The first section in Guiding was the Girl Scouts, who at that point immediately became Girl Guides. As Girl Scouts they had had uniform guidance – the 1909 edition of Scouting for Boys laid it down – but there was massive variation.
It was in 1910 that they became Girl Guides, and became the first section. Their programme still followed the same pattern as for Boy Scouts, with the Tenderfoot, Second Class and First Class awards, which often led on to all-round cords, and in some cases Silver Fish award.
As such, we can say that the second section to begin were the Guiders – for as soon as Girl Guides were being established it was made clear that, before a Guide Company could be set up, a Guider must be appointed. So the Guider, or Leader, was founded in 1910 too.
Next came the Rosebuds in 1914, who became Brownies in 1915. The younger sisters of the Guides, their initial uniform was simple – navy jumper and skirt, with navy hat for rosebuds, then for Brownies navy or brown frock or jumper over pleated skirt on bodice. At first, their programme wasn’t clear either – there were occasional articles in the Girl Guide Gazette, and rulings about what Brownies did not do – but it took a few years before their programme settled to Tenderfoot, Golden Bar, and Golden Hand.
Next came Cadets in 1916, the forerunners of today’s Young Leaders. Initially they were based only at certain boarding schools, later the opening of the ‘County Cadet Company’ allowed a wider range of girls to become Cadets.
It was in 1917 that Senior Guides started, soon renamed as Rangers. The aim was to fulfill two purposes. The first was to provide an extended outlet for girls who had completed their Guide badges and awards, as a form of finishing school, with the aim that on leaving Rangers they would take their community-mindedness and skills out into the communities where they lived. The second purpose was to provide an option for girls of 16 and over who were joining Guiding as new starts – so that they could start with peers rather than tackling Second Class alongside the eleven-year-olds.
The next Section, if one views them in that regard, would be Trefoil Guild. Started in c1918 as ‘Old Guides’, and later named ‘Guidons’ (although that name didn’t stick for long), they were named Trefoil Guild in 1943, and their history is officially considered to start from them.
In Ulster, next came Bunnies. I haven’t been able to pin down an exact start date – they were running by the 1960s, I have seen some references to the 1950s – but they were essentially unknown outside of Ulster. But they were a valuable forerunner to the last section (so far!):
Rainbows, which, following pilots, officially began in 1987. Surprisingly, as with other sections, there was a lot of uncertainty and improvisation of programmes when they first started, but in time ideas were firmed up and a programme developed.
You can find out more about each section on the specific section pages . . .
Leslie's Guiding History 