John Solomon Clarke, known as ‘Eland’, was part of our Troop’s first team to win the Gordon Shield, in 1934. He went on to be Scoutmaster and Group Scoutmaster in our Troop until his retirement in 1981. John Clarke joined 2nd Claremont Group as a Cub on 17 May 1930, transferring to 1st Claremont after …
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William Baker (later known as ‘Umhlanga’) started the 2nd Claremont Troop in 1908, soon after 1st Claremont formed. When he tried to register his Troop with Imperial HQ, he was asked ‘Why 2nd Claremont? There is no 1st Claremont.’ George French hadn’t bothered to register, and Umhlanga had to persuade him into doing so. In …
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In 1907 in Cape Town, South Africa, two brothers at the Claremont Public School read about Baden-Powell’s new book Scouting for Boys in Pearson’s Weekly, and waited eagerly for the first installment. When it arrived on the bookstands, the brothers, Fred and Charles Stern, approached their headmaster, Mr George French, and persuaded him to become …
Permanent link to this article: https://1stclaremont.org.za/our-history/fred-and-charles-stern-the-first-scouts-in-south-africa/
George French was born in London on 17 October 1855. Shortly afterwards his father was sent to India with the army. When George was 5 both his parents and two younger sisters died of cholera and George was sent back to England to his grandparents. Four years later his grandfather also died and George spent …
Permanent link to this article: https://1stclaremont.org.za/our-history/george-french-first-scoutmaster-in-south-africa/
