The Boys' Brigade Australia

The Boys' Brigade in Australia is a Christian uniformed youth organisation in Australia, which is part of the global Boys' Brigade movement.

The Boys' Brigade was first introduced into Australia well within a decade of the formation of the movement in Glasgow by the Founder. In 1890-91, a Company was formed at the St. Mark’s Church of England, Fitzroy, Melbourne. The next Company to be formed was at the Wesley Church, Perth in 1895 and this was very quickly followed by Companies in each of the other States on a fairly scattered basis.

To provide a more coordinated basis for growth, an Australian Council was formed at the turn of the century, based in Sydney. The first Annual Report in 1900 noted that the Secretary knew of 15 Companies functioning with a membership of 431 Boys and 41 Officers. The first Battalion Council was formed in Adelaide in 1901 and comprised four Companies.

In the beginning of the 20th century, several Companies of the Naval Boys' Brigade were formed, mainly in Victoria, and in 1907 separate Battalions of Military and Naval Companies were formed in that State. Most of these Companies merged with the Government scheme of Military Training for Boys of 12 and upwards introduced in July 1911; as a result of this scheme, plus the drain on leadership into the Armed Forces, few Companies survived the First World War.

Their Scout program was launched in 1909. St. Enoch's Presbyterian Church, Mount Morgan, Queensland formed its Boy Scout unit on November 23, 1908, under Benjamin Gilmore Patterson. The unit was registered with the Boys' Brigade (BB) Scouts as the lst Mount Morgan Company in 1910.

There was one notable exception. In 1913, a new 1st Brisbane Company had been formed at the Ithaca Presbyterian Church, led by a Mr. George Orr, a former Lieutenant of the 1st Glasgow Company under the Captaincy of Sir William A. Smith. The formation of this Company marked the commencement of the present era of The Boys' Brigade in Australia. In the years following the First World War, a former Captain of the 5th Dublin (Ireland) Company, Rev. J. Wesley-Smith, who had migrated to Western Australia, after correspondence with Mr. Orr, was instrumental in the formation of the 1st and 2nd Fremantle Companies at Fremantle Baptist Church and Wesley Church, Fremantle, respectively, and the 1st Northam Company at Northam Presbyterian Church, W.A. It was not until 1929 that a new 1st Melbourne Company was formed at Armadale Baptist Church, Melbourne, and a new 1st Sydney Company was formed at Glebe Presbyterian Church, Sydney. Of these, only the 1st Brisbane is still active.

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