Peterborough Scout County 1912 – 1965

Cambridge District Scout Archive

Much of the following material is from Martin Whelan, ex chair in one of the local districts, in 2019.

Local Government It is probably helpful to quickly run through the local government changes in the period as it explains most of the district changes

  • Peterborough historically was only the area north of the River Nene, with the exception of Thorney which until 1965 was administered as part of the Isle of Ely County Council. The Soke of Peterborough (area north of the River) was a County Council in its own right but due to being very small was technically an autonomous part of Northamptonshire until 1965.
  • The area south of the River has largely only been developed into the last 20/30 years and was not classed as part of Peterborough until the local government changes in 1974, and instead was part of Huntingdonshire (specifically Old Fletton and Norman Cross Districts of that County Council).
  • The Soke of Peterborough and Huntingdonshire merged in 1965 to form Peterborough and Huntingdonshire County Council, and subsequently with Cambridgeshire and Isle of Ely in 1974 to form Cambridgeshire. Peterborough until 1998 was a district council within the County of Cambridgeshire, but became a unitary authority in that year.

Scouts

The first troop was registered in Peterborough in 1910 and initially the local association/district was part of Northamptonshire. The local association became a Scout County in its own right in 1912 and remained so until 1966 with the name Soke of Peterborough.

For the majority of its existence the Soke of Peterborough was a single district county, although up until the mid-1920s it periodically split into East and West Soke Local Associations under the county banner.

The Soke of Peterborough merged with Huntingdonshire Scout County in 1966 to form Peterborough and Huntingdonshire.med Peterborough District with effect from September 2017.

At various times the boundary with Lincolnshire has been fluid with Cambridgeshire based groups operating in Lincolnshire and vice versa.