I’ll do.”
The English Scouting books soon became the beginning – not the entirety – of the Girl Guide learning. Phyl and the others borrowed books from the public library and read about North American nature, about local animals, plants, trees, and geographic features. Phyl learned creativity and adaptability and how to apply general knowledge to specific situations, a life skill important for the unexpected and often unforeseen circumstances in which she sometimes later found herself.
Patrol leader Phyllis James, ca 1912–15.
3
Passionate About Guiding
Phyl’s Guide company spent time in the outdoors on picnics and camping. North Vancouver was a popular destination for them because from the Grandview area it was relatively easy to get to – just a ferry ride across Burrard Inlet – and it was physically on the edge of “the wilds.” The Grand Boulevard leading off Lonsdale Avenue was largely wooded and a perfect picnic destination. In fact, the whole of North Vancouver was rural with only a few key roads (with streetcar routes) cut through the forests. Besides the Lonsdale line, another line followed west along Keith Road to the Capilano River and another up the Grand Boulevard to Lynn Valley Road. North Vancouver was incorporated in 1907, but apart from these principal roads that had been laid out through the forests, little residential development existed until well into the 1930s. Grouse Mountain, Mount Seymour, the upper Capilano River, and Lynn and Seymour Creeks, along with many areas that today form part of the Greater Vancouver watershed, existed as wild, undeveloped forest land.
When Miss Elsie Carr, a member of the B.C. Mountaineering Club, became a lieutenant for Phyl’s company, she introduced Phyl and the Guides to organized hiking. Under her direction the Guides undertook more extensive hikes along the lower Lynn Creek and on Seymour Creek. In 1912 they climbed – in their full dress uniform – to the very top of Grouse Mountain and raised the Union Jack flag, as if to claim the mountain as theirs. Phyl recorded the event with her Brownie box camera. At the Bowen Island Guide camp, Miss Carr took several of the Guides up Mount Gardner (elevation 767 metres). For Phyllis, Elsie Carr was an important role model.
Meanwhile, Frank James abandoned all hope of his daughter ever becoming a conventional athlete. She loved tennis, as she told him, “but I love the mountains best.” In reply to her father’s habitual question: “You’ve climbed one mountain, why do you want to climb more?” Phyl answered, “You’ve played more than one game of tennis on the same court. Isn’t it the same thing?”
No doubt about it, Phyllis James was a bit of a misfit. Beatrice James didn’t know what to make of her eldest daughter, who remained an outdoorsy, tomboyish girl despite her mother’s instruction in cooking, sewing, and the other traditional feminine skills. But Beatrice remained ever supportive. As Phyl matured, she came to appreciate fully her mother’s organizational skills and her behind-the-scenes work in both Girl Guides and charitable endeavours. Beatrice James was also a role model, not for Phyl’s physical exploits, but for how to organize oneself and to be self-sufficient in practical life skills. All those cooking and sewing lessons came in handy.
In the days before the First World War, young women, even Guides, did not often spend much time in the hills and forests, so the opportunities to climb the local hills – with an appropriate chaperone such as Elsie Carr – were precious. The Guides hiked in long, heavy serge skirts, often to the ankle, stockings and eyelet-laced boots or street shoes, generally with slippery leather soles. They carried wool blankets or sweaters and wore wide-brimmed hats to protect their faces from the sun and weather. Their clothing was cumbersome to hike in, especially when breaking trail or exploring in the bush, and it was not water-resistant. But none of this mattered to a teenaged girl who came alive when walking in the woods, away from the conventions and social expectations of life in the urban setting of Vancouver.
Early one morning in May 1913 Phyl and her Girl Guides, together with the St. James’ Boy Scout troop, marched in formation to the B.C. Electric Railway station and boarded the train for New Westminster. What excitement! The Guides and Scouts wore their uniforms proudly. They were scheduled to march with their company colours in New Westminster’s Empire Day parade. Each girl carried a pack with a lunch, for it was to be an all-day excursion. Phyl tickled with pride as she noted the girls in step with the boys. It was three years since those first meetings in the church basement. So much had happened since.
In the staging grounds amid the decorations, marching bands, and clowns, Phyl and the Guides did a double-take, for there, across the grassy field, came another group of girls, in uniform just like themselves. As the two groups of Guides spotted each other, excitement overcame them and they waved to each other in acknowledgement. Phyl stepped up to their leader, who looked just about the same age as she was, and introduced herself.
“Hello. What a wonderful surprise this is! I’m Lieutenant Phyllis James and this is the 2nd Vancouver Company.”
“Hello back!” came the answer, “I’m Amy Leigh and this is the 1st Burnaby Company. Say, this is fun, we’ve never met any other Guides! We never knew that you would be here today.”
The two young women compared stories and found that they had much in common, including a love of the outdoors. Amy was fifteen years old when she too became a patrol leader by default. Like Phyl, she was passionate about Guiding and took on an early leadership role. Now that the two Lieutenants met, they schemed to organize activities for both companies.
The Guides worked towards earning badges for proficiency demonstrated in a variety of specialities including the more traditional gender-based skills such as Cooking, Sewing, Laundress, Child’s Nurse, Hospital Nurse, Florist, and Needlewoman. Athletics was an important component of Guiding. Badges to be earned included Swimming, Cycling, Gymnastics, Boatswain, and Horsewoman. Outdoors abilities led to badges for Naturalist, Pathfinder, Pioneer, Rifle Shot and to such nontraditional skills as Interpreter, Ambulance, Fire Brigade Work, Electrician, Telegrapher, and Signaller. The badges reflected the goal of the Girl Guide movement to make girls useful and self-reliant, and to develop those qualities of character that make good women and good citizens.
The First World War brought changes in daily life, but Guides adapted. Like many civilians and service groups, Guides were passionate about “war work,” the volunteer labour devoted to works intended to aid the soldiers fighting on the front lines in Europe. In this “war to end all wars,” Canadian soldiers, sailors, and airmen fought alongside their “Allies,” the English, French, Russians, and others, against the aggressive German forces that threatened to take control of Europe. On the home front, the Guides contributed their part to the war effort and embarked on sewing and knitting projects to provide warm winter scarves, hats, mittens, and socks for soldiers fighting in the trenches of France. They sold candy and home baking, collected paper and postage stamps, and took on many other war relief projects. Enormous quantities of both second-hand and new winter clothing and shoes collected by Guides during the war years made their way to England for civilian use.
Each Christmas Phyl’s company volunteered to sponsor one or two families, often soldier families. The Guides thought of everything the family might need for the festive season and went ahead, planning and organizing until all the little details were taken care of. They purchased a turkey from the butcher and bought vegetables and made plum pudding. The Guides also coordinated donations of special items for gift hampers and collected fruits, candies, nuts, and toys for the children. One Christmas the company sponsored a family whose
