Sandakan Sabah North-Borneo-Scout-Movement-Monument-01

Reverend Thomas Cecil Alexander (5 February 1884 – 4 August 1968) was an

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

priest and missionary in

British Malaya The term "British Malaya" (; ) loosely describes a set of states on the Malay Peninsula and the island of Singapore that were brought under British Empire, British hegemony or control between the late 18th and the mid-20th century. Unlike the ...

, the founder of the

Scouting Scouting or the Scout Movement is a youth social movement, movement which became popularly established in the first decade of the twentieth century. It follows the Scout method of informal education with an emphasis on practical outdoor activi ...

movement in what is now the

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

n state of

Sabah Sabah () is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia located in northern Borneo, in the region of East Malaysia. Sabah has land borders with the Malaysian state of Sarawak to the southwest and Indonesia's North Kalima ...

. Alexander was born in Watton in

Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...

, where his father was a doctor. After graduating from university, he was ordained in

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of the county of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. It lies by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. The population of the Norwich ...

in 1909 and was a

curate A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' () of souls of a parish. In this sense, ''curate'' means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy who are as ...

Methwold Methwold ("Middle forest") is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk, on the edge of the Norfolk The Fens, Fens and Breckland. With an area of it is the second largest parish in Norfolk. It had a population of 1,502 in 59 ...

."Pontianak-Kuching scout movement awards 51 pioneer members"
''Borneo Post'', 18 October 2016, retrieved 1 December 2022. In 1912 he joined the Anglican mission at St. Thomas' Cathedral in

Kuching Kuching ( , ), officially the City of Kuching, is the capital and the most populous city in the States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Sarawak in Malaysia. It is also the capital of Kuching Division. The city is on the Sarawak Ri ...

, in

Sarawak Sarawak ( , ) is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia. It is the largest among the 13 states, with an area almost equal to that of Peninsular Malaysia. Sarawak is located in East Malaysia in northwest Borneo, and is ...

, where he was assistant to the

Bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

, Rupert Mounsey. In 1913 he became the priest in charge at

Sandakan Sandakan () formerly known at various times as Elopura, is the capital of the Sandakan District in Sabah, Malaysia. It is the second largest city in Sabah after Kota Kinabalu. It is located on the Sandakan Peninsula and east coast of the sta ...

, then the capital of

British North Borneo North Borneo (usually known as British North Borneo, also known as the State of North Borneo) was a British protectorate in the northern part of the island of Borneo, (present-day Sabah). The territory of North Borneo was originally establish ...

, where he worked particularly among the

Chinese Chinese may refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people identified with China, through nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **Han Chinese, East Asian ethnic group native to China. **'' Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic ...

and introduced Scouting. He is also sometimes credited with introducing Scouting in Sarawak.According to ''Malaysia at Random'', Singapore / Kuala Lumpur: Didier Millet, 2009,
p. 154
in 1915. He retired in 1955 and lived at

Cromer Cromer ( ) is a coastal town and civil parish on the north coast of the North Norfolk district of the county of Norfolk, England. It is north of Norwich, northwest of North Walsham and east of Sheringham on the North Sea coastline. The local ...

; he died at 84 in 1968. He was awarded the Medal of Merit by the

Boy Scouts Association The Scout Association is the largest organisation in the Scout Movement in the United Kingdom. Following the rapid development of the Scout Movement from 1907, The Scout Association was formed in 1910 and incorporated in 1912 by a royal chart ...

. The North Borneo Scout Movement Monument, unveiled on 28 September 2013 at St. Michael's Secondary School in Sandakan, commemorates the centenary of his introduction of Scouting there in 1913.

References

Scouting pioneers 1884 births 1968 deaths Scouting and Guiding in Malaysia English Anglican missionaries People from Watton, Norfolk People from British Borneo People from the Raj of Sarawak {{Scout-bio-stub

See also

References