List of the oldest Scout groups


Many Scout Groups claim the title of oldest Scout Group in their respective countries. Due to the rapid growth of Scouting, it took some time for central organisations to be established, and the earliest groups were only registered some time after their first meeting. Some groups first met under the banner of other organisations, including the Boys' Brigade, Church Lads' Brigade, YMCA, churches or schools, and only later registered with central Scout organisations. Some maintained dual registrations. This makes it impossible to establish which groups started first. Today, national Scout associations often do not take a stance as to which was the first group in their country.

Birth of Scouting

There are records of Boy Scouts and Scouting groups from 1900. The Boys' Brigade began its Scouting scheme in 1906. Scouting is usually considered to have started on 1 August 1907 with a camp run by Robert Baden-Powell on Brownsea Island. Thereafter the publishers C. Arthur Pearson Limited and Baden-Powell began promoting Scouting in Britain, and Scouting for Boys was published, initially in six fortnightly installments from January 1908 and then in complete book form. The book was followed by The Scout magazine from April 1908. Boys began forming Scout patrols and flooding the C. Arthur Pearson Limited's Scout office and Baden-Powell with requests for assistance.
The Scouting movement developed rapidly from here, in Britain, the British Empire, among English speaking people and the rest of the world.

United Kingdom

The first Scout Patrols and Troops were formed in the United Kingdom in 1907. There are a number of claimants to be the first troop. As Scouting was a movement and not an organisation, there was initially no central organisation. The publishers C. Arthur Pearson Limited sold registration cards to subscribers of its magazine. Numerous local or regional Boy Scouts Associations were formed and several national Scouting organisations were formed in the United Kingdom including the Boys' Brigade Scouts, Chums Scout Patrols, YMCA Boy Scouts, British Boy Scouts, Church Scout Patrols, London Diocesan Boy Scout Corps, Boys' Life Brigade Scouts, National Peace Scouts, The Boy Scouts Association and Salvation Army Boy Scouts. The Boy Scouts Association was formed in 1910 and does not acknowledge any single troop as being the first. Unfortunately, The Boy Scouts Association issued backdated registrations. The Scout Association maintains a list of all the Scout Troops who claim to have started in 1908.
The Scout Troops with the strongest claims are listed below:
The 1st Glasgow Scout Group in Scotland holds the earliest known registration certificate, dated 26 January 1908, issued by The Boy Scouts Association. The Group was formed from the Glasgow Battalion of the Army Cadet Corps; its Adjutant was Captain Robert E Young. In June 1907, they formed the 'Cadets' Winter Recreation Training Club'. The club was a success from the beginning, as 'Boss' Young related: "At first we met at my house, signalled up and down the stairs, tied knots around the banisters and always finished with a good tuck-in." 'Boss' Young met B-P during Autumn 1907 who suggested that the Club could experiment with the ideas contained in 'Scouting for Boys'. On 16 January 1908, the Club was formally disbanded and the First Glasgow Troop of Boy Scouts was registered with Scout HQ in London.
The first Scout Troop to receive a visit from Baden-Powell was the Vaux's Own Scout Troop in Sunderland. This visit was made on 22 February 1908, so it is assumed by The Scout Association "that it had already been in existence for some days at any rate". This was also the first Scout Troop listed in the Imperial records. The 1st Crystal Palace Patrol is documented as being in existence on 28 February 1908. The group is still in existence.
In 2007, 1st Henfield Scout Troop was named as the oldest surviving Scout Troop in the world for the centenary of Scouting. They were the hosts of the only place that the centenary flame stopped in England for the night before reaching its goal of Brownsea Island. However, it is not the oldest Scout Troop, as others were set up before Henfield. It is said that the boys that went to Brownsea Island on the first ever Scout trip were from Henfield.
The 1st Birkenhead has a claim to be the oldest Scout Troop as it was founded on 24 January 1908 when B P attended a meeting at the YMCA. Documents at the District Headquarters confirm this fact. Baden-Powell at the 1929 Coming of Age Jamboree in Birkenhead said "Here in Birkenhead that I first mooted the idea of Scouting".
The 1st Croydon Scout Group were founded in the latter months of 1907. The Group was officially registered by Imperial Scout Headquarters on 16 June 1908 and can claim to be one of the earliest Groups.
1st Church Kirk, Church near Accrington Lancashire. Formed 1907. Baden Powell formed a link with Accrington during his opening of the Ambulance Drill Hall in 1904.
The 1st New Cross Scout Group was formed 17 January 1908 but was not registered until 26 May 1908 by Baden Powell before he even registered his own group.
There is an entry in Baden-Powell's diary on 4 February 1908 which mentions a Scout Troop in Nottingham.
1st Alsager, Cheshire were formed before 24 February 1908.
A troop from Hampstead was involved in various events in the first half of 1908.
The 1st City Of Aberdeen Scouts existed in 1908. 1st Arbroath Scout Troop dates back to June 1908.
1st Stirlingshire Scouts unofficially first met in August 1908, and later officially on the 21st of December 1908.
The 1st Norwich "Capt. Bower's Own" Sea Scouts started in January 1908. The group is one of few which has continuously run for 100 years and, remarkably, had just 4 Group Scout Leaders during that time. To celebrate their centenary year, the group published a book entitled, "It Can Be Done: The Hundred Year History of the 1st Norwich Sea Scout Group." drawing from their extensive archives.
The 1st Colchester scout group in Essex were founded in May 1908, the group met in the Bunting Rooms in Culver Street West and Baden Powell made several visits to attend local Scouting rallies. The "Air Scout Troop" gained official recognition by the Royal Air Force in 1956 and has retained this recognition.
In Poole, Dorset, there are strong claims from three current Scout Groups that all have separate newspaper articles back to 1908 listing Patrols or Troops practicing Scouting. 1st Parkstone has got a registration number back to February 1908 for a Scout Troop. Hamworthy are listed as having a Boat patrol at the Local Church in November 1908 and Broadstone having an Ambulance Scout at the Gathering on Brownsea Island in December 1908.
Wycliffe Scout Group claims to be the oldest continuously active school-based Scout group in the world. It is listed in the Scout Association database with a registration date of 1 February 1909, although the Group celebrated their centenary in 2008, implying that there had been Scouting activity at the school before the Group was registered.

British Empire

1908

Australia

Scouting appears to have started as early as 1907 in Victoria in an informal way when a boy in Caulfield received from a friend, who had been a member of the experimental camp at Brownsea Island, some pamphlets which had been issued by Baden-Powell. The first Scout Group in Australia may have been founded in Northcote in Melbourne in early 1908, but the Victoria Scout Heritage Centre states that "It is very difficult to name the first Troop to start in Victoria". However, by the end of 1908, there were 11 Scout Troops in Victoria.
In New South Wales, 1st Toongabbie Scout Group in the western suburbs of Sydney was founded in 1908 by a member of the Sydney University Scouts, Errol Galbraith Knox, and is still operating.

Canada

In the spring of 1908, Canada became the first overseas Dominion with a sanctioned Boy Scout program. The 1st Merrickville Scout Troop, founded in 1908, is the oldest Scout troop in North America. Reference "75 Years of Scouting in Canada". The 1st Port Morien Group claims to be the first Scout Group in North America. The Nova Scotia Council of Scouts Canada recognized the centennial of the Port Morien Group by providing a crest to all Nova Scotian Scouts Canada members.

Gibraltar

The first recognized overseas unit in a country controlled by the United Kingdom was chartered in Gibraltar with the establishment of the 1st Gibraltar Scout Troop on 27 March 1908. The group is still active and has a membership of around 140. It is expected to open a new troop and pack this coming year. The group celebrated its 100th anniversary with a parade along Main Street and received the Freedom of the City of Gibraltar on 2 October 2008. To commemorate the conferment of the title Marquis of Milford Haven one hundred years ago, the present marquis visited the Group during the celebrations.

Malaysia

In Malaysia, the Scout movement started two years after it was founded in London. However, it is believed that a trial group had been established in Penang at YMCA in 1908, the same year that Scouting was formed in England.

Malta

The Malta Boy Scouts Association applied to become a member of the British Movement on 9 November 1908 and was officially recognised, as was the procedure then, exactly a year later. The 1st Sliema Scout Group in Malta was founded in 1909.

South Africa

The first Scout Group in South Africa was formed 3 March 1908 at Claremont Public School by George French. It is still running, as 1st Claremont Scout Group, as are several other groups founded in 1908.

India

The Scout Movement arrived in India in 1909. A troop was formed in Bangalore by a Captain Baker, a retired naval officer. The troop had boys from St. Joseph's, Baldwin's, St. Andrew's, and Bishop Cotton's. The troop was registered with Boy Scout Headquarters in London in November 1909 and, according to records, was the first Scout troop in Asia.
Sethna's 18th West Bombay Scout Group was established in 1914, after Rustomji Edulji Sethna came across Baden-Powell's Scouting for Boys. Sethna was enamoured with the book, and formed India's first Scout group for native boys. The group today is India's oldest continually running Scout group. Since its first day on 14 August 1914, the troop remains continuously active.
The FIRST DACCA, St. Gregory's Scout Troop. The date on the Approval was 7 May 1914. The Scoutmaster was Mr. Joseph Harnett. The total strength of the Troop was forty boys, as of 27 April 1914. The Britist Official Approval, Dalil lists St. Gregory's as the First Troop in the Dacca or East Bengal area, the Bengal Presidency. The first scouts were David Pogose, Peter Gomes, Alfred Ferguson, Harold Armstead, Cyril Lucas and Osmund D'Silva. The school had Five Patrols and Mr. Francis listed the total number of Scouts as 40,to be going on their first camp in January 1915. Since its first day on 27 April 1914, the troop remains continuously active.

Isle of Man

The 1st Douglas Scout Group, on the Isle of Man was also founded in 1909.

Outside the British Empire

1908–1910

United States

There are numerous troops which claim to be first Boy Scout troop in the United States. Although there appear to be several Boy Scout troops that were operating prior to the establishment of the Boy Scouts of America, none of these claims are deemed verifiable by the organization — as far back as 1940 an official, George W. Ehler, searched records and determined “After several years of experience with these inquiries and claims, I came to the conclusion that it was not possible from any accepted record to determine which was the first Troop.”

Chile

visited Chile and gave a speech that inspired the founding of the first Scout Group, Brigada Central. Some time later on 21 May 1909 the first Scout Camp was held.

Norway

The first recognized troop in Norway is "1. Kristiania ", established 15 November 1909. This was a troop in Oslo, connected to an athletic organisation. This troop became a part of "Norske Gutters Speiderkorps", which was established by a national sport organisation. But there were single Scouting patrols earlier than this in some Norwegian cities.

China

In Shanghai, a troop of "Boy Scouts" was formed, as a branch of the then existing "Boys' Brigade" whose members were representative of the cosmopolitan but culturally Western population of the city. The 1st Dragon Troop, run on actual Baden-Powell lines, was also formed in early 1909, in Shanghai. These were mostly British boys. The first native Scout troop was organized by Reverend Yen Chia-lin in Wuchang on 25 February 1912 and the Scouting movement spread rapidly all over the country.

1910

By 1910 Argentina, Austria-Hungary, Belgium, Denmark, France, Finland, Germany, Greece, Italy, Mexico, The Netherlands, Norway, Russia, Suriname, Sweden and the United States had Boy Scouts too.

Finland

Toimen Pojat, a Scouting troop in Kauniainen, Finland was established in 1910. Toimen Pojat is the oldest continuously operating Scout troop in Finland. During the Russian ban on Scouting in the 1910s before the Finnish independence in, the troop operated underground. Many traditions that distinguish the troop formed during that period.

Philippines

, Physical Education Director of the Manila YMCA, founded basketball, volleyball, and Boy Scouting in the Philippine Islands in 1910. Hence the first Boy Scout unit in the Philippines was the YMCA troop organised by Brown.
In the official Handbook for Boys of the Boy Scouts of America, First Edition, August 1911, page 354, in a letter from BSA Honorary Vice President Theodore Roosevelt to BSA Executive Secretary James E. West, dated 20 July 1911, Roosevelt mentions a letter from a Scoutmaster in the Philippines narrating the noble work of "boy scouts of the Philippines" in rendering assistance during a big fire that hit Manila and in serving at the ten-day Manila Carnival. This is the earliest available documented mention of the phrase "boy scouts of the Philippines" in print. The Manila Scoutmaster's and Roosevelt's letters prove beyond doubt that there were Boy Scouts in the Philippines as early as 1910 - the same year that YMCA International Secretary for Boys' Work Edgar M. Robinson started actively organizing the Boy Scouts of America in the US mainland. Portions of Roosevelt's quote of the Manila Scoutmaster's letter were also printed in New Castle News, The Corsicana Daily Sun, The Washington Post, The Youngstown Daily Vindicator, and The Miami Metropolis. According to The Miami Metropolis article "Boy Scouts Work with the Firemen Just Like Heroes" on page 3, it was "Elwood E. Brown, organizer in the Philippines" who had written to Roosevelt.
During his world tour in 1912, Lord Baden-Powell sent back articles for publication in The Scout''. In issue no. 224, 27 July 1912, in the article "In the Cannibal Islands," he made a brief narration about Philippine history and culture and his trip to Manila, illustrated with his own drawings. He mentioned "Boy Scouts of the Philippines" and that he was met by a "Guard of Honour." He also quoted from Roosevelt's letter about the Manila fire and the Manila Carnival in which Scouts rendered valuable service. In the article, Baden-Powell urged readers "to get into correspondence with your brother Scouts in Manila… The Chief Scoutmaster is Mr. Elwood Brown, Y.M.C.A., Manila."

1911

Japan

The first Boy Scout troop in Japan was organized in Yokohama in 1911 by Clarence Griffin. The boys of the troop were mostly British students of St. Joseph College, a boys' school in the Bluff area of Yokohama, and Clarence Griffin organized the troop under English charter. Clarence Griffin is recognized by the Scout Association of Japan as Japan's first Scoutmaster and is honoured with an inscription as such at his final resting place in the Yokohama Foreign General Cemetery. In 1918 Marianist Bro. Joseph Janning, a missionary teacher of St. Joseph College, assumed the position of Scoutmaster at the school and opened the Troop to boys of all nationalities. The Group subsequently became the first directly registered group of the newly formed Boy Scouts International Bureau, receiving a Charter signed by B-P formally allowing the group to accept "Scouts of mixed nationalities". The group was registered by the World Scout Bureau as "Troop 1, International Boy Scouts" and has remained continuously active in Yokohama since its formation.

1913

Greece

In Greece, Mark Mindler established in 1913 the third Sea Scout troop of Athens as the first Scouting group of the country. The group operates to this day.

Mafeking Cadets

During the Siege of Mafeking, boys in the town formed the Mafeking Cadet Corps, made famous by Baden-Powell in the opening chapter of Scouting for Boys. However, the cadets were not themselves Scouts.

1918

Mysore State

The Chamundi Scout Group was started in December1918 by its founder M.H.R.. as the first Open Group to be started in India & the then called Mysore State. 1918 is a year of Historical importance since the 1914-1918 war breathing a sigh of relief. The Boy Scout Movement was then taking its roots in the state. The Group consisted of Scout Section only when it was formed. A cub pack was added in 1924 and it became complete in 1924 when a rover crew was started.
When S.R.Nanjundaiah's Hindu A.V School which was in a private building at Sultanpet, got accommodation at the Govt.Middle School,Siddikutte
the Troop started its activities in the school compound. Later the group moved its operations to Naranarayana Choultry at the Market Square in Old Police Road. In course group secured A roon Tippu Sultan palace with the help of Sri. Subba Rao, the then Organising Commissioner, The Boy Scouts of Mysore.
It was here troop had all the facilities for scouting group committee was formed with Late Ananda Rao Sirsi, the then Municipal President, who was succeeded by Sri.K.Chandy, the Revenue Commissioner who later became the member of council, Sri Belvadi Ramaswamiah, Revenue Commissioner,Rao Sahib Channaiah, District Judge,
Sri.N.Madhava Rao, chief secretary to government later became the 23rd Deewan of Mysore, Dr.Subba Rao, senior surgeon, Sri.D.V.Gundappa,Sri.K.Shankarnarayana Rao, Major Y.V.K Murthy, Dr.V.K.Badami Etc. Shri.K.Netkallapa continued to be one of the Vice Presidents.
The group had branches in Old Sringeri Mutt,Chamrajpet, Shankar Puram. In order to cater to the needs of the units "Siddikutte" Local Association was formed and later merged with "City Local Association" to extend its activities.The group leader was the Secretary in the year 1928 this association was merged with "City District Association" one of our
Vice-Presidents Major Y.V.K Murthy became the District Scout Commissioner and one of the parents Dr. Gopakrishna Rao became the Secretary.
Royal patronage
The group has the proud legacy of being adopted as the Maharaja's Own Troop after winning the All India First Aid Mace at the All India competitions held at Nandi Hills in 1924.
M.H.R. was Baloo for sometime to the Prince Jayachamaraja Wadiyar.
On a special invitation in 1931 the group and its members including parents and we'll wishers attend a Hi-Tea party at the Bangalore Palace hosted by H.H the chief Scout Sri Kanteerava Narasimharaja Wadiyar and H.H chief cub Jayachamaraja Wadiyar.
The wheel of the group had rolled from place to place in the first fifty years. One must recollect how the Scout group was tossed from place to place before establishing its land in November 1941 on the solid rock it stands today with the efforts of Late.M.R.Narsimha Iyengar Group Scout Master and Secretary of the Group Committee. There was no den until the year 1957 with the sincere effort of Bros. V.Rangaswamy and M.Nagaraj the group put up a small den.
The group has been successfully running now for 99 years and looks forward to a whole new approach to 21st century of scouting. The group is led by Bro. K.Narasimha Murthy and with more than 80 kids meeting & doing scouting 365 days has been a dream come true of our founder M.H.R.