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Charles Willmore Emlyn was born in London in 1862[i]. He was the son of a chemist called William Olliff Emlyn (1805-1882)[ii]) and Sarah Ann Willmore (1832-1878[iii]).
He grew up and attended school in London[iv] and initially worked as a commercial clerk[v], before training as a doctor[vi].
He married Ethel Sarah Curgenven in 01/11/1893 in London[vii]. By 1909 they had moved to Culworth Hall in Banbury, Oxfordshire[xii], then by 1911 they were living in Northamptonshire[viii], where they remained until at least 1916.
By 1921, they had moved to Chessel Avenue in Bournemouth, where his wife died on 23/12/1937[ix]. Charles died on 19/07/1940 in Oxfordshire and they were both buried in the churchyard of St Mary's in Culworth, Northamptonshire.[x]
He was admitted to the Royal College of Surgeons in 1890 and worked as a doctor at St Bartholomew's Hospital in London, where he was associated with the hospital’s amateur dramatic club.[vi]
He had at least two letters published in the British Medical Journal:
'A Warning' in 1903[xi];
‘The Prevention of Deaths by Burning in Children' in 1909[xii].
He wrote the libretti of a number of comic operettas, including many for children, several specifically aimed at Boy Scouts. His known works are:
Mr Punch's Model Music-Hall Songs & Dramas collected, improved, and re-arranged from Punch by F Anstey[xiii];
Rip Van Winkle Junior, a musical play in three acts[xiv];
Moonshine, a musical play in three acts[xv];
A Generous Impulse, a play for Scouts[xvi];
Crossing the Rubicon, a Scout drama in two scenes[xvii];
A Cartload of Villains (a version of ‘The Babes in the Wood’), a pantomime in three acts[xviii];
The Story of the Willow-Pattern Plate, a comic operetta for children[xix];
Life is a Game, the Scouts' song & chorus from ‘The Cockle-Boat’[xx];
A Scout's Sing-Song[xxi];
Words of the Compassionate Spirit, a children's play suggested by the theme of an old Tibetan legend[xxii];
The Twin Kings, a musical freak for Scouts[xxiii];
When One Isn't There, a children's operetta[xxiv];
Lost Childhood, a children's operetta in one act[xxv].
He is also credited with an unpublished work in the Catalog of Copyright Entries (third series) entitled ‘Sir Agravane and Other Songs.
He served in the Army Medical Service (in the UK) during the First World War, attaining the following ranks:
Temporary Lieutenant on 15/09/1916[xxvi];
Temporary Captain on 15/09/1917[xxvii];
Major on 14/03/1919[xxviii].
He was involved with the Scout movement from its early days, and ran his own Troop in Culworth (near Banbury in Oxfordshire), known as The Culworth (Emlyn's Own) Scouts. One of his Patrol Leaders (later Lance Corporal) Frederick E Gubbins was killed in action in the First World War[xxix].
In 1916, Charles Emlyn was Acting County Commissioner for Northants (i.e. Northamptonshire) in 1916. In this capacity, he wrote a letter of congratulation to a Scout called George Sharp (who was being award the Medal of Merit for bravery exhibited in the rescue of some other Scouts from drowning). The text of the letter is as follows:
“Dear Scout Sharp, - I hear that the Chief Scout has awarded you the Medal of Merit for your pluck in saving the lives of two of your comrades, and I send you my hearty congratulations and all good wishes for your future. The ‘Be Prepared’ to do our good turns for others is the highest aim of the Scouts, and I am proud to think that when the opportunity came you were unselfish enough to seize it. Life that is lived for self alone is not worth much, though it may apparently be successful, but
He who lives his life for others will find the whole world filled with brothers.
And it is fine to be known as a boy or man who is good at a pinch, and if you can add to physical bravery that moral bravery which shall help you to say ‘No’ to anything that is not straight, then you will be able to look the whole world in the eye, won’t you?”[xxx]
By 1921, he was living in Bournemouth (then part of Hampshire) and was helping with Scout training at county level. A request from Bournemouth for him to take over running of their district training programme was turned down the following year (seemingly by county staff) and by 1923 he was one of four 'organisers' of county training (the others being Captain Cecil Victor Swan, Mr Livingstone and Rev Plucker). In this capacity in 1924, he organised a county conference and some Scouter training camps. Also in that year, some formality appears to have been brought to these training arrangements: Captain Swan took on the position of Commissioner for Scout Training, while Emlyn was Assistant Commissioner for Scout Training. These titles may have changed, or were perhaps fluid: in 1925, Swan is referred to as ACC (Training) and Emlyn as ACC (County Training) as well as being honorary secretary to Swan.[xxxi]
At some time prior to 1926, he was District Commissioner for Gosport and also had charge of the 7th Gosport Troop. In 1926 and 1927, he was one of several Deputy Camp Chiefs for Hampshire County. In 1928 he was Chief Scout's Commissioner at Imperial Headquarters. In this latter capacity, he wrote a 'comment' as a preface to a book entitled Scouting in the Service of the Church, which was dedicated to the Scouts of Lupset Church and Roberttown Church Scouts Groups in the Diocese of Wakefield by two brother Scouts[xxxii].
Emlyn developed an interest in Rovers, and in 1928 he held the position of ACC (Rovers and Training).[xxxi] He went on to become Group Scoutmaster of the 54th Bournemouth in 1929 and ADC of Bournemouth around 1937. He seems to have been ADC of Christchurch at the same time, as he is recorded as having opened the 3rd Christchurch (Jumpers) group new headquarters in that capacity in 1937, and the trophy for the Christchurch district camping competition (which began in 1921) is also known as the Emlyn Trophy.[xxxiii]
Emlyn wrote a book about his experiences in Scouting called ‘A Twenty Four Years Hike’, the foreword to which was written by Lord Baden-Powell himself.[xxxiv]
Another of Emlyn's literary contributions was a pamphlet entitled 'Some Notes for Commissioners', which provide hints and tips for those newly appointed to such a role.
On his death in 1940, Charles Emlyn bequeathed several items to Birmingham Museums, including a portrait of James Tibbitts Willmore (1800-1863)[xxxv], presumed to be his grandfather, and an engraving of a painting by Turner (Childe Harold's Pilgrimage)[xxxvi], which was made in 1861 by James Tibbitts Willmore.
[i] http://www.freebmd.org.uk/cgi/information.pl?cite=%2BuQrZ9FCPs2fa1LAoguoig&scan=1; baptised on 02/07/1862 in Holy Trinity, in Paddington, London according to https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/214484817/charles-willmore-emlyn
[ii] http://www.freebmd.org.uk/cgi/information.pl?cite=YAntRPTXjp%2BDYAgQOhcf8g&scan=1
[iii] http://www.freebmd.org.uk/cgi/information.pl?cite=GFlYB4ej3dKBV31Pq7Kusw&scan=1
[v] 1881 census
[vi] http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S014067360118339X (The Lancet, volume 196, issue 5057 (31/07/1920), page 259: Medical Register of Untraceable Practitioners); British Medical Journal, volume 2, issue 1559 (15/11/1890), page 1153
[vii] http://www.freebmd.org.uk/cgi/information.pl?cite=TcIe8VU7Vdp48zpkCF3xbg&scan=1
[viii] 1911 census
[ix] http://www.freebmd.org.uk/cgi/information.pl?cite=AaFUaGWLjaUI70rNRfEbWw&scan=1
[x] http://www.freebmd.org.uk/cgi/information.pl?cite=LEt5LrTFbxYF2z%2Bgh776qQ&scan=1; https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/214484817/charles-willmore-emlyn
[xi] http://pubmedcentralcanada.ca/pmcc/articles/PMC2514467/pdf/brmedj08271-0083.pdf (British Medical Journal (24/10/1903), page 1111)
[xii] http://www.bmj.com/content/1/2517/818.1 (British Medical Journal, volume 1, issue 2517 (27/03/1909), page 818)
[xiii] published by Bradbury, Agnew & Co, 1892
[xiv] music by Herbert Blatch, published by Bach & Co, 1910
[xv] composed by Herbert Blatch, published by Bach & Co, 1911
[xvi] published by J Curwen & Sons, 1915
[xvii] music by Herbert Blatch , published in 1920
[xviii] music by Percival Garratt , published by J Curwen & Sons, 1922
[xix] music by Gerrard Williams, published by J Curwen & Sons, 1922
[xx] music by Felix White , published by J Curwen & Sons, 1923
[xxi] music by George Tootell, published by J Curwen & Sons, 1924
[xxii] music by Herbert Blatch, published by J Curwen & Sons, 1926
[xxiii] music by Harman J Howland, published by Faith Press, 1926
[xxiv] music by Armstrong Gibbs, published by J Curwen & Sons, 1928
[xxv] music by George Tootell, published by J Curwen & Sons, 1929
[xxvi] https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/29783/page/9868/data.pdf (The London Gazette, issue 29783 (13/10/1916), page 9868)
[xxvii] https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/30326/supplement/10371 (The London Gazette, issue 30326 (05/10/1917), page 10371)
[xxviii] https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/31285/supplement/4718 (The London Gazette, issue 31285 (08/04/1919), page 4718)
[xxix] https://heritage.scouts.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Scouts-First-World-War-Roll-of-Honour.pdf
[xxx] http://www.rushdenheritage.co.uk/leisure/scout-medal-merit1916.html
[xxxi] Record reference 83M73/G120: 'File of notes about the Emlyn Woodcraft Trophy' in the Hampshire Record Office, Sussex Street, Winchester, SO23 8TH - http://calm.hants.gov.uk/TreeBrowse.aspx?src=CalmView.Catalog&field=RefNo&key=73083%2f1%2f120
[xxxii] Scouting in the Service of the Church by RL Arundale and VKC Logan MA
[xxxiii] http://heritage.christchurchscouts.org.uk/groups-from-the-past/; https://heritage.christchurchscouts.org.uk/jumpers-heritage/
[xxxiv] A Twenty Four Years Hike by Charles W Emlyn, published by C Arthur Pearson, 1932
[xxxv] http://artuk.org/discover/artworks/james-tibbetts-willmore-18001863-34139
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