The history of the Avonside* Boy Scout Troop is a little murky, but we know that they formed in 1908 or 1909, based on the attached clipping, and the May 1st 1911 one further down.  Due to all records of the Troops beginnings being lost we can only speculate as to the exact date and the events surrounding their formation.

In the January 10^th 1911 edition of Dominion Scout there is a short note that they, amongst other Troops, were very much in evidence at the recent Mission of Help held by the Anglican Church.  They were said to have distinguished themselves by holding lamps in the great processions that were held through the Town.

The March 1^st 1911 edition of Dominion Scout refers to a meeting of sergeants and sergeants-major at the Scoutmasters room in the Boys' Gordon Hall (believed to have been located on the first floor of the YMCA building that was on the corner of Oxford Terrace and Hereford Street - A spot now occupied by the Christchurch Central Police Station).  Also talked of is a combined camp at Barry's Bay, under Chief Scoutmaster Edwards.  The following (April) issue has a photo of some of the scouts formed up in ranks and marching over the hill to Duvauchelle's for their church parade.

May 1^st 1911 - The report in this edition of the Dominion Scout states, "The Avonside Troop has recovered from the loss of Chief Scoutmaster Edwards, and is going remarkably strong under the guidance of Chief Scoutmaster Flanagan...".  It also states the Troop has a current Christchurch district record consisting of 3 King Scouts and 50 proficiency badges in the Troop.  This rerport also states the Troop has been running nearly three years... this could indicate the Troop was formed in 1908 - the first year of Scouting in New Zealand.

October 2^nd 1911 - The Avonside Scout Troop has a new Scoutmaster, J. A. Clarke.  They are training hard for their good turn at Kaiapoi and in close contention for the Kings Prize.

The Kings Prize (also known as the Kings Standard) was actually won by Devonport no. 3 Troop in Auckland, but Avonside did win it once in 1915.  The standard was retired in 1922, and of the 9 times it was awarded, 6 of those it went to a Christchurch Troop (Merivale #1 Troop won it three times in a row!).  It shows just how strong Scouting was in Canterbury.

August 1914 - Some notes on the Troop from the Parish magazine.

November 1914 - Information regarding the leaving (3 months previous) of a founding Scout in the Avonside Troop, one Sgt. L. Morgan, who apparently gave 5 solid years work to the Troop.  This helps prove the 1909 start date of the Troop.

January 1915 - More great info about the Troop, including that they are now of Batallion strength, and have split into two Troops, both with Patrons - The Kiwi's, Kea's and Seagulls forming one troop as "Mr. Justice Denniston's Own", and the Stags, Mawks and Penguins forming the other - "Dr. Moorhouse's Own".  The total role is 56, and average attendance to parades is around 50.

Also reference to a camp being held at a Mr. Medge's property in Belfast was mentioned from Jan 4^th to 14^th.

March 20th 1918 - The Avonside Boy Scout Troop performs its third Guard of Honour for Lord and Lady Liverpool at the opening of a garden fete at Rhodes Convalescent Home in Cashmere.  Details here.

<more info to come on the early years - if you can help, please contact us>

There is a huge gap here, which we cannot, unfortunately, fill with any accuracy.  Early church newsletters from the Avonside church have gone missing, and no records other than those found in the very early years from the Dominion Scout magazine have been located.  The next references to the Troop are some years later on.

We know they merged with, or became, St. Matthew's in 1922.  The reasons for this are not entirely clear.  One report says that they lost their hall and much of their gear to fire, another report states the Troop consisted of mainly St Albans boys and the trip was inconvenient.  Another says they asked permission to use the St Matthews Church Hall, but as the Church was forming (or had just formed) its own Troop it was decided to combine them.  Whatever the cause, we do know that (at least) one Scoutmaster and 8 of the boys came to become the core of the new St. Matthew's Scout Troop, attached to the St. Matthew's Church. 

The following names are some of those boys who came across: E. Kelly, D. Lee, C. Evans, T. Evans and R. Meyers.  An important fact is that the Uncle of R. Meyers was a Mr. C. H. Clibborn, who was a prominent member of the St. Matthew's Church Vestry and its Mens Association.  The initial contact was made through Mr. Clibborn, and once the Troop formed he became the Honoured Secretary for many years.

Of interesting note is that Scout 'D. Lee', mentioned above (and who was part of an honour guard that the Avonside Troop provided for Lady Liverpool at a swimming carnival in 1917) shows in the minutes of the First meeting of the St. Matthews Scout Troop as a committee member.  It is unknown if it is the same person, brothers, father and son, or just two people with the same name.

Also, St. Matthew's has in its possession a book called Lonecraft which was presented to "Ex Troop Leader R. Meyers" by the Troop on May 4th 1923 and is signed by J. C. Robinson, Scoutmaster.  Mr Meyers presented this book back to the troop at the 50th Anniversary which was held on the 28th of October 1972.

*note: recent research has uncovered an "Avonside Holy Trinity" church troop which formed under Scoutmaster (reverend) H. J. Allen at the Avonside Holy Trinity Church in 1917.  It is likely that our original Avonside Troop had split away from the church by this time (Reasons unknown), allowing the Church to form a new Troop with a different name to avoid any confusion (something that seems likely when we consider that none of the later Avonside Troop Scoutmasters we know about seem to have been ministers - which seems to have been a requirement of the organisation of any Diosecan Brigade Troop).  This new Holy Trinity Troop won the Diocesan Standard in 1918, proving that it was started and run very well, however After Reverend Allen left for another church there are no further references to the Troop in Church periodicals, and it may have collapsed again if no-one else took the Scoutmasters place - quite a common occurrence in Scouting, even today.

There was a recently uncovered note regarding the Holy Trinity Troop under Mr. Marlowe having camped onver the 1920/1921 Christmas period - this may be an avenue for further research.