19th Cambridge (Wesleyan) 1944 – 1979: Outline History

Cambridge District Scout Archive

This brief history waits on a fuller version in preparation by Ken Drake.

The 19th Cambridge (Wesleyan) was registered on 5th December 1944 having been closed since circa 1920.  Within Cambridge numbers had stopped being reused for new groups between the years of 1921 and 1944.  The 19th regained its original number, as it was intended to do under the policy of not reusing the numbers.  Whether before or after the change in rules is not clear.

An undated list of leaders gives us

  • G.S.M.             J. E. Halstead, 112 Chesterton Road
  • C.M.                Miss I. Hole, Wesley Manse
  • A.C.M.             Mrs. Ramsbottom, 442 Milton Road
  • Chaplain          Rev. R. V. Spivey, Wesley Manse, Christ’s Pieces.

John Edward Halstead was in the RAF in WW2 and Ivy Hole is registered in town in 1945 but no later than 1948, R V Spivey was active 1947.

The Group returned census figures for

  • Cubs                1944 – 1957, 1959 – 1972
  • Scouts              1944 – 1957, 1971 – 1972

No reference to Air Scouts, Sea Scouts, Senior Scouts or Rovers has been found.

The gap in returns in 1958 is not as yet explained.  The disappearance of the troop suggests that it was more than an administrative delay.

A later list, nominally after 1950 but in some cases a long way after, gives

  • I K Drake as Scouter in charge.          (Ken Drake)

The Group was Controlled by the Church and met in the Wesley school.  The scarf is described as Maroon in 1945 (the original colour from 1914) and Brown in 1975.

It closed in 1979.

JWR Archivist Jan 2023