Girl Guiding: a cultural history An independent history
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Research

Collections and research

Where the evidence for Guiding's history is held, how we weigh it, and how to start your own research into a unit, an object or a person.

How we weigh evidence

  1. Primary sources: constitutions, minutes, rules, handbooks, annual reports, magazines, unit logbooks, catalogues, letters, diaries, oral histories, photographs and objects.
  2. Current official statements: Girlguiding and WAGGGS pages. Authoritative for what the organisations say and do; not independent evaluation.
  3. Peer-reviewed scholarship and academic books.
  4. Museums, archives, government records, Hansard and reputable journalism.
  5. Local histories and collectors’ sites: valuable leads, checked before we rely on them.
  6. Wikipedia, forums and social media: for finding things only; never an authority for historical fact.

Source guides

  • Bibliography: scholarship and official sources cited on this site
  • Glossary: historical terms, with dates of use

Archives and collections

Confirm access conditions with each repository before visiting. Entries marked “to confirm” have not yet been checked with the holder.

  • Girlguiding national archive

    Organisational archive · London (confirm current location) · to confirm

    Governance records, rules, handbooks, magazines, photographs.

    Contact headquarters (17–19 Buckingham Palace Road, London, as of 2026) for catalogue, access conditions, closures and image licensing. Where the archive itself is physically held is still to be confirmed.

  • Girlguiding Norfolk Archive Resource Centre

    County guiding archive · Patteson Lodge Estate, Coltishall, Norfolk

    More than 30,000 items: logbooks, photographs, uniforms, badges and print.

  • Girlguiding Scotland archives and county archives

    Country and county guiding archives · Stirling (Forth Valley County archive, in Stirling Guide Hut); other county archives vary · to confirm

  • Girlguiding North West England Heritage & Archive

    Regional guiding archive · Preston (regional headquarters)

    More than 2,000 objects from 1910 to the present day; some can be loaned.

  • The National Archives (UK)

    National archive · Kew, London

    Education, wartime service, charity, youth policy, civil defence and colonial administration records.

    Search Discovery by organisation name and its historic variants.

  • Imperial War Museums

    National museum

    Women's and youth war service, posters, photographs and oral histories.

  • Mass Observation Archive, University of Sussex

    University special collection · The Keep, Woollards Way, Brighton

    Diaries and directives on youth, voluntary service, leisure and wartime life.

  • Museum of Childhood collections

    Museum collections

    National Trust Museum of Childhood collection (at the Children’s Country House at Sudbury, Derbyshire); Young V&A collections (Bethnal Green, London).

    Confirm access arrangements with each museum.

  • WAGGGS World Bureau and World Centres

    International organisational archive · to confirm

    Governance records and international publications.

    Ask about archive access.

  • Local record offices

    Local authority archives

    Unit, school, parish, youth-service, estate and camp-site records.

    Search under historic county names and section names.

Researching your own unit or object

For each thing you find, note who made it, its title or description, date, page or item number, where it is held, a link if there is one, the date you looked, and what it proves. Be clear about how sure you are: confirmed, probable, disputed, date approximate, or a lead only. Disputed dates, statistics and claims to be “first” need two independent sources.

Unit, school, parish and camp-site records are often in local record offices. Search under historic county names and old section names as well as current ones.