Harris 6 PC

Girl Peace Scouts

This is one of two portraits in the Berry & Co collection of a young Harris girl in uniform. The young Misses Harris’ are probably Girl Peace Scouts.

The Girl Peace Scout movement was founded in New Zealand by Lieutenant Colonel David Cossgrove in 1908, after his daughters expressed interest in becoming scouts. Cossgrove had been responsible for translating Robert Baden-Powell’s Scouting for Boys into a New Zealand context, and in 1909 he wrote Peace Scouting for Girls - a guide that came to be used internationally. By 1912 there were over 2,000 Girl Peace Scouts throughout New Zealand, including several troops in the Wellington area. Originally, the girls were attired in ‘unlovely khaki’, but fearing that the ‘movement would lapse into hoydenish romps on the hills’, their khaki dresses were replaced by a less ‘blatantly aggressive’ uniform of navy blue with brown facings in 1913.

The Girl Peace Scouts were instructed in ambulance, first aid, home nursing, care of infants, and invalid cookery, and other ‘housewifely arts’, along with nature study, resourcefulness, self-honour and reliance. Girl peace scouting was viewed by some as a way of transforming ‘the most wayward girl’ into a good citizen and ‘empire builder’.

During the war, the Girl Peace Scouts used their skills to raise funds for the war effort. In September 1914, a Wellington troop answered Her Majesty Queen Mary’s appeal for more socks, caps and belts for the troops, and attended knitting circles in Constable Street. Girl Peace Scouts throughout the country also rolled bandages for hospital ships, held flower days and concerts to raise funds for sick and wounded soldiers.

Under the patronage of Lady Liverpool, the Girl Peace Scout movement continued until 1923, after which was subsumed into the Girl Guides.

The person who commissioned this portrait, perhaps Mrs Harris, ordered 6 post-card prints as the inscription testifies.