Girls Life Brigade

The Girls Life Brigade at the Kaikorai Presbyterian Church came into being on 22nd September 1948 when the 25th Dunedin Company was formed.

The first officers were:
Chaplain: Rev. Reid Harper, Minister of the church.
Captain: Miss Margaret Gilchrist
Lieutenants: Lorraine McDonald & Myrtle Black.

A cadet section was started soon after under Mrs Elsie McEwan.

Lorraine McDonald took over as Captain when Margaret moved to Auckland.

Margaret Gilchrist (later Mrs Margaret Howard) gave over 40 years of service to the Girls Brigade, latterly very involved with the Brigade in the Christchurch area. She was presented with a Community Service Award for Youth Activities in 1988.


Left to Right: Lieutenant Lorraine McDonald, Captain Margaret Gilchrist, Lieutenant Myrtle Black, Lieutenant/Cadet Leader Elsie McEwan.


Brigaders fall in outside Kaikorai Presbyterian Church in Nairn Street before Mellor Street was formed some time between 1950 and 1953.
Margaret later compiled a book of over 300 pages on the history of the various 'Brigades' in the Christchurch and Canterbury West Coast area from 1938 to 1996. A CD-ROM version will be available shortly.

Margaret passed away peacefully, in her 85th year, at Christchurch on 8th July 2010 after a short illness.

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