Lending a Hand
A Brownie’s Journey
Founded in 1909, Guiding is a global movement aimed at empowering girls to become leaders in their communities. The Brownies, aged seven to ten, were the youngest members of the Australian Guiding community until 1996, when the name was dispensed with, a new Guiding Program was introduced, and all members became known as Guides.
It’s easy to see how Guiding would be popular with girls from settler communities where it was common for the adults to be members of the Masons, Rechabites and Rebekahs. Much like the ceremonial regalia and system of ranks found in these organisations, the Guiding movement had uniforms and badges. This particular example, made in 1991, was worn by Rosemary McGrath from Wee Waa.
The name ‘Brownies’ originated in Edwardian-era Britain (1901-1910) during a nostalgic resurgence of belief in faeries and elemental spirits. Brownies were named after the helpful house spirits of Scottish folklore who were believed to complete domestic chores while people slept. The Brownie motto was ‘Lend a Hand’ in the spirit of their namesakes.
Emulating faerie folk, the girls danced around larger-than-life toadstools at the beginning of their meetings, referred to their leaders as ‘Brown Owl,’ and used their left hands when they shook hands with other members.
A series of three Journey badges—the Footpath, Road, and Highway—showed a Brownie’s progression through challenges and tasks. Tasks included life skills such as knowing their name, address, phone number, and date of birth and being able to administer basic first aid. We can tell from the badges on this uniform that Rosemary had completed Footpath and Road, the first two progress badges on the Journey.
