When Agnes was only two years of age, her father died, leaving his widow with ten children to care for, the youngest only a few months old.

[3] To honour him after his death, Agnes's mother Henrietta added his first name, Baden, to their Powell surname and that branch of the family has since been known as Baden-Powell.

[4] The death of Agnes's father Baden left the family under the firm control of Henrietta, who was determined to instill in her children a desire to succeed.

[6][7][self-published source] In April 1901, Agnes became engaged to Sir William Bisset Berry, the Speaker of the South African Parliament,[8] but they did not marry.

She was for some years president of the Westminster Division of the Red Cross, and worked for the League of Mercy and for Queen Mary's Needlework Guild.

A friend wrote of her: Anyone who had come into touch with her gentle influence, her interest in all womanly arts, and her love of birds, insects, and flowers, would scoff at the idea of her being the president of a sort of Amazon Cadet Corps.

In 1912, Agnes brought about the formation of the 1st Lone Company and was the de facto president of The Girl Guide Association.