Current status (2019)\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003E1st Birkenhead (YMCA) - Registration cancelled, April 1983\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003E8th Stockport - Cancelled 2009\u0026nbsp;\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003E8th Southport - Registration cancelled, date unknown\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003E1st Henley-on-Thames - Active, Thames Chiltern district\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003E1st Newport (The Old Guard) - Active, Isle of Wight district\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003E1st Parkstone (Lady B.-P.\u2019s Own) - Active, Poole district\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003E1st Reading (YMCA) - Active, Reading central district\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003E1st Nottingham (YMCA) - Cancelled 2007\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003E6th Eccles (1st Worsley) - Active, Ellesmere, Greater Manchester West\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003E1st Hunts (Hartford) - Active, Hinchingbrooke, Cambs\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003E1st Wolverton - Active, Milton Keynes\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003E1st Cheadle Hulme - Active, Cheadle,\u0026nbsp; Manchester East\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003E1st SW Leeds (St. Luke\u2019s) - Registration cancelled, date unknown\u0026nbsp;\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003E3rd Epping Forest South (originally registered as 1\u003Csup\u003Est\u003C/sup\u003E\u0026nbsp;Woodford) - Registration cancelled 2011\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003E11th North London (1st Stoke Newington) - Registration cancelled, date unknown\u0026nbsp;\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003E151st North London (1st Bounds Green) - Registration cancelled, date unknown\u0026nbsp;\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003E3rd Sunderland (Vaux\u2019s Own) - Registration cancelled, 2009\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003E1st SW Herts (Countess of Clarendon\u2019s Own, Watford) - Active, now 1st Watford South (Countless of Clarendon\u0027s Road), Watford South\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003E3rd Portobello (St. James\u2019 Church) - Active, now 3rd Edinburgh North East (St James\u0027) - South East Scotland\u0026nbsp;\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003E1st Don \u0026amp; Dearne (Goldthorpe) - 6th Barnsely (Goldthorpe) registration cancelled 2005\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003E1st Bishops Latimer (107th Birmingham Central) - Registration cancelled, date unknown\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003E13th Lanarkshire (1st Larkhall) - Registration cancelled, date unknown\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003E1st Arundel (Earl of Arundel\u2019s Own) - Active, Arundel Littlehampton district\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003E2nd Kensington - Registration cancelled, date unknown\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003E2nd SW Leeds (Wortley Parish Church) - Registration cancelled, date unknown\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003E3rd Grimsby - Registration cancelled, 2005\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003E2nd Bristol (1st Ashton) - Registration cancelled, date unknown\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003E1st North Devon (Barnstaple) - Active, North Devon district\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003E1st New Cross (The Greys) - Active, Lewisham district\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003E1st Colchester - Active, Colchester Estuary district\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003E1st Jarrow (St. Pauls) - Registration cancelled, date unknown\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003E1st Romsey - Active, Romsey district\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003E1st Croydon - Active, Croydon district\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003E1st Streatham Common - Active, Lambeth district\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003E1st Hednesford - Active, Cannock district, Staffordshire\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003E5th Wolverhampton - Registration cancelled, date unknown\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003EWeybridge (Brookland\u2019s Own) - Active, Walton and Weybridge district\u0026nbsp;\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003E3rd Glasgow (Waverley) - Active, South Western district\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003E1st Hirst (Ashington, Northumberland) - Active, Wansbeck district\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003E1st Rochdale (St. James) - Active, Pennine district, Greater Manchester North\u0026nbsp;\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003E1st South Lambeth (Blackstaves, West Norwood Brotherhood) - Registration cancelled, date unknown\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003E89th Lanarkshire (1st Coatbridge, Garturk) - Registration cancelled, date unknown\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003E1st Toxteth (8th Liverpool, YMCA) - Registration cancelled, date unknown\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003E3rd Wallasey (Emmanuel) - Active, Wallasey district, Merseyside\u0026nbsp;\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003E1st Hanwell (St. Mary) - Active, Ealing and Hanwell district, GLMW\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003EDuckworth Street Congregational - Registration cancelled, date unknown\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003E1st Chiswick - Registration cancelled, 2002\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003E2nd Chesterfield - Registration cancelled, date unknown\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003E1st Hythe - Active, Folkestone and Hythe district\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003E90th Lanarkshire (2nd Coatbridge) - Active, Calder, Clyde area\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003E6th Lanarkshire (1st Carluke, St. John\u2019s) 1st Isleworth - Registration cancelled, date unknown\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003E1st Stirlingshire - Active, Stirling and Trossachs district, Forth area\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003E1st Dereham - Active, Central Norfolk district\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003E1st Shanklin (Isle of Wight) - Active East Wight\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003E4th Woking (Christchurch) - Registration cancelled, date unknown\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003E3rd Fulham - Registration cancelled, date unknown\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003E1st Wigan - Registration cancelled, date unknown\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003E1st East Putney - Active, Wandsworth district, Greater London South\u0026nbsp;\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003E1st Cleethorpes - Active, Grimsby and Cleethorpes district\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003E1st Westcliffe (Essex) - Registration cancelled, date unknown\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003E1st Market Harborough - Registration cancelled, 2009\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003E9th Edinburgh - Registration cancelled, 2009\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003E1st Buxton - Active High Peak district\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003E1st Plymouth - Registration cancelled, date unknown\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003E1st Islington - Registration cancelled, date unknown\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003E2nd Islington - Registration cancelled, date unknown\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003E3rd Islington - Registration cancelled, date unknown\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003E4th Islington - Registration cancelled, date unknown\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003E5th Islington - Active, North London district\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003E12th North London - Registration cancelled, date unknown\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003E23rd North London - Registration cancelled, date unknown\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003E1st City of London - Active, North London district\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003E20th/28th Paddington - Registration cancelled, date unknown\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003E1st Malvern\u0026nbsp; Link - Active, The Malverns district, Hereford and Worcester\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003E1st Attleborough, Nuneaton - Active, now 1st Nuneaton (Attleborough), Nuneaton District, Warwickshire\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003E1st Tonbridge - Active, Tonbridge district, Kent\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003E1st Formby - Active, Formby district, Merseyside\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003E1st Elstree \u0026amp; Borehamwood - Active, Esltree, East Herts\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003E1st St Marylebone - Active, City of Westminster district\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003E1st St. Helen\u2019s YMCA, Merseyside - Active, St Helens district, Merseyside\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003E1st Cheshunt - Active, East Herts district\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003E1st Forest Hill - Lewisham, registration cancelled 2009\u0026nbsp;\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003E1st Norwich Sea Scouts (Captain Bower\u2019s Own) - Active, Southern Norwich district\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003E24th Birmingham / 1st Sparkhill - Active, now 24th Birmingham (Manor Farm), Cole Valley South District\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003E2nd / 8th\u003Csup\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C/sup\u003EStockport - Registration, cancelled 2009\u0026nbsp;\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003E1st Cheltenham (Highbury) - Active, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire\u0026nbsp;\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003E1st Longford (18th Manchester) - Active, 1st Stretford (1st Longford), Stretford, Greater Manchester West\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003E3rd Macclesfield (Upton Priory) - Active, Macclesfield and Congleton, Chesire\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003E8th Holborn (Lady Peat\u2019s Own) - Active, North London district\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003E1st Keynsham (St. John\u2019s) - Active, Wansdyke district, Avon\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003E7th Manchester St John\u2019s Failsworth \u2013 Active, North Manchester district\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003E1st Chesham Bois - Active, Misbourne Valley, Buckinghamshire\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003E1st Swansea (YMCA) - Registration cancelled 1967.\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003C/ul\u003E","gtmId":"","gtmClass":""}]}],"config":null}]},"searchDescription":"It\u0027s impossible to say with certainty which was the first Scout Troop to be formed. ","pageType":null,"location":null,"browserTitle":"","versionDate":"07 September 2023","reviewDate":"01/01/0001","redirectUrl":"","id":76966,"nodeName":"Which was the first Scout troop?","title":"Which was the first Scout troop?","type":"contentPage","image":null,"assets":null,"headerOptions":{"headerTitle":"Which was the first Scout troop?","headerSubTitle":"","headerCta":"","headerCtaText":"","headerCtaLink":"","headerBackgroundColour":"","showSEOImage":false,"headerBackgroundImage":null,"quickLinks":[]},"subHeader":"It\u0027s impossible to say with certainty which was the first Scout Troop to be formed. ","silktide":"eyJjbXMiOiJVbWJyYWNvIiwiZWRpdG9yVXJsIjoiaHR0cHM6Ly9wcm9kLWNtcy5zY291dHMub3JnLnVrLy91bWJyYWNvIy9jb250ZW50L2NvbnRlbnQvZWRpdC83Njk2NiJ9","canonicalUrl":"https://www.scouts.org.uk/about-us/our-history/our-online-exhibitions/the-early-days-of-scouting/which-was-the-first-scout-troop/"}