how the girl guides began
The Girl Guides were initially set up in 1910, a few months after a group of girls "gatecrashed" the first Boy Scout rally at London's Crystal Palace in 1909, and asked boy scout founder Robert Baden-Powell to offer "something for girls too".
They were first led by Robert Baden-Powell’s sister Agnes, and in 1918 his wife, Olave Baden-Powell, became the first chief guide. The Queen and Princess Margaret were both members.
A junior section, which came to be known as the Brownies, was formed in 1915, and during the First World War, girl guides acted as couriers of confidential information for Marconi Wireless Telegraph Ltd.
By the time of the Second World War, guide units had been set up all over the country and the world.