Born in Chesterfield, Derbyshire, England, on 22 February 1889 — a date she later shared with her husband Robert Baden-Powell.
Olave St Clair Soames was born on 22 February 1889 in Chesterfield, Derbyshire, England, the youngest daughter of Harold Soames, a wealthy brewery owner, and Katharine Sarah Sim.
Her early life was shaped by frequent travel with her family, who wintered abroad for her father's health, and by a largely informal education overseen by governesses. This unconventional upbringing gave her a spirited, independent character and a love of outdoor pursuits, both of which would later serve her well in leading a global youth movement.
Remarkably, her birthdate of 22 February would later prove to be a shared coincidence with the man she would marry, Robert Baden-Powell, founder of the Scouting movement — he had been born on that same calendar day in 1857, thirty-two years earlier. This shared birthday became a celebrated detail in Scouting and Guiding lore and is commemorated annually as World Thinking Day-adjacent observances within the Movement, cementing 22 February as a date of deep symbolic importance to Scouts and Guides worldwide.
Her birth into a comfortable, socially connected family gave her the resources and confidence that, decades later, allowed her to dedicate herself full-time to unpaid voluntary leadership of the Girl Guides.