History of the Boys’ Brigade in New Zealand

Beginnings

New Zealand was the first country outside Great Britain to adopt the Boys’ Brigade Movement when in 1887 the 1^st Auckland Company opened in the St James Presbyterian Church. In the following decade Companies began in Timaru, Dunedin and Wellington (with three Companies) but with the outbreak of the Boer War and First World War the Brigade closed down. Revival came in 1926 with the opening of the 1^st Dunedin Company, which is recognised as the founding Company of the Brigade in this country. The Brigade here then grew faster than anywhere in the world, with its own constitution produced in 1932 and a National Secretary appointed in Wellington. The Life Boys began in Dunedin in 1924-25 and a national Life Boys Committee was established in 1944, notably with a woman as its first Director. Life Boys merged with the Boys’ Brigade in 1968 as a Team Section for boys aged 8 to 11, and Anchor Boys for boys aged from six began in 1982. The Girls’ Brigade began in its modern form in Great Britain in 1964.  

Growth and expansion

Growth of the Brigade flagged during World War II but recovered rapidly in the post-war years, and by 1949 there were about 5,000 members in 129 Companies and 112 Life Boy Teams. Membership almost doubled in the 14 years after 1954, and numbers peaked in 1968-69 when there were 10,500 boys enrolled in 241 Companies, and the total membership (including Officers and Life Boys) reached 12,500. New Zealand had also assumed oversight of the development of the Brigade in the Pacific Islands where the Brigade was popular and grew steadily from the opening of the 1^st Rarotonga Company in the Cook Islands in 1933. In 1969 there were 2,000 Brigade members in 20 Companies in Samoa.

New challenges and decline

The 1970s brought changes in society with consequent downturn in the Brigade. Concerns arose about the decline of moral standards among young people and the lessening influence of the family and the church in their conduct. Moreover, the Brigade faced financial difficulties and a leadership shortage. Eighteen Companies closed in the period from 1971-74, and nationwide the number of Brigade boys fell to around 7,000 by 1979. The Movement suffered from a significant loss of morale while fragmentation resulted in some Companies adopting their own constitution and some discarding the uniform in favour of more informal alternatives.

Revival, restructure and rebranding

After three decades of declining numbers, the Brigade entered the new millennium with only about 2,300 members in 78 Companies. Clearly, the Brigade had lost its appeal and was not meeting the needs of young boys in a changing society characterised by high youth unemployment, growing rates of criminal young offending and the loss of strong role models for adolescent boys. Recognising the need for restructuring and rebranding, the National Executive began a bold rescue plan by introducing ICONZ Adventure as a subsidiary programme for junior boys. Launched in 2003, providing both risk and challenge, it immediately proved popular and its numbers soon outstripped Company members.  ICONZ Extreme for senior boys followed in 2013. Not all Companies adopted the ICONZ programme as they felt is didn’t add significantly to what they had already.

The ICONZ initiative didn’t arrest the overall decline of the Brigade membership, however. By 2013 the total enrolment in Companies and ICONZ Units fell below 2,000 and in 2018 there were fewer than 30 Brigade Companies operating in the traditional form in New Zealand. The Brigade then under went further rebranding along with unification of the dual Company and ICONZ streams, resulting in a new 5-tiered structure, new uniform and a new logo that replaces the Christian cross with the distinctive New Zealand silver fern. Some traditional Companies survive and are even thriving, such as the 1^st Christchurch Company, the largest in the country in 2025, with 50 boys in the ranks and 12 Officers. With dedicated leadership, a fresh new image and a new programme offering learning, challenge and fun, the Brigade in this country is in good heart.

__________________

Prominent past national leaders of the Boys’ Brigade in New Zealand

Horace Grocott

Captain of the 1^st Dunedin Company, the founding Company in New Zealand, Horace Grocott is considered to be the “Father” of the Brigade in this country. A natural leader, he was the first President of the Governing Council and in 1932 initiated the inaugural national conference that drafted a constitution with rules and regulations governing the Brigade’s operations, and an administrative structure. With his wife, Emma, who started a Girls’ Life Brigade Company, he served as a missionary in Bolivia for five years.

Roland Hill

Roland Hill became the Movement’s first National Secretary in 1932, serving for 14 years during which the foundations were laid for the Brigade in New Zealand. Roland brought experience as a former member of William Smith’s 1^st Glasgow Company. The National Office was first run from a bedroom in his Brooklyn home in Wellington, before moving to the central city in 1938.

Howard Trotman

Howard Trotman became National Secretary in 1946 and served in that role for 14 years. He travelled widely visiting Companies throughout the country, and during his term major advances were made in the relationship with Churches and in training programmes.

Alford Dornan

Irishman Alford Dornan was the first dedicated Training Officer in the NZ Brigade, appointed in 1955. Known as “AD” he was a skilful, energetic, enthusiastic and witty Officer who ran a very professional training programme widely applauded at home and abroad. In 1976 he took over from Trotman as National Secretary and embarked on a study tour to North America and Europe before attending a World Conference Committee meeting in Singapore. His 24 years of service was acknowledged with the award of an OBE.  

Mervyn Dearsly

Mervyn Dearsly was the longest serving President of the NZ Brigade, holding office for 14 years from 1954 to 1968. He confronted the post-war “baby boom“ era when young people began challenging parental and societal authority. He convened a Public Relations Committee, which led to a Three-Year Plan guiding the Brigade to its successful peak years of the late 60s. Mervyn was also Commanding Officer of a national camp in 1958 commemorating the 75^th Anniversary of the Brigade and he led the Brigade’s contribution to hosting the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh during the 1963 Royal Tour. On standing down from office in 1968 he was awarded and MBE.

__________________

 The Boys’ Brigade Movement

Origins

Founded on Christian principles and military discipline, the Boys’ Brigade helps boys to grow into responsible adult citizens. It was begun in Glasgow, Scotland in 1883, the brainchild of William Smith a man with a military background who sought to control a Sunday School class of unruly boys. It was immediately popular among boys attracted by the soldiering elements of a uniform and rifle (real army rifles at first replaced by wooden dummy ones later).

Peak years

The Brigade grew fast and spread like wildfire to include 100,000 boys and 10,000 officers in 2,200 Companies throughout Great Britain and North America by 1910. The strength of the Movement at its height is demonstrated by its Golden Jubilee celebrations in 1933 with a parade of 32,000 Officers and boys from 17 Battalions in Glasgow’s Queen’s Park Recreation Ground watched by 50,000 spectators. Even more impressive was the associated outdoor church service at the Hampden Football Ground involving 130,000 Brigade members and old boys, with a further 100,000 turned away at the gates. The familiar Boy Scouts Movement originated in the Boys’ Brigade in 1906 when its founder, Robert Baden Powell, began a Scouting Section in the Brigade.

Impact of wars

The two World Wars took a toll on membership as Officers and boys enrolled in the armed forces. Some 100,00 Brigade members fought in the First World War. During the Second World War, schools in Britain were closed, churches were bombed and much of the Boys’ Brigade activities took place in air raid shelters.

The first international camp  

The global extent of the Movement is revealed by the first international camp held in 1954 to mark 100 years since the birth of the Brigade’s founder, William Smith. Some 2,000 boys housed in 400 tents gathered on Eaton’s famous playing fields in London. In addition to those from Great Britain, campers were drawn from the USA, Canada, Africa, Denmark, Holland Malaysia and Singapore, and there was a 95-member contingent from New Zealand.

Steady growth followed by decline

The Brigade lost momentum from the 1950s as social and economic changes accompanying the advent of the post-war “baby boom” generation brought increased materialism and personal freedoms, along with a marked decline in church allegiance. Introduction of the adventurous Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme in 1955 helped stem the loss of senior boys, and eventually the Brigade grew steadily and expanded its global range to include by the mid-1970s 150,000 overseas members. In 1983, a century after its founding, the Brigade was active in 60 countries, encompassing many cultures, races and languages in both the developed and developing world. Never-the-less, from this time overall membership began reducing again, especially among senior boys, and today the Brigade Movement no longer reflects the halcyon days of the 1930s.  

______________