St Swithun's Rover Crew 1.74

The Order of World Scouts was founded on the 11th November 1911, and was the earliest World Scouting organisation.

The date was chosen to echo the declaration of Baldwin as King of Jerusalem, concluding a successful end to the first Crusade, 11th November 1100.

The organisation still continues today, and has continued under its Grand Scoutmasters.

At the beginning of 1909, with B-P still in full time service with the Army, the officials left by B-P to run his organisation, were to the minds of some, too official. The fear of an infiltration by the National Service League (an organisation pushing for compulsory military conscription) members, was also a very real concern. With these two concerns the Battersea District Scouts seceded, and formed The British Boy Scouts or BBS.

the British Boy and Girl Scouts in the UK, the British Girl Scouts was then launched on the 11th November 1911 in the Royal Chapel of the Savoy, as the Order of World Scouts. This Order had lifted the theme of Knighthood and applied it to the whole organisation (as B-P had done with the Scout Law and Promise, and in the development of the Rover Scout Programme).

There was a tradition of Grand Masters in both the Knights Templars and the Knights Hospitaller .

In the same manner, Sir Francis Vane had become the Grand Scout Master of the Order of World Scouts (OWS), a position that has continued up to this day .

Vane was a Knight Commander of the Order of Christ , a Portuguese survival of the Order of the Knights of Christ and the Temple (the Templars) which had been suppressed elsewhere by the Pope in the 1200s.

It is upon this notion that today, Vane's Order of World Scouts is still considered a chivalric Order for Scoutmasters of the BBS/Order of World Scouts.

The Grand Scoutmaster of the British Boy Scouts/Order of World Scouts, and gives it a more definite expression to the inspiration of the "Order of Christ" on the Scout chivalric Order, giving it the name of the "Order of the Redeemer".

The Order of the Redeemer is legally a fraternal organisation for Scout Leaders, and is not , and does not claim to be a Royal, or a State Order of Chivalry.

The Moral Code of the Knights and Dames of the Order:

1. I will, to the best of my ability, seek to set an example of patience, caring and unselfishness.
2. I will, as far as possible, be a true friend to all my comrades, or the young in any way entrusted to my care.
3. I will help those in need, comfort those in sorrow, and by a holy life, seek to set an example of godly living.
4. I will treat all my comrades around me, anywhere, rich or poor, with equal kindness.
5. I acknowledge that the only hope of heaven is through the life, death, and resurrection of Christ the Redeemer.
6. I will devote my life, in guiding others, away from paths of evil, into lives that are pleasing to God.

Motto of the Order:

Amicus Humani Generis - Friend of the Human Race.

Membership is open to all serving and retired Scout Leaders, and costs £100 sterling for life membership. On receipt of the application form and the subscription, a membership certificate will be sent, along with a cloth badge, which can be sewn onto the Scout Uniform (if allowed by the Association to which the member belongs).