The 29^th Wellington Company, 1983 (centennial year).

The Boys' Brigade was founded in 1883 by William Alexander Smith. As a young man William Smith taught Sunday School. He found that although he wanted to tell his boys about Jesus, he had to spend most of the time trying to keep them quiet. He looked at the Volunteer Army unit in which he was an officer, and saw how young men would willingly work together doing drill. Suppose the Sunday School boys were able to do some drill and other activities during the week! Perhaps they would then behave better on Sundays!

So, with some friends he did some planning and in 1883 started the 1st Glasgow Company of the Boys' Brigade. It was soon clear that William Smith's idea was just what boys needed and other Companies formed in Scotland, England, New Zealand (in 1886) and elsewhere.

At the very beginning when William Smith started The Boys' Brigade, he chose an anchor for the badge and used the words "Sure and Stedfast" for the motto.

The Boys Brigade came to Paremata in 1967. The 29th Wellington Company was registered on the 4th of April with 15 boys under Captain Mike Batten and Lyndsay Bullen.

In October of 1967, Life Boys (fore-runner to Team Section) was started at Paremata. This was led by Lt-in-Charge Claire Dawe.

The 29th's first Company Camp took place in October of 1968. This began a strong tradition in the Company of camping and tramping. Up to the present time the Company has had a total of 55 camps. These have included 5 nine day summer camps.

Setting off on a tramp 1976

The Company's colours were presented and dedicated in April 1971 by the Rev. John Carruthers.

Receiving the Company colours, 1971

One way that the 29th have raised funds over the years has been by delivering Telephone Directories. The first time that the Company did this was in 1971. In the following 19 years the Company delivered the Directories 14 times.

December 1973 was the first time that boys from the 29th attended an International Camp. This was held at Tomoana in Hastings and 16 boys and 3 officers from the 29th attended.

The 29th's Contingent at the Tomoana International Camp

In March 1975 the 29th took part in another special camp. This was a Film Camp that was held to produce part of a publicity film for the Boys Brigade movement in New Zealand.

Also in 1975 the Company's magazine, "B'Bashit", was first published and continued until 1989 when it went into recess. It was revived again for several years in 1998. It has always been a great source of challenge for those producing it and a sense of fun for those writing articles which helps to build "Esprit de Corps" within the company.

Another way that the Company has raised funds was by running school holiday movies. These ran from the mid 70's to the mid 80's and featured many popular movies. Eventually the popularity of home Video made this no longer viable for fundraising.

The first of the Company's 9 day summer camps was in December of 1976. This was held to mark the 10th anniversary of the 29th and was at Waikawa Bay near Picton. The other Waikawa Bay camp was held in December 1980.

October 1977 saw the first of the 13 camps at the "Pareatai" site on the Otaki river. This popular site became unavailable but we later went back to the area across the river, at the old "Mainstage" site which we are still using.

Camp Marlborough International Camp was held in December 1978 at Blenheim and was attended by a contingent of 7 Boys and 3 Officers from the 29th.

The 29ths Camp Marlborough Contingent

The first of the Company's 9 work camps was held in October 1979. This was held in a private forest in the Mangaone Valley in Waikanae. The purpose of the camp (apart from thinning the forest) was to get trees to be used for Company wood chops. The first of these took place in May 1980. The first 3 wood chops took the form of boys getting sponsorship for the number of trailer loads of chopped wood that were delivered in a day. Normally about 30 trailer loads were completed in a day. This was also a good way for boys to gain community service hours for Citizenship awards with some boys putting in up to 10 hours work in a day. The wood that wasn't delivered to pensioners and others in need was sold by the trailer load.

Delivering firewood from a sponsored wood chop.

BBNZ organised a work camp in Tonga in August 1980. The purpose of the camp was to paint Tupou College and to promote Boys Brigade in Tonga. Of the 19 strong party 7 were from the 29th including 5 from the Batten family.

The Tongan work party at Tupou College.

A Team Section at Whitby was started in 1981.

To celebrate Centennial year a camp was held at Mystery Creek in Hamilton in December 1982 which was attended by 33 boys and 5 officers from the 29th.

Part of the 29th contingent at Mystery Creek Centennial Camp

Also to celebrate the Centennial the 29th held a special night of celebration on the 4th of October 1983. This consisted of a meal, a slide show, a thanksgiving service and cake cutting. A photo was also taken (see the top of the page) of the whole company at that time which totalled over 100 boys and 16 officers.
Also in 1983 Anchor Boys was started in Whitby.

The first Waiohine Gorge camp was held in December of 1984. The other camps that were held there were in December 1986 and December 1989.

February 1986 saw the formation of the 9th Wellington Company at Whitby which was formed out of the 29th. This was led by Captain Harold Nicholson.

9 boys and 3 officers from the 29th attended the Canterbury Challenge International Camp in December 1987 at Waipara

In February 1988 a camp was held at the Pareatai site that was combined with the Paremata Girls Brigade Pioneers.

The 29th's 21st birthday was celebrated in April 1988. This consisted of the official opening of the BB Garage/Workshop by the Mayor of Porirua, Mr John Burke, a birthday dinner and display of Company photos and on Sunday a thanksgiving service.
The BB Garage/Workshop not only gave much needed storage for the Company's ever growing camping and sports equipment, it also provided a facility for training boys in motor mechanics (2 Go-carts have been built), welding and boat building.

1990 saw a change of Captain for the first time when Mr Selwyn Dalton took over as Captain for a year. Unfortunately due to changed circumstances Mr Dalton was unable to carry on and Mr Batten took over again in 1991.

Anchor Boys was started at Paremata in 1991.

1992 saw the start of a period of struggle for the 29th with the Company Section going into recess and the boys going to the 9th. Anchor Boys also went into recess this year. Anchor Boys was restarted in 1994 and Company Section was restarted in 1995.

Under the steady hand of Mr Batten the 29th once again grew throughout the 1990s and into the early 2000s. In 2004 most of the Company Section boys and officers travelled down to Waipara for the BB's 120th Celebrations Southern Region Summer Camp. Officers from the 29th were instrumental in the re-establishment of the Wellington Battalion (after several years of inactivity), and remain involved in the administrative and organising duties. In 2005 and 2006 the company garage was moved and reopened at a new site due to roadworks and development of the area where it was previously situated.

In 2007 the 29th celebrated its 40th Birthday with a service of celebration and a meal held afterwards in the St. Barnabas Church hall. Many old boys attended, and many more sent letters of congratulation that were read out. In the Queen's Birthday Honours of 2007 Mr Batten was awarded the Queen's Service Medal for service to the Boys' Brigade.

At the end of 2007 Mr Batten announced that he was taking a back step in the day-to-day running of the 29th, but still retaining the captaincy. Mr Ashley Clarkson was appointed as Lieutenant-In-Charge of Company Section, while Mr Angus Campbell has been appointed LIC of Team Section.

Boys' Brigade Object - "The advancement of Christ's Kingdom among boys, and the promotion of habits of Obedience, Reverence, Discipline, Self-respect and all that tends toward a true Christian Manliness."