Scout Heritage Victoria, Melbourne

daa/380

Scout Heritage Victoria, Melbourne

• Scout Association of Australia - Victorian Branch
• Scouts Victoria

• Community

Scout Heritage Victoria's collection has an extensive range of items relating to Scouting in Victoria, other Australian States and International events where former Scouting members have played an active role.

As well as the Scout Heritage Victoria Adventure Centre in Bentleigh East, there are three other Scouting Heritage groups within Victoria:

• Pax Hill Heritage Committee has a museum in Ballarat at Pax Hill Scout Camp
• Geelong Scout Heritage Centre is full of Scouting heritage from the local area
• Gilwell Heritage, charting the history of Gilwell Park at Gembrook and the early history of Scouting in Victoria.

The Scouting movement had its beginnings in 1907, when British military man, Major-General Robert Baden-Powell led an experimental camp on Brownsea Island, off the Dorset coast. By the end of 1908, eleven Scout Troops had formed in Victoria. Fifteen years later, the earliest version of Scouts Victoria was formed, as the Victorian Branch of the British Boy Scouts. In 1958, the Scout Association of Australia was created and the Victorian scouts became part of the national organisation.

The Scout Heritage Victoria Committee is charged with the responsibility of collecting, storing and preserving all Scouting items in Victoria.

State Commissioner - Heritage
Heritage Committee

Scout Heritage Victoria collects and stores books, records, memorabilia, photographs, posters, badges, newspapers, journals and anything pertaining to the Scout Association in Victoria, with special reference to the life and work of the Association's founder, Lord Baden-Powell. The donation of Scout records and memorabilia is encouraged.

Scout Heritage Victoria holds archival material, for example:

• The Scout Association of Victoria: Annual reports, minutes etc, from 1907- ; Textbooks and instruction manuals, from 1900- ; complete series of the monthly ‘Victorian Scout/Australian Scout’, 1926-2021
• Area/Region/District and Group records
• Personal: Diaries, photographs, log books, from 1907-
• Lord Baden-Powell: Memoirs, textbooks, letter, instruction manuals, 1900-1942.
• Heritage films (see https://scoutsvictoria.com.au/activities-events/activity-teams/heritage/heritage-films/)

In addition, it has a library and an extensive objects and artefacts collection which includes scout uniforms, historical musical instruments from Scout bands, early camping equipment, plaques and honour boards, group and ceremonial flags, mementos and ephemera from Groups, Jamborees and other special events.

Open Mondays, 9am-3pm (except public holidays). Visits by Section/Groups by appointment.

Volunteers are in attendance each Monday (February to November) except public holidays for enquiries and donations.
They can assist with information on Group history and Scouting people and other research enquiries.
Enquiries can be submitted on the form at: https://scoutsvictoria.com.au/activities-events/activity-teams/heritage/victorian-scout-history/ or to the email address: scout.heritage@scoutsvictoria.com.au

Copying services for books, journals and original records to A3 available.

Revised 1 September 2022

• Education (Thematic area)
• Recreation / Leisure / Sports (Thematic area)
• Social Organisations and Activities (Thematic area)