The following article was contributed by Mr Bruce Draper. It also appeared in “The Heidelberg Historian” newsletter of the Heidelberg Historical Society December 2008
The 1st Ivanhoe Sea Scouts 100th Anniversary Reunion was held over the week-end of 11th to 12th October 2008.
The first part of Baden-Powell’s ‘Scouting for Boys’ was published in the United Kingdom in January 1908. The six parts, published fortnightly at fourpence a copy, were snatched up by youngsters eager to form Patrols and participate in the camps and outdoor activities which formed the basis of Baden-Powell’s training method.
April 18, 1908 saw the introduction of ‘The Scout’, a penny weekly, which provided an important link for the rapidly increasing number of Scouts. Scouting became international through its own momentum and in the first year Patrols sprang up in Australia, Canada, Gibraltar, Ireland, Malta, New Zealand and South Africa.
The nucleus of the First Ivanhoe Troop was formed towards the end of October 1908 when readers of ‘The Scout’, Frank Jenkins, Lindsay McLean, George Janes and Percy Jenkin, formed a Patrol to try out the new game of Scouting. The First Ivanhoe Troop has been in continuous existence since that time and today maintains a strong presence in the local community.
First meeting
The first meetings were held in a bluestone stable, once part of the Rockbeare Estate, at the rear of Mr. Jane’s residence in Livingstone Street, Ivanhoe. Outdoor activities were carried out in Rockbeare Park and more frequently at the present site of Wilson Reserve, where the boys could swim in the popular “Sand Hole’ of the Yarra River.
Other adventure seeking youngsters were encouraged to join them, and in January 1909 the boys asked Mr. Harry Dawson (‘Skipper’) Wilson if he would become their Scout Master and assist them to form a Troop.
Lt. Eyrl G. Lister, Chief Scout Master of the Metropolitan District of the recently formed Imperial Boy Scouts, was approached and asked to chair a meeting of the boys to be held at Captain Jenkin’s residence. At this meeting, held on 5 May 1909, CSM Lister outlined the work of Scouts and the course of instruction. He read over the Scout Law and the following boys took the Scout Oath – Patrol Leader J. Bowe, Corporal L. McLean, Scout C. Skead, Scout F. Alcock, Scout G. Janes, Scout F. Jenkins, Scout R. Janes. ‘Skipper’ Wilson was to act in the capacity of Scout Master in Charge, a position he held for over 40 years.
First Ivanhoe were present at the first general parade of metropolitan Troops of the Victorian Boy Scouts held at the Burke and Wills Monument, Royal Park on 21 August 1909. The Troop also attended the first combined camp run by the Victorian Scouts, held at the Police Paddock, Dandenong from 31 December 1909 to 3 January 1910.
Training Camp
The first training camp for Scout Masters in Victoria was held on the Wilson Reserve site at Ivanhoe from Saturday 23 to Monday 25 April 1910 under Chief Scout Master Lt. Eyrl Lister. This camp was attended by twenty-five Scout Masters. A plaque to commemorate the camp was unveiled by the then National Commissioner for Leader Training, John Ravenhall, on Saturday 12 November 1988.
Among the first developments in British Scouting was the formation of a Sea Scout Branch in October 1910. Baden-Powell’s third camp for boys was held in England, in August 1909, at Buckler’s Hard on the lower reaches of the Beaulieu River by Southampton Water. Mr. C.B. Fry lent him his training ship ‘The Mercury’ which was used as a base camp for experimental Scouting on the water activities.
The First Victorian Sea Scouts were established at Albert Park Lake in May 1912. In July 1914 Captain Kane was appointed Commissioner, and Captain E. Jones, Assistant Commissioner, for Sea Scouts in Victoria. Mr. David Harris, General Secretary of the Boy Scout Association ‘first suggested the idea of the The First Ivanhoe Troop combining with the Sea Scouts as the Troop spends much time at the river in boating.’
The First Ivanhoe Scouts obtained their first boat in about 1913. The boat named the Curlew was purchased from the Police Department. The boat ‘was rowed (up the Yarra River) from Prince’s Bridge to Ivanhoe by the boys, being carried over Dight’s Falls.’
In 1915 the change to Sea Scouts began one patrol at a time ‘largely due to the difficulty of obtaining a suitable uniform.’ The inaugural parade of the Sea Scouts in the Troop took place at the boat shed on the Yarra River on 9 November 1918, and the Sea Scout Commissioner, Captain Suffern, granted First Ivanhoe its warrant as the Second Division, Victorian Sea Scouts.
On 19 June 1919 a crew from First Ivanhoe won the inaugural rowing race for coxed fours at Albert Park Lake, to win a small silver shield presented by the Ancient Mariner’s Society of Victoria for competition between the two Sea Scout Troops. After three successive wins First Ivanhoe became outright winners of the shield.
The first Annual swimming Carnival of the 1st Ivanhoe Troop was held at the Sandbank, Ivanhoe on Saturday 13 March 1920.
In 1924, it was learnt that the land at the river where the boathouse had been built was to be sold by the owner, Mr. A.H. Scott. The ‘Sandbank Reserve Appeal’ with H.D. (‘Skipper’) Wilson as Hon. Organiser, H.T. Eisman as Chairman and C.C. Bailey as Hon. Secretary and Treasurer, was organised to raise three hundred pounds to purchase the land. Certificates were issued to hundreds of contributors who were allotted sections of the Reserve at 2/6 per foot to a total of 4000 feet. On 11 August 1924 the area of about seven acres was handed over by the three trustees to the President, Councillors and Rate Payers of the Shire of Heidelberg ‘to be held in perpetual trust for the youth of the district’, a phrase of ‘Skipper Wilson’s own choosing.
Wilson Reserve
In 1927 the Ivanhoe Swimming Pool Reserve was renamed Wilson Reserve to publicly recognise the work of ‘Skipper’ Wilson.
The former Rifle Club Hall, adjacent to the Ivanhoe Railway Station, was secured by the First Ivanhoe Sea Scouts in March 1929 and extended to provide a regular evening meeting place for the Scouts. The new Hall was opened by the Hon. H.H. Olney MLC on Saturday 16 October 1931.
During the dark days of the depression, ‘Skipper’ Wilson made the Scout Hall available ‘as a centre from which sustenance and other aid was distributed to many worthy but needy citizens of the district’, under the guidance of Cr. Nellie Ibbott. Cr. Nellie Ibbott during her time of office as Mayor of the City of Heidelberg in 1943/44 selected 1st Ivanhoe Sea Scouts to be the ‘Mayor’s Own Group’ for the year 1944. The Mayor’s Own Group was entitled to carry the ‘City of Heidelberg Mayor’s Own Group’ flag which was emblazoned with the City of Heidelberg and Boy Scout emblems.
By 1930 there were five active Victorian Sea Scout Troops in the metropolitan area located at Albert Park, Ivanhoe, Williamstown, Brighton and St Kilda. The annual competition for the Napier Cup, presented to the Sea Scouts of Victoria by Rear Admiral W.R. Napier, commenced in 1930. In 1943, First Ivanhoe Sea Scouts under Skipper Wilson won the trophy for the first time, to become the Champion Sea Scout Troop. Keenly contested under severe weather conditions, the Cup returned to Ivanhoe in 1944. As this was the last time the competition was held, 1st Ivanhoe retained the trophy. To commemorate the 1944 win, a Plate was placed on the outer wall of the Boat House at Wilson Reserve.
At the end of the war years, following the disbandment of the Ivanhoe Swimming Club, the dressing sheds and club room on the downstream side of the Sea Scouts boat house were demolished.
World War 2 service
Over 200 members of 1st Ivanhoe served in the Second World War between 1939 and 1945, of whom 13 did not return. In 1945 a Memorial Den of hand poured concrete was erected alongside the boat house in Wilson Reserve. The noted landscape designer Ellis Stones donated a 45-foot flagpole with swiveled crosstrees. The Den was officially opened by the Chief Commissioner for Victoria, Col. G.W.S. Anderson, on Saturday 8 November 1945. A memorial plaque on the Den, unveiled on 19 February 1949, lists the names of 17 former Sea Scouts who were killed in action during the two World Wars.
During 1948 the area between the den and the Golf links, known as the ‘Scout’s Meadow’, was leveled under the expert guidance of Mr. Claud Mason ‘to provide adequate space for minor sports and games’.
Chelsworth Farm adjoining Wilson Reserve was purchased by the Heidelberg City Council in 1948. The property included the golf links constructed by Mr. Irvine.
A granite obelisk, with a commemorative plaque attached, was erected at Wilson Reserve as a memorial to ‘Skipper’ Wilson, who died on 27 August 1949 at the age of 81 years. The unveiling ceremony was held on Sunday 23 November 1952 at the Ivanhoe Recreation Reserve, as the high level of the river made it impracticable to hold the function at the Scouts’ river headquarters.
Ken Hamilton, became the second official Scout Master of the 1st Ivanhoe Sea Scout Troop in 1949. He held this position until 1956. Ken was appointed Warden of the River Depot by the Sea Scout’s Parents Committee and also held the appointment of Honorary Ranger of the River Reserves from the Heidelberg City Council.
Wilson Reserve is a special place of recreation and remembrance for the Sea Scouts and many members of the local community. Today the Wilson Reserve and adjoining Chelsworth riverland contains a diverse habitat of bushland, grassland and billabongs.
‘The Open air is the real objective of scouting and the key to its success’ wrote the Founder of Scouting, Lord Baden-Powell. The Sea Scouts are fortunate to have had such a long association with the Wilson Reserve area for outdoor training and have been instrumental in ensuring the availability of the reserve for public use.
Bruce G. Draper
14 October 2008.
Reference: “The First Ivanhoe Sea Scouts: a centenary history 1908-1988” compiled by Bruce G. Draper
In January 2013 the Scouts moved into new premises at 49 Hawker Street, Ivanhoe
