Our Groups

From the information provided in the section ‘In the Beginning’ you will see that it did not take long before many Patrols / Groups were formed, and from 1910 these Groups needed to be registered. When this occurred, the Finchley Local Association, who were responsible for the area Hendon and Finchley, appears to have allowed some existing Groups to retain the number they were using but also allocated them a Hendon and Finchley number. For example the 2nd Hendon were given the number 9th Hendon and Finchley, while the 2nd Finchley appear to have been given the number 10th Hendon and Finchley.

For new Groups things were a little more complicated. From what we have seen it appears that an effort was made to keep the numbering system sequential for the different parts of the District as well as the whole area. Additionally they reused numbers that had been vacated by Groups that had closed.

As reported in the section ‘In the Beginning’ the complex system described above was resolved in 1921 when the Finchley Local Association became responsible solely for Finchley Groups. They did however continue to allocate the next sequential number or reuse a number that had been used by another Group that had permanently closed. An example of this is the 5th Finchley, which existed in three different guises.

Following the news that the County boundaries were to change in 1965 and with the creation of Greater London North County Scouts, arrangements were made for 5 North London Groups in the Friern Barnet area to join Finchley. In order for them to retain some of their own identity and common link they were renamed as the 1st – 5th Friern Barnet.

As a result the District was renamed Finchley and Friern Barnet and a new Warrant was issued by Headquarters. On the 1st April 1964 when the Groups moved from North London their designated numbers were allocated according to their seniority. Therefore the 94th NL became the 1st FB, the 186th NL became the 2nd FB and so on. 

A short while later the 6th East Barnet that met in Whetstone but was in Hertfordshire District also transferred and became the 6th Friern Barnet.

In 1971 the Golders Green District Executive Committee held a meeting with the County Commissioner about their future. As a result of their discussions it was decided to dissolve their present District and to amalgamate all of their Groups with Finchley and Friern Barnet District. On the 1st April 1971 our District became Finchley, Friern Barnet and Golders Green.

The table below shows the Groups / Units that are known to have, at some time, been members of our District whether it was just Finchley, Finchley and Friern Barnet or Finchley, Friern Barnet and Golders Green. While all of the Groups that existed in 1921 are included in the list some of them subsequently closed and the number was reused. Where this has occurred the individual Group articles will make reference to all of the different Groups that used that particular designation.

If an article has been produced about one of the Groups / Units a links is provided to the said articles. If there is nothing currently written about the Group in which you are interested, please check back at a later date.

Sadly, by 2008 when the District merged with Barnet and Hendon & Edgware Districts to become the new Barnet Borough District only a handful of the Groups mentioned below still existed.

Also provided below is another table that currently shows membership numbers for the District from 1921 – 2000. This shows, in terms of Group numbers and actual membership, how the fortunes of the District fluctuated over the years.

Census

The following table currently shows membership numbers for the District from 1921 – 2000. Please note all figures have been taken from the census returns apart from:

• 1925: There is no return but the Annual Report for 1925/26 includes the numbers for Cubs Scouts and Rovers and then compares them to 1925. These are used in the table. There is no clear indication as to the number of leaders.
• 1937: Figures have been taken from the AGM Report with leader numbers included with the sections. There are an additional 94 members marked as ‘crew’ who are not included.
• 1939 – 1942: There was no official census during these years and the figures quoted for 1940 and 1941 are those recorded unofficially by the District.
• 1988 – 2000: All figures have been taken from the AGM Reports.