THE FOUNDER: William Alexander Smith [IDARESIT EDET INYANG CAPT.] BIRTH AND CHILDHOOD William Alexander Smith was born on 27 of October, 1854 in Pennyland House, Scotland. He was the eldest son in the family. He had a sister and two brothers. CARRIER He was an army officer before the Lord called him to his vineyard. He was a Sunday School teacher. He schooled at Miller institution known as The Thursco Academy. Following the death of his father he moved to Glasgow in January 1869. He became a pupil in a private school. The Western Educational Institution widely known as “Burns and Sutherland” school. In October 1869, few days before his 15th birthday, he began to work in his uncle’s business called Alex –Fraser & Co, where he specialized on wholesale of soft goods. He was the secretary in the business. He later joined the 1st Lonarkshire Rifle Volunteer part of the local “volunteer force”. At age 19 he was promoted to the land of lance-corporal. That same year, he joined the Church of Scotland. In 1877 he was commissioned into the Rifle Volunteer and was promoted to the land of lieutenant. As a Sunday school teacher, he combined these two activities that led him to form The Boys Brigade on 4th October 1883 at the age of 29. MARRIAGE LIFE William A Smith got married to Amelia Pearson Southerland in 1884. This marriage was blessed with two boys: Stanley and Danglass. When they were 10 and 7 years respectively, their mother died. In 1906, William Smith got married to Miss Hannah Ranken Campbell, a cousin of the Prime Minister, Sir Henry Campbell Bannerman. The wife also died after one year. So William Smith continued his Brigade activities with much zeal. KNIGHTHOOD In 1909, he was knighted by King Edward VII for his services to children. The investiture was held during The B.B. Camp in London in July. from there, he was then addressed as Sir William A. Smith DEATH On Friday 8 …………. 1914, Sir William Smith attended The Boys Brigade executive meeting at the Posterity Row Office, St Paul’s Anglican cathedral Church London. He collapsed while the meeting was on and was rushed to St. Bartholomew Hospital London. On 10 May 1914, he dead in the hospital at the age of 60years. He was buried in Glasgow Western Necropolis. Sir William Alexander Smith will be remembered by this words always: “it I am to be rember by posterity , ishould like to be remember by posterfity , I should like to be remember as a man who taught people tgo spell boy with capital letter .B. REFERENCES Welcome to Western Necropolis – Glasgow City Council 31 July 2021 History of the boys’ brigade By Mr. Idaresit Edet Inyang Capt. The Boys Brigade was founded by Sir William Alexander Smith on 4 th October 1883 at Northwood Side Hall Free Church Mission, Glasgow, Scotland. As the first voluntary movement in the world. The first Company was 1 st Glasgow Company in Scotland. The main aim of the organization was to develop Christian manliness through the use of semi-military discipline such as gymnastics, camps and religious services. A . Smith was an army officer before the Lord called him to his work. He abandoned his military services and became a Sunday School teacher at Free Church Mission, Northwood Side Hill in Glasgow, Scotland. It wa observed that parents left their children uncared for. Therefore children became wild, indisciplined and were not properly thought the Bible, hence as an enthusiastic Sunday school teacher, he combined drill and fun activities with Christian values. He formed what is called THE BOYS’ BRIGADE in order to see that the children hear the word of God. Though the organization started with many boys, some boys ran away due to hard training. They were left with only 31 boys including Sir William. Sir William and these boys were the people that formed Brigade. Brigade started with 28 boys and 3 officers on 4th October, 1883. The three officers were: 1. Sir William Smith 2. John R. Hills 3. James R. Hills Chaplain. ---- Captain Lieutenant Lieutenant, While Rev. George Reith was the The remaining 28boys were shared into 3 groups: Company boys, Senior Boys and Junior boys. Following the widespread of the organization in 1886 Sir William A. Smith held his first camp in 1928 – Amalgamation of the Boys Brigade with the Boys life Brigade. 1976 – World Conference of the Boys was formed 2022 – World Conference was renamed to Global Fellowship of Christian Youth. History of B.B in Nigeria The Boys Brigade came into Nigeria through Dr. Mac-Milliam at Holy Trinity Anglican Church Onitsha. During the celebration of Boys Brigade in Eastern Nigeria, one Sir William A. Smith came to Nigeria named Major General Stanley B. Smith. The Eastern Central State Council of the B.B was recognized in 1971 with Mr. Sunday Ibeneme as the organizing secretary. In 1936, B.B came into Northern region at Kagoro and was accepted by the chief of Kagoro land. In 1925, B.B. observed the first Founders’ Day. In 1921, B.B Week started In 1934, the first training course for Officers was organized. As at 2018, B.B. claimed 750,000 members in over 60 countries of the world. To the glory of God, the labour of our Heroes past shall not be in vain. References B.B. Gaza, the B.B. Lagos state council magazine.
