William Frederick de Bois Maclaren (17 November 1856 – 3 June 1921) was publisher, businessman and

Scout Commissioner In the Scout Movement, a commissioner is the person whose role it is to oversee a Scout association's programs, usually within a particular geographic area. Normally, commissioners are volunteers. In some Scout associations, the term Executive Co ...

for Rosneath,

Dunbartonshire Dunbartonshire ( gd, Siorrachd Dhùn Breatann) or the County of Dumbarton is a historic county, lieutenancy area and registration county in the west central Lowlands of Scotland lying to the north of the River Clyde. Dunbartonshire borders Pe ...

, Scotland. He is most recognized as the first major benefactor of

Scouting Scouting, also known as the Scout Movement, is a worldwide youth Social movement, movement employing the Scout method, a program of informal education with an emphasis on practical outdoor activities, including camping, woodcraft, aquatics, hik ...

by donating

Gilwell Park Gilwell Park is a camp site and activity centre in East London located in the Sewardstonebury area of Waltham Abbey, within Epping Forest, near the border with Chingford. The site is owned by The Scout Association, is used by Scouting and Gui ...

in 1919.

Publisher, expert in rubber

William Frederick de Bois Maclaren was born on 17 November 1856, in Blythswood,

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popu ...

in Scotland, as the son of Walter Gray McLaren (Master Printer, sometimes misspelt as painter) and Caroline Amelia De Bois, from France. He had an elder sister Margaret Ann Aitken McLaren (born 25 April 1855), and younger brothers Walter Gray (born 14 April 1858, attended Glasgow University, ordained 1885 in New Zealand where he lived until 1903, died 1916 in Glasgow), Charles (born 19 November 1859) and John (born 28 June 1861). By the beginning of the 20th century, Maclaren and Frank Copeman were sole partners of Maclaren & Sons Ltd, 37–38 Shoe Lane, London, in the

Fleet Street Fleet Street is a major street mostly in the City of London. It runs west to east from Temple Bar at the boundary with the City of Westminster to Ludgate Circus at the site of the London Wall and the River Fleet from which the street was n ...

neighbourhood, who were publishers or publishers' agents of industrial books and magazines, such as ''The Brick and Pottery Trades Journal'', and ''Ceylon Observer'', and publishers of household titles, under the name of ''The British Baker'', such as ''All About Pastries''. One of their

periodical A periodical literature (also called a periodical publication or simply a periodical) is a published work that appears in a new edition on a regular schedule. The most familiar example is a newspaper, but a magazine or a journal are also example ...

s was the '' India Rubber Journal'', the leading publication for the flourishing rubber industry in the beginning of the 20th century, with Sir Herbert Wright as

editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, photographic, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, or ...

for the period 1907–1917. Copeman and Maclaren founded in 1906 the Rubber Estate Agency. It was the first UK company for the specific purpose of financing the acquisition of rubber estates and of acting as secretaries and agents of rubber and other plantation companies. With this expertise in the rubber industry, Maclaren wrote and published ''The Rubber Tree Book'' (Maclaren and Sons, London, 1913, 384 pages), about technology and business administration of

rubber plantation A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. The ...

s. In 1919, the Rubber Estate Agency was sold to the Belgium company Societé Internationale de Plantations et de Finance (SIPEF). The R.E.A. company still exists, and was worth approximately GBP 37 million in 2010. Maclaren wrote several other books including ''Climbs and Changes'', ''Chuckles from a Cheery Corner'', and ''Word Pictures of War'' (a book of poetry based on experiences of the First World War, published by Methuen, London, in 1917). He died on 3 June 1921. Posthumously in 1922, his ''Child's Song-Story Book'' was published for private circulation by Blackie & Son, Glasgow. Could also be attributed to WFEdB Maclaren.

Scouting

On the recommendation of P.B. Nevill, acting on behalf of

Baden-Powell Lieutenant-General Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell, ( ; (Commonly pronounced by others as ) 22 February 1857 – 8 January 1941) was a British Army officer, writer, founder and first Chief Scout of the worl ...

, Maclaren purchased the 53 acre Gilwell Hall estate near

Epping Forest Epping Forest is a area of ancient woodland, and other established habitats, which straddles the border between Greater London and Essex. The main body of the forest stretches from Epping in the north, to Chingford on the edge of the London ...

near the town of

Chingford Chingford is a town in east London, England, within the London Borough of Waltham Forest. The town is approximately north-east of Charing Cross, with Waltham Abbey to the north, Woodford Green and Buckhurst Hill to the east, Walthamstow t ...

for GBP 7,000, and presented it as

the Scout Association The Scout Association is the largest Scouting organisation in the United Kingdom and is the World Organization of the Scout Movement's recognised member for the United Kingdom. Following the origin of Scouting in 1907, the association was fo ...

in July 1919. For reference, the GBP 7,000 in 1919 equals GBP 1 million in 2010 value. Maclaren also paid another GBP 3,000 to help put the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in ...

into good repair, as the place had been abandoned for the previous 14 years and was virtually derelict. When Gilwell Park was officially opened on 26 July 1919 Mrs Maclaren cut ribbons in Scout colours (green and yellow) that were hung across the doorway to the White House to mark the opening. Baden-Powell then presented Maclaren with the Silver Wolf as a sign of the great debt that the Movement owed to him. In Maclaren's honour the Gilwell staff wore the Maclaren neckerchief, made of Maclaren tartan. However to reduce the expense, a scarf of dove grey cloth (the colour of humility) with a warm red lining (to signify warmth of feeling) was substituted with only a patch of Maclaren tartan on the point of the scarf and worn by those passing the Gilwell practical course. In 1924 use of the scarf became restricted to Wood Badge holders only. Today the scarf is more the earth tone colour beige than grey.

References

External links

*
THE CHILD'S SONG-STORY BOOK
', including previously unpublished photographs {{DEFAULTSORT:Maclaren, William Frederick De Bois Scouting pioneers The Scout Association 1921 deaths 1856 births

Publisher, expert in rubber

Scouting

See also

References

External links