Thomas John Barnardo (1845–1905) was the founder and director of homes for destitute children in England.
Born in Dublin, Ireland, on July 4, 1845, Thomas Barnardo was the fourth child of John Michaelis and Abigail Barnardo. As a teenager, Thomas became an evangelical Protestant and started evangelizing in Ireland.
In 1866 he moved to London. The next year he entered the London Hospital as a missionary medical student. However, he never completed his studies. He did take on the medical title of “Dr. Barnardo,” a controversial decision on his part. He later became a licentiate, which meant he was able to practice his profession.
Barnardo settled in the East End of London, where a cholera epidemic had recently taken 3,000 lives and left many orphans. After becoming a part-time preacher and a teacher at a “ragged school,” he founded Hope Place. The school helped poor and orphaned children by providing a Christian-based education and training for the trades.
A waif named Jim Jarvis took Barnardo on a tour of the East End so he could experience the appalling conditions of homeless children living in abject poverty. He saw that the children he taught had no home but were forced to sleep in gutters. After this eye-opening experience, he started a boys’ orphanage at 18 Stepney Causeway in 1870. Homes followed in Greater London, which became known collectively as Barnardo Homes.
In 1873 Barnardo married Syrie Emslie at Spurgeon’s Metropolitan Tabernacle. She shared her husband’s interests. Three years later the couple opened a home for girls called the Girls’ Village Home at Barkingside. Later they built family residences called cottage homes. By 1900 Barkingside had expanded to 65 cottage homes with a school, hospital and church.
‘Boarding out’
In 1887 he began “boarding out,” an early form of foster care. Barnardo’s most controversial work was sending groups of children to Canada to settle there and learn practical skills.
He died on Sept. 19, 1905, because of heart problems. His charity had grown to include 96 homes, caring for 60,000 destitute children. He had also helped in some way about 250,000 children in need. The income for his work came from voluntary sources.
Barnardo’s work in the United Kingdom is now in its 157th year. In the 20th century, it started spinoffs in Australia and New Zealand. As of 2013, it raised and spent nearly $261 million (200 million pounds) each year, running 900 local services. It is the largest children’s charity in charitable expenditure in the U.K.
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