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Robert Baden-Powell (1857-1941) was a military officer who helped protect Britain's imperial
empire for over 30 years. He was especially talented in military scouting. Baden-Powell was a
prolific writer who often chose his military experiences as the subjects of his works. He is best
known for starting a worldwide scouting movement.
Robert Baden-Powell was born Robert Stephenson Smyth Powell on February 22, 1857 in his
parents' house in London, England. His father, Professor H.G. Baden Powell was a vicar and a
professor of natural science. His mother, Henrietta Smyth, was Professor Baden Powell's third wife.
The couple had seven living children together, of whom Robert was the fifth, and they also raised
three children from the vicar's previous marriage. Baden-Powell's father died just after his last child
was born, when Robert was only three years old. In 1869 Henrietta changed the family name to
Baden-Powell out of respect for her late husband.
Mrs. Baden-Powell educated her children in the outdoors. Through long walks in the country, she
taught them about plants and animals. They were also allowed to read books from their father's
collection on natural history. Baden-Powell's formal education started with a Dame's School in
Kensington Square. In 1868 he attended the Rose Hill School in Tunbridge Wells, where his father
was also educated. Two years later he won a scholarship to the Charterhouse School in London. In
1872 the school moved to Godalming, which was surrounded by woodlands known as "The Copse."
The wilderness was an important part of Baden-Powell's childhood experience. As a schoolboy, he
did not excel either academically or athletically. He was mainly interested in the outdoors and
theater.
Became a Hero
The Boer War was a bloody struggle between English-speaking and Afrikaans-speaking whites for
control of South Africa's mineral wealth—the world's richest gold reefs. While the chief of the
British army, Lord Wolseley, wanted to send 10,000 troops to South Africa, the British cabinet
disagreed and instead sent 20 special service officers to organize a defense of the frontiers, one of
whom was Baden-Powell. He was assigned to raise a small regiment to protect Rhodesia and to
deceive the Boers into thinking that more British forces were on the way. The Boers surrounded
Baden-Powell and his men in Mafeking, a small town about 175 miles west of Johannesburg. Baden-
Powell managed to defend the town against over 7,000 Boers for 217 days. Some viewed this as the
first real victory for the British against the Boers and Baden-Powell was considered a hero.
Mafeking was an important experience for Baden-Powell in two respects. First, he finally
experienced real military action that he had desired for so long. The experience also gave him the
respect of the military he was looking for and the recognition as a leader. He was promoted to the
rank of major general because of his success with this mission. Second, Mafeking was the beginning
of Baden-Powell's idea for boy scouts. Because the men were busy protecting the city, Baden-Powell
organized the boys into a Mafeking Cadet Corps to take care of the smaller tasks around town.
Mafeking became the subject of a 1907 book by Baden-Powell called Sketches in Mafeking and East
Africa. In 1900 Baden-Powell was appointed head of the newly created South African Constabulary,
a military police force, for three years. He was named inspector general of the cavalry from 1903
until 1907.
Founded Scouting
It was during this last appointment that Baden-Powell really began to develop his ideas about the
scouting movement. In 1904 he attended the Annual Drill Inspection and Review of the Boys
Brigade in Glasgow, where the founder, William Smith, had recruited over 54,000 boys. Smith had
asked Baden-Powell to rewrite his book Aids to Scouting for a younger audience. According to
Michael Rosenthal in The Character Factory, this gave Baden-Powell "the vision of a British society
made strong by legions of well-disciplined, morally upright, patriotic youth who found their
satisfaction in defending the interests of the empire and following the orders of their superiors."
Since Baden-Powell was still occupied as inspector general of the cavalry, it took a few years to put
his ideas into action. In 1906 he wrote a short paper called "Scouting for Boys," where he put some
of his ideas into print. His vision for scouting was strongly influenced by three of his contemporaries,
William Smith, Ernest Thompson Seton, and Dan Beard. Seton and Beard had started similar youth
organizations in the United States. This small paper turned into a six-part series called Scouting for
Boys, which was published between January and March of 1908. The series included the first
publication of the Scout Oath and Scout Law. This series then led to an official weekly magazine,
called The Scout, which increased the visibility and appeal of the scouting movement in the public's
eye.
In the summer of 1907 Baden-Powell acted upon his ideas and ran a demonstration camp for boys on
Brownsea Island off the coast of Dorset. Twenty-two boys, from ages 10 to 17, took part in the
weeklong exercise, which consisted of camping, cooking, tracking, singing, and storytelling. This
was the beginning of what was called "unquestionably the most significant youth movement of the
twentieth century " in Michael Rosenthal's The Character Factory.
Books
Jeal, Tim, Baden-Powell, Century Hutchinson, Ltd., 1989.
Mac Donald, Robert H. Sons of the Empire: The Frontier and the Boy Scout Movement, 1890-
1918, University of Toronto Press, 1993.
Plaatje, Sol T., Mafeking Diary: A Black Man's View of a White Man's War, Meridor Books, 1990.
Reynolds, E.E., A Biography of Lord Baden-Powell of Gilwell, Oxford University Press, 1943.
Rosenthal, Michael, The Character Factory: Baden-Powell and the Origins of the Boy Scout
Movement, Pantheon Books, 1986.
Saunders, Frederick Mafeking Memories, Associated University Presses, Inc., 1996.
Periodicals
Guardian, July 24, 1999, p. 1.
Independent, October 21, 1989.
Los Angeles Times, July 24, 1999, p. 1.
New Republic, September 29, 1986, p. 33.
Ottawa Citizen, October 11, 1999, p. A7.
San Diego Union-Tribune, February 20, 2000, p. G-1.
Smithsonian, July 1985, p. 33.
Sunday Telegraph, October 10, 1999, p. 33.
U.S. News and World Report, January 14, 1991, p. 50.