Corporate entry: Boy Scouts' Association

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The Scouting movement began in Britain in 1907 when Lord Baden-Powell, a famous soldier, tried an experiment of mixing boys of different classes and backgrounds at a camp on an island off the south coast of England. The Boy Scouts were started in the Solomons by Charles Fox (q.v.) in 1928, but seems to have lapsed until 1951, when the Travelling Commissioner of the Boy Scouts' Association visited the Protectorate. Boy Scout troops were formed in Honiara in 1951 and in Auki in 1952. Two members of the Honiara Troop went to Sydney in December 1952 to attend an International Jamboree. By 1954, Boy Scout patrols and two Wolf Cub patrols were operating. (AR 1951-1952, 29-30, AR 1953-1954, 32)


In 1958, the Solomons was authorised to form its own independent Scouting organisation with a Chief Scout, Chief Commissioner and a Scout Council of leaders. In January 1961, High Commissioner Designate Sir David Trench (q.v.) accepted the Chief Scout's invitation to become local Chief Scout for the Western Pacific Territories. Initially concentrated at Honiara, scouting groups were also established at Kerepi, on Ugi, and at Maravovo, Waimapura and Litogahira. In 1962, new groups were established on Santa Cruz and Ontong Java Atoll and at Avuavu. The first Queen's Scout was sixteen-year-old John William Namani from Auki, a member of the St. Mary's Marovovo Scout Troop. In 1966 there were twenty-two Boy Scout troops in the Protectorate. In 1970, the Chief Commissioner was Francis Bugotu (q.v.), followed on his death by Henry Raraka Koga (q.v.). In 1978 a commemorative stamp set was issued to celebrate fifty years of Scouting in the Solomons. (AR 1961-1962, 53, AR 1966, 51; NS Jan. 1961, 30 Apr. 1962, 15 Sept. 1962, 15 Mar. 1970, 15 Apr. 1970; Tedder 2008, 180; STT 15 Nov. 1978)

Published resources

Books

  • Tedder, James L.O., Solomon Islands Years: A District Administrator in the Islands, 1952-1974, Tuatu Studies, Stuarts Point, NSW, 2008. Details

Journals

  • Solomon Toktok, 1977-1992. Details
  • British Solomon Islands Protectorate (ed.), British Solomon Islands Protectorate News Sheet (NS), 1955-1975. Details

Reports

  • British Solomon Islands Protectorate, British Solomon Islands Protectorate Annual Reports (AR), 1896-1973. Details

Images

Title
Boy Scouts
Type
Image
Date
1960s
Source
Patrick Barrett

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