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Below is a little bit history of the Boys' Brigade William Smith was born on 27th October 1854 at Pennyland House, Thurso, Scotland. At 15 he moved to Glasgow to work in his uncle's business. While there, he joined the volunteers and by 19 he had become a Lance Corporal in the 1st Lanarkshire Rifle Volunteers. The very same year he joined the church after hearing the evangelists Moody & Sankey.
By 1883 William Smith had become a Lieutenant and was teaching in the North Woodside Mission Sunday School. The boys in his Sunday School class were a challenge, and he was open to new ideas about how best to deal with them. Someone suggested that the methods used in the volunteers might be appropriate, and by this inspiration the Boys' Brigade was created.
William Smith took a leading role in the new organisation, accepting a full-time post as the first Brigade Secretary in 1887. He worked non-stop for the movement, on two occasions even crossing the Atlantic to promote the Boys' Brigade in Canada and the U.S.A. Throughout he remained Captain of the 1st Glasgow company, rarely missing a meeting.
In 1909 William Smith was knighted by King Edward VII for his service to boys.
Sir William Smith died on 10th May 1914 after being suddenly taken ill at a Boys' Brigade meeting in London. He was buried in Glasgow. | | The Object
"The advancement of Christ's Kingdom among Boys, and the promotion of habits of Obedience, Reverence, Discipline, Self-Respect, and all that tends towards a true Christian manliness."
This was written by our founder, Sir William Alexander Smith way back in 1883, when he founded the first ever BB Company, in Glasgow. This was his vision for what the Brigade should stand for back then, and it is no less valid today.
The BB Motto
"Sure and Stedfast"
This short and simple motto is seen on all of our Anchor logo's. The symbol of the Anchor and the quote of "Sure and Stedfast" may not seem to have much to do with religious symbolism, but they are both part of a qotation from the Bible. The following quote is from Hebrews Ch.6 V.19 :
"which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil;"
Unfortunately, the re-writing of the Bible to modernise the text, means that the "sure and stedfast" quotation can sometimes be missed e.g. the very popular Good News Bible. The spelling has also been modernised in recent years to make it "Steadfast", but many Companies prefer to go with the original spelling.
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