John Frederick Colquhoun

John Frederick Colquhoun, CBE (22 November 1890 – 1968), nicknamed "Koko",[4][5][6] was a long-serving headquarters official of The Boy Scouts Association of the United Kingdom and served on the World Scout Committee of the World Organization of the Scout Movement from 1959 to 1965.

John Frederick Colquhoun
Born22 November 1890[1][2]
Stoke Newington, London
Died28 August 1968 (aged 77)[3]
University College Hospital, London
NationalityBritish
OccupationTax inspector
Known forLong-serving headquarters official of The Boy Scouts Association of the United Kingdom

Colquhoun was The Boy Scouts Association Headquarters Commissioner for Wolf Cubs from 1927 to 1938 and Akela Leader (head trainer of Wolf Cub leaders), Gilwell Park.[5][7] At The Boy Scouts Association's Bournemouth Conference of April 1927, Colquhoun presented a paper titled 'The position of Rover leaders' which resulted in discussion on co-ordination (i.e. who was in charge) between Wolf Cubmasters, Scoutmasters and Rover leaders that led to the establishment of the Scout Group organizational structure and new rank of Group Scoutmaster from 1 January 1928.[4][5][7][8] As Headquarters Commissioner for Wolf Cubs, Colquhoun organized the first International Wolf Cub Conference at Gilwell Park in 1938. In the leadership changes following the death of The Boy Scouts Association's founder and first Chief Scout, Robert Baden-Powell, Colquhoun became Deputy Chief Commissioner in January 1942 and, in 1943, Chairman of the General Purposes Committee, the main sub-committee of the Executive Committee.[7] In 1948 Colquhoun also became The Boy Scouts Association Headquarters Commissioner for Kindred Societies (later Headquarters Commissioner for Relationships).[4] He and Fred Hurll, Chief Executive Commissioner of The Boy Scouts Association, were the organizers of the 1st World Scout Indaba (a gathering of Scout Leaders from around the world) which took place at Gilwell Park for a week in July, 1952.[9]

Colquhoun toured Australia and New Zealand in 1950 and 1951 to inspect The Boy Scouts Association's branches. He represented The Boy Scouts Association Imperial Headquarters and its Chief Scout of the British Commonwealth and Empire at the Second Pan-Pacific Jamboree held at Greystanes near Sydney, Australia from 29 December 1952 to 8 January 1953.

When the B.-P. Guild of Old Scouts was formed in June 1948, Colquhoun, as HQ Commissioner for Relations, was its honorary organizer until February 1951, after the Guild had become "autonomous" in October 1950[5]

Colquhoun authored and contributed to books, booklets and articles on Scouting including What I.H.Q. does (1949), You and I.H.Q. (1956) and Running a Scout Group (1954).

Colquhoun was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 1946 Birthday Honours[10] and a Commander of the order in the 1966 Birthday Honours for his services to The Boy Scouts Association.[11]

In 1963, Colquhoun was awarded the Bronze Wolf, the only distinction of the World Organization of the Scout Movement, awarded by the World Scout Committee for exceptional services to world Scouting. The CIC (Colquhoun International Centre) at Gilwell Park, UK Scoutings Headquarters, is a conference centre named in his honour. The centre was built in 1971 as a Scout Leader Training Centre.[12]

References
  1. 1939 England and Wales Register
  2. London, England, Church of England Births and Baptisms, 1813-1917
  3. "Deaths". The Times. The Times Digital Archive. 30 August 1968. p. 4.
  4. Percy Bantock Nevill (1960). My Scouting Story. London: Roland House Scout Settlement. pp. 143, 180.
  5. Henry Collis, Fred Hurll & Rex Hazlewood (1961). B.-P.'s Scouts [An official history of The Boy Scouts Association]. London: Collins. pp. 96 and 311.CS1 maint: uses authors parameter (link)
  6. "Notices". Commonwealth Journal: The Journal of the Royal Commonwealth Society. London: Royal Commonwealth Society. 10–11: 292. 1967–1968.
  7. Reynolds, Ernest Edward "Josh" (1950). The Scout Movement. London: Oxford University Press. p. 217.
  8. Paul Moynihan, ed. (2006). An Official History of Scouting. London: Hamlyn. p. 173. ISBN 978-0-600-61398-5.
  9. "Reference to 1st Indaba". Archived from the original on 2012-09-08.
  10. "No. 37617". The London Gazette (Supplement). 18 June 1946. p. 3120.
  11. "No. 44004". The London Gazette (Supplement). 3 June 1966. p. 6539.
  12. Gilwell Park#Colquhoun International Centre
  • Scouting Round the World, John S. Wilson, first edition, Blandford Press 1959 p. 225 252 263


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