Girls' Life Brigade - 1930's

The GLB dated 1928 by Ada Sail who is fourth from the right at the front.

Ada Sail was born on April 9^th 1916 and lived with her parents at 39 Crabb Street. Her diary shows what an influence the Baptist Church in Park Road had on her life. She joined the Girls’ Life Brigade in April 1929, according to her diary, but the picture of the group was dated by her as being 1928. This was a 1931 G.L.B. diary and the details below are transcribed from the front pages; at the end of this diary is a page to keep a record of badges earned. Ada has ticked several and all at advanced level. She also lists her friends in the designated space in the diary as J Lamb, Winnifred Kathleen Sail, Kathleen Lilian Webb, all of Crabb Street, Stella Corby of Co-operative Row, Ena Bailey of Trafford Road and Joan Alice Tomlin of Brookfield Road.

The Girls’ Life Brigade.                  Founded in 1902                Motto “To Save Life”

Five Great Aims

1. To awaken in girls, a sense of their responsibility in life.
2. To help them to make the best of their powers of body and mind.
3. To train them to be self-reliant, useful women.
4. To influence them to dedicate all their powers to the Service of God.
5. To keep them i touch with the Church and Sunday School during those years when they often become lost to both.

Methods

The discipline of the Girls’ Life Brigade is designed:

1. to develop a strong and healthy physical life by physical exercises of various kinds and instruction in personal hygiene.

2. to encourage by drill, training in first-aid, home-nursing and life-saving, the formation of habits of punctuality, promptitude and reliability; self-respect, self-control and courtesy; alertness, intelligence and presence of mind in emergencies.

3. by means of total abstinence, association with the church, the Company Bible Class and the fellowship and influence of the officers, to help girls consecrate themselves to the service of God.

The G.L.B. Law

Abstain from intoxicating drink.

Be regular at Sunday school or Bible Class.

Be clean in person, neat and tidy in dress.

Be pure and true in thought and word and deed.

Learn to be useful in emergencies.

Be kind and helpful to all.

Be straightforward, honest and truthful.

Cheerfully obey the orders of Officers.

Cultivate self-respect and courtesy.

Remember the G.L.B. motto – “To Save Life”.

The G.L.B. Promise

“I promise to do my utmost to keep the G.L.B. Law in letter and spirit and to set a good example to my comrades and to all around me. I further promise to abstain from all intoxicating drinks so long as I am a member of the Girls’ Life Brigade”.

The badges they could work for were:

Art			Infant Care
Art Needlework:-			Invalid Cookery
Knitting	*		Knot Tying	*
Crochet			Laundry	*
Astronomy			Life Saving from Fire
Band			Life Saving from Water
Cookery	*		Local Knowledge
Cyclist's			Millinery
Elocution			Music
Faithful Service	*		Natural History
First Aid	*		Photography
Gardening			Physical Drill
Good Service	*		Physiology
Handicrafts:-			Elementary Proficiency
Basket Work			Advanced Proficiency
Leather Work			Rambler's
Raffia			Sanitation
Stencilling			Scripture
Handiman's			Signalling
Home Nursing			Swimming
Home Service			Temperance
Household Management	*
Hygiene
And they could take them at Elementary and Advanced Levels. Ada has ticked all those marked with a * in the Advanced Level column.

Temperance

If alcoholic drink spoke it might truly say:-

“I am the greatest criminal in history. I have killed more men and women than war has destroyed. I have made millions of homes unhappy. I turn Fathers and Mothers into brutes and fiends. I rob children of love, and food, and clothes and shelter. I have changed countless youths and maidens into hopeless parasites. I cause disease and hinder recovery. I fill the hospitals, the jails, the asylums and workhouses. I cannot slake thirst, nor keep out cold, nor give strength, nor help character. I am the arch deceiver.

I am alcohol”

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