Sydney Frank Marlow, though a lesser-known figure, left a significant mark on Fiji’s history as the pioneer of the Scout movement in the country. In 1914, he introduced Scouting to Fiji, inspired by his earlier involvement in the British Scouts in Mansfield, where he served as a scout leader. Born on September 9, 1891, in Nottinghamshire, Marlow embarked on a journey to Fiji in 1914, collaborating with his half- brother, Alf Marlow, who owned a construction company in Suva. 

His encounter with Robert Baden-Powell, the founder of the Scouts, during a visit to Nottinghamshire in 1912, led to a pivotal moment when Marlow expressed his intention to establish Scouting in Fiji. Baden-Powell encouraged him to spread the Scouting movement in the colony. 

Sydney Frank Marlow initiated Scouting in Fiji in late 1914, serving as the Secretary of the Fiji Scout Association in September 1915. Before his Scout leadership, he briefly worked in the civil service and also contributed to the medical unit of the Fiji Rifle Association and the ‘1st Fiji Reinforcement of the Fiji Defence Force. Unfortunately, Marlow’s time in Fiji was brief, lasting only two years, as he volunteered to return to the United Kingdom in 1916. 

Tragically, he lost his life in World War I during the Battle of the Somme in 1917. Despite the passage of time, Marlow’s legacy lived on, with the Fiji Scouts Association presenting a Fiji flag to the Mansfield Scouts in the UK in his memory in 1929. Fiji did not join the World Organization of the Scout Movement until 1971, 57 years after Scouting began in the colony and 60 years after Marlow’s untimely death.