H. Geoffrey Elwes

"Uncle" H. Geoffrey Elwes (?1873-1936) was a prominent early member of the Scouting Movement and before that was involved in the Boys Brigade. Founder of the 1st Colchester troop, editor of the Headquarters Gazette from 1911 to 1922 and Scouter from 1923 to 1926. He had to use a wheelchair after 1922 but worked with the Scouts until his death in 1936. He supported Robert Baden-Powell, the founder of Scouting but clashed with him over religion, Elwes was staunch in his Christianity while Baden-Powell favored a less sectarian approach. He invented the idea of Scouts Own (known as Guides Own by Girl Guides) and introduced at the Crystal Palace Rally in 1909.

He was a solicitor, admitted in 1895, and founded a young men's club in 1902 in Colchester before founding a Boy Scout troop there in 1908. He was a member of the Headquarters Committee of Scouting from its establishment in 1909 until his death in 1936.