The Boy's Brigade

 

The Boys' Brigade was originated in Scotland, United Kingdom, which was the world's first uniformed organization for youth and was founded in Glasgow by Sir William Alexander Smith on 4 October 1883. 

It has a history of 130 years.

The Object of The Boys' Brigade is: “The advancement of Christ's kingdom among Boys and the promotion of habits of Obedience, Reverence, Discipline, Self-respect and all that tends towards a true Christian manliness.”

It was originally organised in a military style and we have a legacy of that today in some of our terminology. The local unit is the "Company", companies in an area form a "Battalion". Those leaders who are trained and enrolled by BB are Warrant Officers, Lieutenants or, if in charge of a company, Captains.

Over the years, BB has developed its programmes of activities, keeping pace with the expectations of young people.

The national organisation sets standards for leader training, and safety and child protection policies.

Pictured is the 1934 uniform.

Marching with the Boys Brigade

Although nominally this is a blog centred on Scouting, I do look at other generally boys youth related movements that have a similar kind of an ethos

We're going back in time and to one I have talked a few times about on here, the Boys Brigade who are pictured here marching in Sheffield, Yorkshire.

Apologies for the quality of this picture which like the other dates from August 1981 of the Hillsborough, Sheffield group which someone seems to have messed up in scanning from film to digital but we can see what were the current uniforms that were inspected, as all uniforms should I might add.

You should be proud to wear your uniform and wear it properly.

Anyone born after the late 1990's will instantly note that not only are the boys in shorts but what for people of that generation we'd call 'proper shorts', as shorts then were not on or below the knee but definitely above it.

The original was on a Tumblr of mine that's sadly gone.

Taking a break

The Boys Brigade, not so talked about today as it was but still very much with us elevating boys to the highest standards in a classic picture probably 50's or early 60's of an older boy still in shorts as you were back then enjoying his comic.

While this blog isn't about it, I read a lot of comics as a boy such as Sparky, Beezer, Warlord, Roy of the Rovers, The Beano and The Dandy at home and saw through sharing Whizzer and Chips, Tiger and 2000AD.

Don't ask what today's liberals would make of many of the scenes in Popeye though!

Boys and Girls Brigades

While we may not talk about them much on here, these are the 1980's Australian Boy's and Girl's Brigades on what looks like an official photograph standing to attention.

The Girls Brigade outfit looks both practical and suitably feminine.

The Boy's Brigade

Source: tedbangor

In the main this blog is centred around Scouting as practised by the Scout Association and other Scouting Groups but there are other groups for boys (and girls) that offer similar opportunities.

The Boys' Brigade is an international interdenominational Christian youth organisation, conceived by Sir William Alexander Smith to combine drill and fun activities with Christian values.
It was first established in Glasgow, Scotland on October 4th 1883 and currently has 750,000 members world wide.

Its objective is "the advancement of Christ's kingdom among Boys and the promotion of habits of Obedience, Reverence, Discipline, Self-respect and all that tends towards a true Christian manliness"


There are Four Sections to a Company:
Anchor Boys - 5 to 8 years of age
Junior Section - 8 to 11 years of age
Company Section - 11 to 15 years of age
Seniors - 15 to 18 years of age

Their  motto ‘Sure and Steadfast’ is taken from Hebrews ch 6 v 19 ‘'Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast' (Authorized Version)

Felden Lodge in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire serves as the main headquarters and England regional headquarters, while other regions have their own regional headquarters

The above photograph is of the Boys Brigade in Yorkshire circa 1971