Cambridge District Scout Archive
The number ‘25th Cambridge’ had two major and two or three minor periods of use.
- 25th Cambridge Victoria Road Congregational Church 1918 – 1919
- 25th Cambridge Morley Memorial School 1922 – 1923
- 25th Cambridge Morley Memorial School (Pack) 1922 – 1923
- 25th Cambridge Abington Babraham Hildersham 1928 –
- 25th Cambridge Victoria Road Congregational Church 1938 – 1950
- 25th Cambridge 1950 – 1951
The 1928 and 1938 groups have fuller entries.
25th Cambridge Victoria Road Congregational Church <1918 – 1919
In attendance at 1917 BP rally, which suggests it was active some year or years earlier and this was a late registration, something that was the norm during and after the Great War.
From Reveille! A single issue District magazine printed January 1920 we have no recognition of their presence, which suggests that they were defunct by late 1919. The troop met at the Church School House.
25th Cambridge Morley Memorial School 1922 – 1923 9630
Census returns for 1922 and 1923 only
Registered 14th March 1922 with 17 Scouts and 1 leader it was a controlled troop and met at the school in Blinco Grove.
- Ralph Brown SM
The troop was ‘in abeyance and not re registered Oct 1925’.
25th Cambridge Morley Memorial School (Pack) 1922 – 1923 5222
A pack was registered later in the same year 4th July 1922 with three leaders and 24 Cubs
- Ralph Brown CM
- G Rammer ACM
- H Jeffery ACM
Similarly controlled by the school where the meetings were held it similarly did not re register in October 1923. Census returns for Cubs are not recorded before 1927.
Morley Memorial School had hosted packs and troops during the Great War with the support of St John’s Church. St John’s had a long history of hosting and supporting scouting with the 1st Cambridge District, 3rd Cambridge and later 28th Cambridge before this 25th Cambridge. It is unclear why the 28th was not reused at this date; it was based at the school and had only folded in 1921. Whilst not quite ‘established’ as the number for the area it was not in use elsewhere and it would be more usual. The current 28th was established with support by the Church and significant involvement of teachers from the school in 1928.
25th Cambridge Abington Babraham Hildersham 1928 – 1934 18450/7569
See full page.
Registered ion 24th May 1928 as a Group, it listed two leaders 11 Scouts and 19 Cubs. It was registered at the start of the Group system and the end of the differentiation between Cambridge troops (inside the town boundaries) and Cambridge District (outside the town boundaries). The original forms call it Cambridge District, the District being lined through.
- James Lewis GSM CM 1927-1928
- Charles William Lambert ASM
- G L Cockle GSM CM 1928 – (GSM Whittlesford by 1933)
- H E Pettit ASM
- S A V Roper GSM 1933
Census returns
- Cubs 1928 – 1932
- Scouts 1928 – 1934
This Group moved to South Cambridgeshire District, one of four that formed out of the very large Cambridge District in 1935. Like others that moved it dropped the ‘Xth Cambridge’ and took village / location names. 25th Cambridge came free for use in the new smaller Cambridge District.
25th Cambridge Victoria Road Congregational Church 1938 – 1950 19950
See full page.
Census returns
- Cubs 1942 and 1945 – 1950
- Scouts 1941 – 1950
- Senior Scouts 1947 – 1948
- Rovers 1945 – 1950
The troop was Sea Scouts and recorded 42 in 1945 12 of whom were Sea Rovers. The total numbers of Scouts had dropped to 12 by 1950. The leadership of the troop diminished at this point.
25th Cambridge 1950 – 1951
This registration, 1st June 1950, probably reflects the move to an ‘Open’ Group.
The 25th Troop and Church separated in 1950 and the District proposal was that the pack remained associated whilst the troop amalgamated with the 29th/42nd. Within a year the pack had become part of the 12th Cambridge and was closed 31st May 1951.
JWR Archivist Aug 2022
Cambridge District Scout Archive 