David Cossgrove Lieutenant Colonel David Cossgrove ( 1852 – 1920 ) served in the South African War with Robert Baden - Powell , founder of Scouts and Guides in the United Kingdom . Cossgrove ( also spelled Cosgrove and Crosgrove < ref name = " http : / / www . dnzb . govt . nz / dnzb / default . asp ? Find _ Quick . asp ? PersonEssay = 3C34 " > < / ref > on official documents ) took Baden - Powell ' s ideas back to New Zealand with him and began similar programmes in Christchurch . Life and death . Cossgrove arrived in Port Chalmers , Dunedin on the " Alpine " which sailed from Glasgow 10 June 1859 and arrived at Otago on 12 September 1859 with his father , James , mother and 3 brothers . < ref name = " http : / / freepages . genealogy . rootsweb . com / ~ ourstuff / Alpine . htm " > < / ref > Mr Cosgrove taught at Sandymount school on the Otago Peninsula between 1874 and 1880 . He is attributed to a rising roll and introducing elementary science to the curriculum . While teaching at Sandymount , he married Selina / Celina Robertson in February 1875 in the Otago Peninsular Parish , Dunedin . < ref name = " http : / / www . dnzb . govt . nz / dnzb / default . asp ? Find _ Quick . asp ? PersonEssay = 3C34 " > < / ref > < ref name = " http : / / archives . presbyterian . org . nz / marriageregisters / otagopeninsulamarriages . htm " > < / ref > Reports have been made of his student teacher capacity at East Taieri School , < ref name = " http : / / www . dnzb . govt . nz / dnzb / default . asp ? Find _ Quick . asp ? PersonEssay = 3C34 " > < / ref > however no record can be found of this . If ' Uncle David ' ( see section 2 ) is David Cossgrove , it can be assumed he moved on to teaching at another Dunedin school ( after leaving Sandymount ) in the early part of the 1880s . He was in Westport by 1888 where he took the physical education class at Westport Girls ' State School and ran the Naval Cadet Company at Westport Boys ' State School . By his recruitment for the South African War ( 1900 ) , the Cossgroves were residing in Tuahiwi where David was headmaster of St . Stephen ' s school ( also known as Kaiapoi Native School ) < ref name = " http : / / www . dnzb . govt . nz / dnzb / default . asp ? Find _ Quick . asp ? PersonEssay = 3C34 " > < / ref > and Tuahiwi School Christchurch , where , in 1902 , there were 28 boys and 201 girls . < ref name = " http : / / library . christchurch . org . nz / heritage / Photos / Disc9 / IMG0005 . asp " > < / ref > He stayed headmaster of the school from 1899 – 1914 and it was there where he founded the Scouting movement in New Zealand . He was an important community figure as , not only was he the headmaster of the local school , he also dispatched the daily post from 1900 when a Post Office was established at the school house . It is known that the Cossgrove had a daughter , Muriel , who asked for a girl ' s equivalent to Scouts ( for more information see GirlGuiding New Zealand ) and another source lists three older daughters named Catherine , Selina ( who also married a school teacher ) and Elfrida ( whom married Norman / Alfred Rickman ? Note : the 1st names may have been transposed i . e . : " Alfred / Norman Rickman " ) . < ref name = http : / / www . dnzb . govt . nz / dnzb / default . asp ? Find _ Quick . asp ? PersonEssay = 3C34 > < / ref > Cossgrove died on 9 September 1920 of stomach cancer and received one of the largest military funerals ever held in Canterbury . < ref name = " http : / / www . dnzb . govt . nz / dnzb / default . asp ? Find _ Quick . asp ? PersonEssay = 3C34 " > < / ref > He is buried in Bromley Cemetery , Canterbury , New Zealand . < ref name = " http : / / www . teara . govt . nz / Places / Canterbury / CanterburyPlaces / 9 / ENZ - Resources / Biography / 1 / en > < / ref > The exact burial plot is : Block 33 , Row C , No . 9637 , Cossgrove , Bromley Cemetery , 447 Linwood Avenue , Christchurch , New Zealand 8062 Uncle David . A series of articles were printed in the " Otago Witness " under the name of Uncle David . These took the format of a Natural History Column entitled : " Notes for the Young " followed by various plants and birds described in a fashion suitable for children . These articles continued throughout the early 1880s and are attributed to David Cossgrove . < ref name = " http : / / www . dnzb . govt . nz / dnzb / default . asp ? Find _ Quick . asp ? PersonEssay = 3C34 " > < / ref > The South African War . Cossgrove was a quartermaster for the 6th New Zealand Contingent . The contingent were sailed to East London for training on 13 January 1901 on the " Cornwall " under the command of Lieutenant Colonel J . H . Banks . They were dispatched to South Africa soon after arrival in London , despite the lack of basic supplies such as rifles , revolvers , ammunition , picks , shovels , axes , water buckets and bandoleers . Cossgrove took the men round East London before they travelled to try to do something about the situation . Making the best of the resources around them : they bought up the empty wine bottles from various hotels to use for water ! Cossgrove served in Cape Colony , Orange Free State and Transvaal in both 1901 and 1902 as a volunteer serviceman after receiving a second commission as part of the 10th New Zealand Contingent ( South Island Regiment ) , of which he was the Captain and Paymaster . He was granted the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in 1910 and was awarded the Colonial Auxiliary Forces Officers ' Decoration , the Imperial Volunteer Forces Medal , the New Zealand Long and Efficient Service Medal and is on the New Zealand Volunteers and Retired list as a Captain and Major .