Cambridge District Scout Archive
This is a list of the known Rover Crew/ Patrols in individual Cambridge Colleges. Colleges founded after 1960 and those female only up to 1966 are noted as being unlikely to form a Crew. Those specifically for mature students are also identified.
As yet no references to Fitzwilliam or Trinity Hall having a Patrol or Crew have been located. Individual Scouters active in Cambridge came from all the Colleges.
| Patrol or Crew (known name) | Known Group attachments | Founded / mature and female only | |
| Christ’s | ssj 1934 | ||
| Churchill | 1960 | ||
| Clare | ssj 1932 | ||
| Clare Hall | 1966 | ||
| Corpus Christi* | Known | ||
| Darwin | 1964 | ||
| Downing | ssj Patrol 1932 | ||
| Emmanuel | Patrols (Lions & Rams) | ||
| Fitzwilliam | |||
| Girton | Female until 1976 | ||
| Gonville & Caius | ssj Patrol 1934 (Doves) | ||
| Homerton | Female until 1976 | ||
| Hughes Hall | Mature | ||
| Jesus | Sidney Sussex & Jesus** | Barton, 13th, Coton | |
| Kings | ssj 1937 | ||
| Lucy Cavendish | Mature 1965 Female until 2020 | ||
| Magdalene | ssj | ||
| Murray Edwards | Female | ||
| Newnham | Female | ||
| Pembroke | ssj Peterhouse and Pembroke*** (Swallows) | ||
| Peterhouse | ssj Peterhouse and Pembroke*** | ||
| Queens’ | ssj Patrol 1932 (Wild Boar) | ||
| Robinson | 1976 | ||
| Selwyn | ssj 1937 | ||
| Sidney Sussex | Sidney Sussex & Jesus** | Barton, 13th, Coton | |
| St Catharine’s | ssj Ref RM | Barton | |
| St Edmund’s | Mature | ||
| St John’s | ssj 1937 WSJ | ||
| Trinity | ssj 1932 (Eagles) | ||
| Trinity Hall | |||
| Wolfson | Mature 1965 | ||
| Religious training College – not University affiliated | |||
| Cheshunt**** | Large crew cf Alfred Sadd | 1905 | |
| Ridley | ssj 1932 and 1940’s | 1881 CoE | |
| Wesley House | 1921 Methodist | ||
| Westcott House | 1881 Anglican | ||
| Westminster College **** | 1844 Presbyterian/ URC |
Many of the references to other Crew come from the Sidney Sussex & Jesus log book held at Sidney Sussex. They are marked with ‘ssj’. For some Colleges they are the only reference yet found.
Some other references are known: the Emmanuel College Rover patrols (c late 1920’s as recalled 1953) were Lions and Rams and some College Patrols existed up to c. 1952/53. Records exist for Swallows (Pembroke Patrol), Eagles (Trinity College) and Doves (Gonvile and Caius), but College based patrols are not generally detailed in the University scout periodicals. Doves was also quoted as a University College (Rover) Patrol name, possibly the G&C patrol named above, and Wild Boars (Queens) 1920. In a 1930’s fund raising event College Patrols from Queens’, St Catherine’s and Trinity were mentioned. An large, un named Cheshunt College Crew existed around 1928 – not fully part of the University of Cambridge, the Crew may have been attached to the University Rovers. It does not appear to have been directly part of Cambridge District.
* Corpus Christi has a special responsibility for the Littleton House School Troop/ Group. Details concerning the Patrol/ Crew are less clear.
** Sidney Sussex and Jesus worked together but referred to each other as separate patrols and were planning to form separate Crew c 1938.
*** Peterhouse and Pembroke (informally ‘Peterbroke’). Two references to the Patrol as a linked entity are known, the second with a hyphen. A reference to Pembroke as a separate patrol is known.
**** Cheshunt and Westminster Colleges amalgamated in 1967
The unaffiliated religious training colleges are generally for graduates, older students if not quite ‘Mature’.
- Separate lists for Colleges and students involved in the University and College Mission can be found at Structure/ University Scouting/ Cambridge University Missions.
- A list of students by College gathered from the IHQ Early warrants List 1909 – 1914 (which is known to be incomplete) can be found at Structure/ University Scouting/ University Scout Masters. It does not identify a Rover Patrol or Crew but does identify warranted leaders from Trinity Hall, Westcott House and Ridley College.
The names of College patrols
- Swallows is not a standard Patrol name but is occasionally found where the membership is peripatetic or transitory.
- A Dove sits atop the Gonville and Caius achievements (the birds on the shield are Martlets).
- A Wild Boar is central to the achievements of Queens’ College
- Emmanuel has an azure (blue) lion rampant
- Eagles
JWR Archivist Sept 2022
Cambridge District Scout Archive 