100 years ago Rev. Augustus Payne, the curate at Christ Church Ware, decided that the boys of the parish needed something worthwhile to do during the week and so he set up 3rd Ware Scout Troop.
The first recorded mention of the troop was in the Hertfordshire Mercury newspaper dated 11th June 1910:
"In connection with the Christ Church Sunday School and Bible Class a troop of Boy Scouts has been formed by the Rev. A. Payne. It consists of 3 patrols of which Mr. Payne is the Scoutmaster and Assistant Scoutmasters are Messrs. J. Kinniburgh, E. Clibbon and A. Mitchell. About twenty-five have already joined and the lads are taking much interest in the preliminary drills and manoeuvres."
As of yet, it has not been possible to find an actual start date for the troop, but we assume it was in the weeks preceding this newspaper article. We also have a record from Gilwell showing that one W.Clibbon (who was an Assistant Scoutmaster) was granted his warrant in December 1910.
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| Ernest Clibbon Scoutmaster, Walter Clibbon Ass. Scoutmaster, Patrol Leader Charles Clibbon and Scout Cecil Clibbon - 1911 |
3rd Ware attended several parades during 1910 and 1911 and (along with 1st Ware and 2nd Ware) were present at Kendal Hall in February 1911 where they had the honour of being inspected by Founder of Scouting and Chief Scout, Lord Baden-Powell.
In June 1911 the 3rd Ware Scouts held an entertainment evening. The program consisted of several items including two sketches entitled 'A Couple of Scamps' and 'A Day in the Life of a Policeman' which were well performed by the boys. The Scouts gave a display of signalling, boxing and first aid and a short address was given by the Rev A Payne.
They took part in the town celebrations and parade for the coronation of King George V, where it was reported that Rev. Payne was responsible for the bonfire and pyrotechnic display (Scouts and fires – nothing changes!!) and in August 1911 H. Riddle, a 3rd Ware Scout, was reported to have dived into the river to rescue a boy from London who had fallen in the water and was going under.
All these newspaper reports are evidence that 3rd Ware was up and running and thriving during 1910 and 1911 and the boys and their Scoutmasters were making their presence felt both in the local community and within Scouting.
