“Only Send Boys of the Good Type”: Child Migration and the Boy Scout Movement, 1921-1959

Between 1921 and 1959, nearly five thousand British youths were sent abroad, mainly to the dominions of Australia, Canada, and New Zealand, under the auspices of the Boy Scout movement. This article argues that the imperial ideal which underpinned the migration program consisted of three main tenets: first, that the empire was a mutually beneficial partnership; second, that the future success of the empire depended on the leadership of the white dominions; and third, that the imperial vision relied on the myth of the frontier, which inspired thousands of youths to migrate even in the face of harsh economic realities. This vision was a powerful motivator which informed the actions of both the youths and the administrators of the movement for four decades.