H. Geoffrey Elwes

"Uncle" Henry Geoffrey Elwes (Q3, 1873 – 21 September 1936)[1][2] was a prominent early member of the Scouting Movement and, before that. he was involved in the Boys' Brigade. He founded the 1st Colchester Scout troop, and he was editor of the Headquarters Gazette from 1911 to 1922, when it was re-named The Scouter, which he continued to edit until 1926. He had to use a wheelchair after 1922 but worked with the Scouts until his death in 1936. He supported Robert Baden-Powell, the founder of Scouting but clashed with him over religion; Elwes was staunch in his Christianity while Baden-Powell favoured a less sectarian approach.[3] He invented the idea of the Scouts Own (known as Guides Own by Girl Guides) and this was introduced very early on, at the Crystal Palace Rally in 1909.

Background

Elwes was born in Colchester in the third quarter of 1873,[4] one of four children to Henry Hervey Elwes and Caroline Elizabeth Elwes (born Whalley).[5] He became a solicitor, and was admitted in 1895. He founded a young men's club in 1902 in Colchester, before founding a Boy Scout troop there in 1908. He was a member of the Headquarters' Committee of the Boy Scouts Association from its establishment in 1909 until his death in Colchester in 1936.[6][7]

Bibliography

Apart from being the Editor as described above, in 1931 he authored "The Scouting Spirit - Part 1 (C. Arthur Pearson, 1931) with a Foreword by B-P. This book contains extracts from "Notes" that he had written under the heading ""From the Editor's Chair", later "From the Uncle's Chair" published in The Boy Scouts headquarters Gazette", later re-named "The Scouter". The book covers the years 1911 to 1914. There was no Part 2.

Facing the title page is this :-

Oh, put me in touch with the heart of boy,
Let me study his doubts and fears.
Oh, let me show him the way of Life,
And help him avoid his tears.
For the heart of a boy in its buoyancy,
Is a heart that is pure and free.
Oh, put me in touch with the heart of boy,
The heart of a man to be

References
  1. https://www.freebmd.org.uk
  2. England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1966, 1973-1995
  3. Proctor, Tammy M. (2002). "On my honour": Guides and Scouts in interwar Britain, Volume 92, Part 2. American Philosophical Society. pp. 141–142.
  4. https://www.freebmd.org.uk/
  5. https://www.myheritage.com/names/henry_elwes
  6. https://www.freebmd.org.uk/
  7. "Mr. H. G. Elwes "Uncle Elwes" Of The Boy Scouts". The Times. London. 1936-09-22. p. 16.
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