Baden-Powell grave

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Baden-Powell grave
Baden Powell grave1.jpg
Baden-Powell grave
Baden-Powell grave
Details
Established1941
Location
Country Kenya
Coordinates 0°25′08″S36°57′00″E / 0.418968°S 36.950117°E / -0.418968; 36.950117
Owned bySt. Peter's Cemetery

The graves of Lieutenant-General The 1st Baron Baden-Powell and his wife, Olave, Baroness Baden-Powell, G.B.E., are in Nyeri, Nyeri County, Kenya, near Mount Kenya. Lord Baden-Powell died on 8 January 1941, and is buried in St. Peter's Cemetery in the Wajee Nature Park. When his wife Olave, Lady Baden-Powell, died, her ashes were sent to Kenya and interred beside her husband. Kenya has declared Baden-Powell's grave a national monument. Scouts consider the grave, "one of the most revered shrines and pilgrimage sites in the world."

Contents

Background

Baden-Powell, who knew and liked Kenya, decided to start wintering in Nyeri at the Outspan Hotel of his friend, Eric Sherbrooke Walker. [1] He chose Kenya as his last home because of favorable climate and the political situation in Europe. [2] Baden-Powell knew his health was failing and planned accordingly. He said, "I'd rather die in Africa, where my heart is, than anywhere". [3] His will stipulated that he was to be buried in Nyeri, eschewing the tomb allotted to him in Westminster Abbey. He left final letters for Scouts and Scouters, and made plans for his burial. [4]

His death was world-wide news. [3] [5] Speaking for Canada, Prime Minister MacKenzie King called it, "a loss which will be felt throughout the civilized world". He also said, "The Boy Scout movement will in itself be his enduring memorial". [6] Baden-Powell was given a military funeral with a procession. [7] [8] He was buried in St. Peter's Cemetery in the Wajee Nature Park. [9]

When Baden-Powell's wife, Olave, died on 25 June 1977, she was cremated and her ashes taken to Kenya for interment at the Baden-Powell gravesite. [10] A memorial service was subsequently held for them in Westminster Abbey. [11] The memorial stone is in the south aisle of the nave of Westminster Abbey, against the screen of St George’s chapel and was unveiled on 12 February 1981. [11]

Inscription

Close up Baden Powell grave2.jpg
Close up
Robert Baden Powell

Chief Scout of the World
22nd February 1857
8th January 1941

Olave Baden Powell
World Chief Guide
22nd February 1889
25th June 1977

ʘ

His gravestone bears a circle with a dot in the center, "ʘ", which is the trail sign for "Going home", or "I have gone home". [12]

Legacy

Kenya has declared Baden-Powell's grave a national monument. [13] The nation's largest newspaper, the Daily Nation , has called the Scouting founder's final resting place "one of the most revered shrines and pilgrimage sites in the world", [14] [12] with as many as 50,000 people visiting the site each year. [13] Each year on 22 February, members of the Kenya Scouts Association and Kenya Girl Guides Association celebrate Founders' Day at the grave. [14] The British government employs staff to maintain the site. [15]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell</span> British Army officer and Scout Movement founder (1857–1941)

Lieutenant-General Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell, was a British Army officer, writer, founder and first Chief Scout of the world-wide Scout Movement, and founder, with his sister Agnes, of the world-wide Girl Guide/Girl Scout Movement. Baden-Powell authored the first editions of the seminal work Scouting for Boys, which was an inspiration for the Scout Movement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Olave Baden-Powell</span> First Chief Guide for Britain

Olave St Clair Baden-Powell, Baroness Baden-Powell was the first Chief Guide for Britain and the wife of Robert Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell, the founder of Scouting and co-founder of Girl Guides. She outlived her husband, who was 32 years her senior, by over 35 years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Agnes Baden-Powell</span> British Scouting pioneer (1858–1945)

Agnes Smyth Baden-Powell was the younger sister of Robert Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell, and was most noted for her work in establishing the Girl Guide movement as a female counterpart to her older brother's Scouting Movement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nyeri</span> City in Nyeri County, Kenya

Nyeri is a town situated in the Central Highlands of Kenya. It is the county headquarters of Nyeri County. The town was the central administrative headquarters of the country's former Central Province. Following the dissolution of the former provinces by Kenya's new constitution on 26 August 2010, the city is situated about 150 km north of Kenya's capital Nairobi, in the country's densely populated and fertile Central Highlands, lying between the eastern base of the Aberdare (Nyandarua) Range, which forms part of the eastern end of the Great Rift Valley, and the western slopes of Mount Kenya.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Treetops Hotel</span> Building in Kenya

Treetops Hotel was a hotel in Aberdare National Park in Kenya near the township of Nyeri, 1,966 m (6,450 ft) above sea level on the Aberdare Range and in sight of Mount Kenya. First opened in 1932 by Eric Sherbrooke Walker, it was built into the tops of the trees of Aberdare National Park as a treehouse, offering the guests a close view of the local wildlife. The idea was to provide a machan experience in relative safety and comfort. From the original modest two-room tree house, it has grown into a 35-room hotel. The original structure was burned down by The Kenya Land and Freedom Army (KLFA) during the 1954 Mau Mau Uprising, but the hotel was rebuilt near the same waterhole and has become fashionable for many of the rich and famous. It includes observation lounges and ground-level photographic hides from which guests can observe the local wildlife which comes to the nearby waterholes. The hotel closed in October 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kenya Scouts Association</span>

The Kenya Scouts Association is the national Scouting association of Kenya. Scouting was founded in British East Africa in 1910 and became a member of the World Organization of the Scout Movement in 1964. It has 323,929 members.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pax Hill</span> House in Hampshire, England

Pax Hill, near Bentley, Hampshire, England, was the family home of Robert Baden-Powell, founder of the Scout movement, and his wife, Olave, for over twenty years during the 20th century. It is located at the end of a half-mile drive, off the main A31 road.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scouts' Day</span>

Scouts' Day or Guides' Day is a generic term for special days observed by members of the Scouting movement throughout the year. Some of these days have religious significance, while others may be a simple celebration of Scouting. Typically, it is a day when all members of Scouting will re-affirm the Scout Promise.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pax Lodge</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kenya Girl Guides Association</span>

The Kenya Girl Guides Association (KGGA) is the national Guiding organization of Kenya. It serves 120,805 members. Founded in 1920, the girls-only organization became a full member of the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts in 1963. The patron is First Lady Lucy Kibaki.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eric Sherbrooke Walker</span>

Major Eric George Sherbrooke Walker, MC (1887–1976) was a hotelier and founder of the Outspan Hotel and Treetops Hotel in Kenya, as well as a decorated military officer. He is remembered as the host of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip when they visited Treetops in 1952, shortly before receiving news of the death of King George VI and Elizabeth's accession to the throne.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Baden-Powell, 4th Baron Baden-Powell</span> Rhodesian-Australian insurance agent (1940–2023)

David Michael Baden-Powell, 4th Baron Baden-Powell was an Australian insurance sales agent and financial planner, and was active in support of the Scout Movement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Outspan Hotel</span> Building in Nyeri, Kenya

The Outspan Hotel is in Nyeri, Kenya. It was built up from an old farm by Eric Sherbrooke Walker in the 1920s.

Wajee Nature Park is a bird conservancy and nature park in Mukuruwe-ini, central Kenya. It is set between Mount Kenya and the Aberdare Range 160 m (520 ft) north of Nairobi. The park, which covers 10 ha of pristeen natural forest, was set aside for conservation by the Reverend James Gakunju Gathigi. It is home to two rare species: the Hinde's babbler and the side-striped jackal.

Brigadier-General Sir Godfrey Dean Rhodes was a Canadian-born and -educated soldier who served with the British Army in Canada, Turkey, Bulgaria, Kenya, Uganda, Persia-Iraq and India.

Lady Joyce Ethyl Price was an Australian philanthropist and a noted leader of the Guide movement in Australia and of the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">B-P's footprint</span>

B-P's footprint is a casting, usually in bronze or brass, of the right foot of Lord Baden-Powell, the founder of the Scout and Guide Movements, who is known as "B-P." The idea is that people may put their foot into this casting, so that they can say that they have "walked in the footsteps of B-P."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Statue of Robert Baden-Powell, London</span>

The Statue of Robert Baden-Powell is a granite carving of Robert Baden-Powell, the founder of Scouting, at Baden-Powell House in Queen's Gate, South Kensington, London, England. The statue was created by the English sculptor Don Potter in 1960 and was installed and unveiled in 1961. It now stands in Gilwell Park, the home of Scouting, following the sale of Baden-Powell House in 2021.

References

  1. Jeal, Tim (2007). Baden-Powell: Founder of the Boy Scouts. Yale University Press. p. 555. ISBN   9780300125139.
  2. Africa Scout Region. "Why did Baden Powell choose Nyeri, Kenya as his last home?". World Scout Bureau. Archived from the original on 5 June 2016. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  3. 1 2 "Lord Baden-Powell Dies at 83, World Hero of Boer Conflict Helped to Found Boy Scouts". Richmond Times-Dispatch . AP. 9 January 1941. p. 12. Retrieved 13 October 2020 via Newspapers.com. Open Access logo PLoS transparent.svg
  4. "B-P prepared a farewell message to his Scouts, for publication after his death". World Scouting. 1939.
  5. "Kenya: The Funeral of Lord Baden-Powell". Reuters. 9 January 1941.
  6. "Tributes to Scout Founder Are Voiced Across Dominion". The Province . Vancouver, British Columbia. Canadian Press. 8 January 1941. Retrieved 13 October 2020 via Newspapers.com. Open Access logo PLoS transparent.svg
  7. "Funeral Of Lord Baden-Powell 1941". British Pathé. Funeral procession of Robert Baden-Powell, head of the scouting movement for boys, in Kenya
  8. "The Funeral of The Chief Scout, Lieutenant General the Right Honourable Lord Baden-Powell of Gilwell O.M." Imperial War Museum. The scene at the graveside during the military funeral of Lord Baden-Powell at Nyeri, Kenya. According to the original caption, the church at Nyeri is too small for such a large congregation, so the service is held beside the grave. Brigadier General Sir Godfrey Rhodes can be seen beyond the coffin, wearing the uniform of the Scout Commissioner of Kenya.
  9. "Baden-Powell". World Scout Bureau. 8 January 1941. Archived from the original on 2 April 2021. Retrieved 4 March 2014.
  10. "Lady Baden-Powell dies; widow of Scouts' founder". Chicago Tribune . 27 June 1977. Retrieved 13 October 2020 via Newspapers.com. Open Access logo PLoS transparent.svg
  11. 1 2 "Robert & Olave Baden-Powell". Westminster Abbey . Retrieved 1 August 2018.
  12. 1 2 Wendell, Bryan (11 April 2014). "Scouting family takes pilgrimage to Baden-Powell's grave in Kenya". Bryan on Scouting. BSA. Retrieved 10 October 2019.
  13. 1 2 "The burden of Lord Baden Powell's resting place". Business Daily Africa. 3 September 2009. Archived from the original on 24 September 2019. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  14. 1 2 "Historic shrine that's home to boy scouts and girl guides". Daily Nation . 3 March 2016. Retrieved 10 October 2019.
  15. Komu, Nicholas (12 June 2020). "Focus shifts to Baden Powell's grave in Nyeri as racism skeletons emerge". Nairobi News.