War Office: Boy Messenger Friendly Society and War Office School: Records

WO 371

1906-1921

This series consists of records of the War Office Boy Messenger Friendly Society (WOBMFS) and War Office School. The series contains correspondence, programmes of activities and other records of the society and school.

The three volumes in the series contain details of the setting up of the society, school and committees and a large amount of material on the various educational and leisure activities of the society. A list of all WOBMFS members is in piece 3, which includes letters from Old Boys and dates of army service of members.

Public Record(s)

English

• War Office, Department of the Secretary, War Office Boy Messenger Friendly Society, 1906-1914
• War Office, Department of the Secretary, War Office School, 1910-1914

3 volume(s)

Topics

Army

Children

Friendly societies

Armed Forces (General Administration)

Boy messengers were employed by the War Office in a temporary capacity, being recruited at the age of fourteen or fifteen then superannuated at the age of twenty. Concern felt within the War Office at their limited employment prospects after they were superannuated led to the War Office Boy Messenger Friendly Society (WOBMFS) being formed in 1906 under the auspices of the Department of the Secretary of State for War, with Sir Edward Ward as its president.

Its main objects were to help the boys obtain good permanent employment after leaving the War Office, to provide them with opportunities for healthy recreation, and to promote more friendly relations between them and other staff. The Society was administered by a senior Committee of the Boy Messenger Friendly Society, appointed by the president from the staff of the War Office, and also a Junior Committee elected by the from the ranks of the boys themselves. The society arranged evening classes, sports, and other leisure activities, and introduced an employment scheme with a view to improving their employment prospects after they were superannuated at the age of twenty.

The War Office School opened on 31 October 1910 to provide more structured education for the boys on a compulsory basis. The school held evening classes so that boys could attend after their day's work, and, while the school was intended initially to benefit the boy messengers from the War Office, boys from the Patent Office, the Board of Education, the Local Government Board and the Board of Trade also attended. This facility was only available for boys up to the age of eighteen.

Both the society and the school ceased to exist in August 1914 with the outbreak of the First World War.