Cambridge District Scout Archive
- 1st Cambridge District (Balsham and West Wratting) 1921 – 1928
- 43rd Cambridge 1928/1929 AGM report
- 68th Cambridge (West Wratting) 1934 –
1st Cambridge District (Balsham and West Wratting) 1921 – 1928 8447
1st Cambridge District (Balsham) was formed in 1913 and registered nationally in the first set from Cambridge District in 1919. It received the IHQ number of 906 (Cambridge numbers started from 900). It failed to re register in 1921 and a letter from IHQ gently avoided apportioning blame. On re registration in 1921 it was listed as Balsham and West Wratting and received the IHQ number 8447. No references are known for 1922 – 1924 but the joint villages are named in the AGM reports until that of 1927/1928 (published in early 1929) when the 1st Cambridge District was again just Balsham and had a new IHQ number (suggesting a significant change in registration) of 10557. A note of 1929 gives the intention ‘to be divided and re registered.
The Troop numbers fluctuated (publication dates of AGM reports a year behind)
Balsham and West Wratting
- 1927 35
- 1928 38
- 1929 39
Balsham
- 1930 6
- 1931 6
- 1933 20
- 1934 22
- 1935 22 and 11 Cubs
Scarf colour changed from Maroon to Blue and Orange between 1931 and 1933
Little specific to West Wratting can be unpicked from the records. One leader, George Harold Hart, had a West Wratting address.
- M Slater SM <1925 – 1929 (The Grange)
- A J Parr SM 1929 – 1931>
- F M Richmond SM <Jan 1934
43rd West Wratting
In the AGM report of 1928/1929 (printed 1930) 43rd West Wratting appears in the list of Groups. It has no named leaders, no IHQ number, no address and no census numbers. The year previously 1st Cambridge District had been named Balsham and West Wratting, in 1928/29 report it had become just Balsham. The next Group that took on the 68th Cambridge number (Byron House School) was also offered the 43rd number. It is not clear why the 43rd was considered a local number.
68th Cambridge (West Wratting) 1934 – 1935
Registered on 28th September 1934 and transferred or planned to be transferred to South Cambridgeshire District in the 1935 division of the very large Cambridge District into four smaller Districts.
Records from this District are not held by Cambridge District. The Group does not appear in the County list of January 1935 in either District. A re-registration date of 28th Jan 1935 is given and a reference to the Group is found in 1937 but they are not present in the next available South Cambridgeshire records post WW2.
The number is next used in Cambridge District in 1943. It is likely that West Wratting, like all other Groups in South Cambridgeshire, removed the Xth Cambridge prefix and the number became available for use.
JWR Archivist Aug 2022