What Really Happened to Agnes Baden-Powell?
The extraordinary life of the forgotten founder of the largest youth association for young women, the Girl Guides.
Olave Baden-Powell, the wife of Robert, has often been presented as the founder of the Girl Guide Association. Growing up, many Guides learn of Olave as the UK Chief Guide, to which she was first elected in September 1916. Yet few, if they even acknowledge her at all, credit Agnes for facing the prejudice against women at the time when she helped form the Girl Guides. The movement’s foundation and very existence- blurring gender lines through the presentation of masculine activities to young girls- was revolutionary for the period.Â
The life of Agnes was extraordinary for a Victorian woman. The daughter of Reverend Professor Baden Powell (1796-1860) and Henrietta Grace Smyth (1824-1914), she was a resourceful and passionate young girl, demonstrating a keen interest in the arts. She was eccentric by the standards of the time, with a myriad of pastimes including natural history, outdoor activities and crafts including needlework. She was well-versed in 11 languages including Persian and Greek, and excelled in her study of instruments such as the violin. Agnes' extensive and wide interests can be credited to her mother, who was eager to ensure that she received the best possible preparation for her future.Â
The role she played in the formation of the Girl Guide Association is perhaps not much of a surprise when looking at her younger years. She spent much of her childhood playing 'boyish' games with her brothers Baden and Robert, as she was the only daughter of Baden and Henrietta's ten children to survive infancy. By the start of the 20th Century she was unmarried but had travelled extensively on her own, was an avid camper and competed in athletics; all things frowned upon for a woman.Â
Robert Baden-Powell, affectionately known simply as B-P in his later years, ‘started’ the Boy Scouts in 1907 when he held the Brownsea Island Scout camp (although there weren’t any officially registered members until 1908). The first Scout Rally in the UK was held two years later at Crystal Palace. Although the exact events of the day are somewhat contested, what was clear was the stir for a female youth organisation, with around 2,000 girls taking part in the rally wearing Scout uniforms.
The Girl Guide Association was officially established under the leadership of Agnes a year later, named after a regiment in the British Indian Army, the Corps of Guides. Just a few months later, in April 1910, the association's membership was already at 6,000. Early work towards the movement was aimed at fighting the scepticism and stigma surrounding the idea of educating young girls through outdoor activities, which were seen as a masculine pursuit. Agnes put much of her efforts into writing articles, leaflets and pamphlets to explain the benefits that the movement could have on young girls.Â
By 1912, Agnes had written and published How Girls Can Help To Built the Empire which emulated her brother's scouting equivalent, Scouting for Boys. The handbook detailed how girls would be trained in the pursuits of the ideal Imperial women; they would be taught nursing, how to keep happy homes and to raise good children.Â
Agnes' position within Guiding shifted when her younger sister-in-law, Olave, was appointed Sussex County Commissioner and subsequently Chief Guide during the First World War years. This placed Olave at the head of Guiding in Britain, and Agnes was forced to accept the honorary post of President. She faced a lot of pressure after Olave systematically assumed the leadership position within Guiding and thereupon resigned from her position as President, moving down to Vice-President in favour of King George V's daughter, Princess Mary. It was a move that Olave argued was necessary to bridge the generation gap, since Agnes was in her late fifties.Â
Although she remained a Girl Guide from the age of 52 until her death in 1945, she was often regarded as a nuisance within the Guide Headquarters. Later, she was dismissed from all official roles altogether; a bitter end for the women who started it all.Â
Agnes was an inspiration to young girls at the start through to the mid-20th Century and should continue to be seen as one today, despite her name in Google searches persistently tagging her with the title of 'Robert Baden-Powell's sister'. Her legacy enables her to hold her own amongst the list of women who have changed the course of British and global history. Without the work and tireless dedication she gave to the Girl Guide Association, many young girls would not have realised their place within local, national and international communities which potentially changed the course of child citizenship.Â
The movement today continues to have a dedicated membership of around 10 million worldwide in over 150 countries. In its over 100 year history, the association has changed the lives of around 250 million girls through its commitment to community action, service to others and peer education.Â
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Bravo !