Richard Knight

Richard Cave Knight was a long standing member of the scout movement. He joined 1st Claremont as a scout in 1945 (quite why 1st Claremont was chosen we have no idea because he lived in Rondebosch with several troops geographically closer) and spent all his scouting time there, under the legendary scouter Johnny "Eland" Clarke. He served as Troop Scouter (his name was "Heron" due to his long and thin legs) and was also an active member of the 1st Claremont Rover Crew until he left Cape Town to work in Zambia and Rhodesia.

After several years away from the movement in which time he married and had three children, he again became involved when his two sons were cubs at 1st Claremont, helping with cub meetings and serving on the Parents Committee. He was appointed as Chairman of the Area Scout Council in 1985 and went on from there to serve on various bodies such as the National Finance Committee and the National Scout Council.

He was one of the small group that founded the National Senior Scout Adventure in 1969 (along with Colin Inglis, Fatty Rutter and Impie Bryant) and he returned to the Adventure in 1983, becoming Camp Chief, a post he held until his early death in 2002 from pancreatic cancer at the age of 67. He was very proud of 1st Claremont and all his life, when he wore scout uniform, he retained the 1st Claremont tag on the shoulder. It is appropriate then to note that two of his grandsons became scouts at 1st Claremont, the first 3rd generation scouts at the same troop, with one of them achieving Springbok Scout. One of his sons became the Troop Scouter at 1st Claremont. Sadly Richard did not live to see the continuation of his association with the troop. He was awarded the Long Service Medal in 1977 and the Silver Protea in 1992.