Arthur Wellesley Vivian Reeve (2 December 1912 – 21 May 2002) was a New Zealand author and The Scout Association of New Zealand’s international commissioner who was awarded the

Bronze Wolf Award The Bronze Wolf Award is bestowed by the World Scout Committee (WSC) to acknowledge "outstanding service by an individual to the World Scout Movement". It is the highest honor that can be given a volunteer Scout leader in the world and it is the ...

for exceptional services to

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

Personal life

Reeve was born in Auckland on 2 December 1912, the son of Ethel Mary Whitta and her husband Benjamin Alfred Reeve. He was educated at Eastbourne and West Christchurch Primary Schools. He married Jacqueline Lorraine Taylor on 5 February 1944, at St Matthew's Church, in the Wellington suburb of Brooklyn, and they had three children. He was involved in the Masonic Lodge and St Matthew’s Church in Brooklyn, Wellington. He became chairman of the Wellington branch of the Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society. He died in Wellington on 21 May 2002 from cancer.

Working life

Reeve joined the New Zealand government Post and Telegraph Department as a telegram delivery boy in 1929. He retired from the New Zealand Post Office in 1971, as its assistant principal public relations officer. He had been involved in the organisation of international conferences in Wellington, including for SEATO, the Colombo Plan, the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, and the Pacific Basin Economic Council in 1972.

Scouting

Reeve was a scout in the St Matthew's Scout Group in Christchurch in 1926. He later became its scoutmaster. He resigned from St Matthew's Scout Group in 1936 (letter dated 11 December 1936 in the troop log book) but kept in contact and visited the group.

Scout Association of New Zealand

The Boy Scouts Association (New Zealand Branch) appointed him as a district scoutmaster, commissioner for Pacific Island Scouting and international commissioner. It presented Reeve with its Silver Wolf Award, and its highest award, its Silver Tui. In the

1978 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1978 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries, to celebrate the year passed and mark the beginn ...

, Reeve was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire, for services to scouting. In 1979, The World Organization of the Scout Movement presented Reeve with its highest award, its

, awarded in recognition of "outstanding service by an individual to the World Scout Movement".

Rugby

Reeve was an avid follower of rugby union, and a life member of the Wellington Rugby Football Union. He donated a trophy, the Arthur Reeve Cup, which is contested in the

Wellington Secondary School Wellington Secondary School is a public high school located in Nanaimo, British Columbia. It is part of School District 68 Nanaimo-Ladysmith and is known for its music, film, and athletics programs. Wellington secondary school is the catchment ...

s rugby competition in the under-80 kg grade. It was first awarded in 1989. After injuring his leg playing rugby at 19, he joined the Scottish Harriers, and was elected vice president. Reeve was a rugby columnist for over 23 years for ''Rugby News'' and then the ''

Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, whi ...

''. He wrote a history of college rugby, ''Cradle of Rugby'', published in 1992.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reeve, Arthur W.V. 1912 births 2002 deaths People from Auckland Scouting and Guiding in New Zealand Recipients of the Bronze Wolf Award 20th-century New Zealand writers 20th-century New Zealand male writers 20th-century New Zealand public servants New Zealand Members of the Order of the British Empire 20th-century New Zealand journalists