Warington Baden-Powell
| Warington Baden-Powell | |
|---|---|
 The grave of Warington Baden-Powell, Eastern Cemetery, St Andrews | |
| Born | 3 February 1847 |
| Died |
4 April 1921 (aged 74) Chelsea, London, UK |
| Family | Robert Baden-Powell, Agnes Baden-Powell, George Baden-Powell, Frank Baden-Powell, Baden Baden-Powell |
Henry Warington Smyth Baden-Powell KC (3 February 1847 – 4 April 1921), known as Warington within the family, was a British merchant marine, canoeist, and naval law expert.[1] The oldest brother of Scouting pioneer Robert Baden-Powell, Warrington Powell was instrumental in the founding of Sea Scouting.
Life
Warrington Powell was the brother of Robert Baden-Powell, Agnes Baden-Powell, George Baden-Powell, Frank Baden-Powell, and Baden Baden-Powell, the son of Baden Powell. His mother, Henrietta Grace Smyth, was the third wife of Rev. Baden Powell (the previous two having died), and was a gifted musician and artist. He was educated at St Paul's School, London, which he entered in 1857.[2] Early in his career he qualified as a Master Mariner and was commissioned a Lieutenant in the Royal Naval Reserve. Interest in small boats led him to a fascination with canoes. In 1871, at the age of 24, he paddled and sailed a canoe on a cruise around the Baltic Sea that included stops in Germany, Denmark and Sweden, as described in his book, Canoe Travelling, published in 1871. He was called to the Bar in Trinity Term 1876, being admitted as a Barrister of the Inner Temple. He was later admitted to the Admiralty Bar and became a member of several important organizations focused on the sea. He was appointed a King's Counsel (KC) on 24 December 1897.[3] In 1913 he married Cicely Farmer, the author.
He was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Geographic Society (FRGS). He also held membership in The Shipwrights' Company, the Associate of the Institute of Naval Architects Council, the Yacht Racing Association and the Athenaeum Club.
He died in Chelsea on 4 April 1921 but is buried in the Eastern Cemetery in St Andrews in Fife on the upper terrace.
Sea Scouts
Robert Baden-Powell asked his brother Warington to head up the first specialized branch of The Boy Scouts Association.. Warington wrote Sea Scouting and Seamanship for Boys in 1910. The Boy Scouts Association officially organized its Sea Scouts in England in 1912.
Canoe sailing
Warington Baden-Powell was an early member and promoter of the Royal Canoe Club which he had joined in 1874. He developed the canoe as a specialised sailing vessel, and by the latter 1870s sailing canoes were taking part in organised racing, and providing keen amateur sport at reasonable cost at a time when yachting was an activity for the wealthy.
The Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition mentions him in the 'Canoe' entry:
W. Baden Powell modified the type of the "Rob Roy" in the "Nautilus", intended only for sailing. From this time the two kinds of pleasure canoe—paddling and sailing—parted company, and developed each on its own lines; the sailing canoe soon (1882) had a deck seat and tiller, a smaller and smaller cockpit, and a larger and larger sail area, with the consequent necessary air and water-tight bulkheads in the hull.
His 1871 book about canoeing is also referenced at the end of the entry.
Published works
- Canoe Travelling: Log of a Cruise on the Baltic, and Practical Hints on Building and Fitting Canoes (London: Smith, Elder, 1871)
- Sea Scouting and Seamanship for Boys (Glasgow: Brown, Son & Ferguson, 1910)