The Girl Guides are organised

In 1910 the Girl Guides were formally organised in Britain, founded, in WAGGGS’s words, “by Baden-Powell and his sister Agnes”.^[2] Agnes became the movement’s first President.^[5]

1909 or 1910?

Girlguiding’s own history says the Guide Association was established in 1909.^[1] WAGGGS describes formal foundation in 1910.^[2] Secondary accounts suggest the two dates mark different steps, though some doubt remains about the details:^[3][4]

• November 1909: Robert Baden-Powell published a scheme for Girl Guides in the Scouts’ Headquarters Gazette. Two pamphlets followed, the first titled Baden-Powell Girl Guides, a Suggestion for Character Training for Girls. A Canadian company registered on the strength of these pamphlets in January 1910.
• 1910: the Girl Guides Association was set up, with Agnes Baden-Powell at its head.
• 1922: the Association received a Royal Charter.^[6]

Evidence status: Unconfirmed This sequence comes from later summaries, not from the Gazette or the pamphlets themselves, so it may need correcting once we have seen them. Note also that “The Guide Association” is a later name: according to a regional Girlguiding history, the body was the Girl Guides Association until it was renamed in 1994.^[6]

A military and imperial name

“GuideA member of the main Guiding section. In the UK today, Guides are aged 10–14. The name came from the Corps of Guides, a regiment on the North-West Frontier of British India, which Robert Baden-Powell praised for its "handiness and resourcefulness".” came from the Corps of Guides, a regiment raised in 1846 on the North-West Frontier of British India. Baden-Powell explained the choice by pointing to “a famous corps of guides in India” who were “distinguished for their general handiness and resourcefulness under difficulties, and their keenness and courage”.^[4] Evidence status: Unconfirmed We have this wording only as quoted in a later history, so there is some doubt about its exact form. We are locating the original in his 1909 scheme.

Evidence status: Interpretation So girls were offered the name as a model of resourcefulness and courage, qualities the movement wanted to claim for them, while its imperial and military associations went largely unremarked. Kristine Alexander’s work on empire and internationalism in Guiding is the main starting point for how such imperial references worked.^[7]

People and objects

• 16 December 1858 – 2 June 1945

  Agnes Baden-Powell

  Organiser, first President and main author of the first Guide handbook, and a founder whom later memory largely forgot.

• 22 February 1857 – 8 January 1941

  Robert Baden-Powell

  Army officer and founder of Scouting, who set out the girls' scheme with his sister Agnes, wrote Guiding's handbooks from 1918 and signed them as "Founder".

Sources

1. Girlguiding, “Our history”. Accessed 25 September 2026. Institutional self-description. Authoritative for what Girlguiding says about itself; not an independent evaluation.
2. World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts, “Our history”, WAGGGS. Accessed 25 September 2026.
3. Little Gem Museum (West Lancashire Scouts), “Story of Guiding – 1908 to 1929”, 2022-03-15. Accessed 25 September 2026. A volunteer-run heritage timeline; a useful lead, to be checked against primary sources.
4. Girl Guides of Canada–Guides du Canada, “History of Guiding (fact sheet 14.3.1.3)”, Girl Guides of Canada. Accessed 25 September 2026. Another national organisation's own history; useful for early dates, not an independent evaluation.
5. Girl Guides of Canada–Guides du Canada, “Fact Sheet: The Three Baden-Powells: Robert, Agnes and Olave (14.3.1.7)”, Girl Guides of Canada. Accessed 25 September 2026.
6. Girlguiding North West England, “Guiding history (blog post 1)”, 2023-09. Accessed 25 September 2026. Regional summary; use as a lead and check against rules editions.
7. Kristine Alexander, Guiding Modern Girls: Girlhood, Empire, and Internationalism in the 1920s and 1930s, UBC Press, 2017.