Soldier and Scout
Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell was born
in London, England February 22, 1857. He was the eighth of
ten children. He attended Charterhouse School.
While there he did not excel at his studies though extremely
intelligent. He spent his days actively participating in
sports, theater, and sneaking off to the woods. He
developed a lifelong passion for drawing and had the remarkable
talent of being able to draw with both hands simultaneously.
Upon completion of his studies at Charterhouse he took an intensive exam
over several days to be selected for the Army. His score
earned him a second standing from the several hundred who took
the test. He was selected to become a cavalry
officer in the 13th Hussars who were being deployed to India.
So in 1876, Baden-Powell bypassed the usual officer training and
shipped out to India. Baden-Powell rose through the
ranks while seeing service in India, the Balkans, and
South Africa and Malta. He was very active and always
concerned for the moral and welfare of his men. During his
tour in India he worked on methods of scouting, mapping, and
reconnaissance. He found it effective to utilize small
groups or patrols under one leader to perform scouting task for
the army. He undertook to write a book to pass along the
information developed during this period. The book was
entitled "Aids to Scouting". It was during his service during the Boer
war in South Africa that he became a hero to the people of
Britain. In their eagerness to learn more of the hero of Mafeking people were buying up anything he had published, chief
among them "Aids to Scouting". Upon his return
to England in 1903 he found himself a hero and his "Aids to
Scouting" being used by boys to learn scouting skills.
While in the Army he rose to the rank of
Lieutenant General.
As a result of his immense popularity he was
asked to speak to many groups. When he had finished a
speaking engagement to a gathering of the Boys Brigade their
founder, Sir William Smith, challenged Baden-Powell to devise a
method of instruction which would appeal to boys. He
immediately set to work on rewriting his "Aids to Scouting" for
boys. In 1907 he decided to test his methods by holding an
experimental camp for boys at Brownsea Island with 22 boys.
He divided them into patrols and began their instruction at the
first campfire. It is interesting to note that
Baden-Powell had never intended for this method of instruction
to spin off into its own organization. His intentions were
to develop a method of instruction that would interest boys and
keep them attending Boy's Brigade, YMCA, or other sponsored
youth groups. In 1908 with the lessons learned from
Brownsea Island Baden-Powell published his "Scouting for Boys"
in six parts through Pearson Publishing. The publications
did not sit on the shelf, they were hugely successful.
Boys all over England, then the British Empire and then the
world began to form themselves in to patrols to try out
Scouting. There were many questions and requests from
these groups and Baden-Powell with Pearson Publishing set up an
office in London to handle these enquiries. At the urging
of King Edward VII Baden-Powell decided to place all of his
efforts in building the future of England through Scouting and
retired from the Army at the age of 53 in 1910. He
traveled the world promoting Scouting, his enthusiasm and
personality touched millions and the grass roots Scouting
Movement was underway. He envisioned a world of peace and
Scouting as an army of peace. He believed that boys the
world over taught the same Scout Oath and Law could bond
together in the brotherhood of scouting and defeat war forever.
Unfortunately a few politicians and lunatics missed some of the
meetings. While enroute via ship to a speaking tour
through the United States he met and fell in love with Olave
Soames. In 1912 he married her and she became his right
arm and as enthusiastic as he over the prospects of Scouting.
They had three children, two girls, Heather and Betty and a boy
Peter. In 1920 the first International Jamboree was held
in Olympia, London England. In a desire to show their
gratitude to the founder of Scouting, at the closing ceremony,
the boys proclaimed him Chief Scout of the World. For his
outstanding service to youth the King of England granted
Baden-Powell peerage. He was reluctant to accept because
he did not want it to be perceived that Scouting had political
interest. However, he was convinced that he should accept
this offer on behalf of the boys and girls of Scouting and
Guiding. The traditions of peerage dating from the middle
ages dictate that a land title should be granted, (usually these
lands were hereditary) or that the title should refer to a place
of heroic action as part of the peerage. Baden-Powell did
not want to be Baden-Powell of Mafeking. It was suggested
that perhaps the name of the Scout training camp would be
appropriate he agreed, thus he became Lord Baden-Powell of
Gilwell. In 1938 due to failing health Baden-Powell moved
to Kenya retiring from active service in Scouting. At 83
years of age, on January 8, 1941 he passed away. He is
buried in Kenya. His headstone bears the badges of the Boy
Scouts and Girl Guides, his name Robert Baden-Powell, Chief
Scout of the World and the trail sign for gone home.
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