There are very few individuals from the 19th century whose names are widely known today. One exception is that of Thomas Barnardo whose work with needy children continues.
Barnardo was born in 1845 in Dublin, Ireland, to a family for whom the Christian faith was important. Barnardo’s father, a Jewish immigrant from Germany, had converted to Christianity and his mother was a member of the Brethren. Barnardo came to trust Christ in his teens and immediately committed himself to working and witnessing for Christ. Feeling called to be a missionary doctor in China, Barnardo began medical training in London, preaching and working amongst the poor as he did. There was no shortage of needs to be met. In the London of the 1860s, a combination of overcrowding, social breakdown and disease had produced areas of intense deprivation and ill health, with tens of thousands of children either orphaned or living in extreme poverty.
Barnardo taught scores of boys in a charitable ‘Ragged School’ in London’s East End on Sundays and weekday evenings. One winter’s night he learned that one of his boys had no home to go to and, led by him, was appalled to discover that homelessness among children was far worse than he had imagined. Barnardo now realised his calling lay not in China but among London’s poor. Giving up his medical studies (his title of ‘Doctor’ was honorary) he began working among homeless children.
Barnardo now began creating homes for boys and in 1870 he opened a house in Stepney that could house up to 24 homeless youngsters. Its inadequacy became apparent one winter when, after an 11-year-old boy was turned away for lack of space, he was found dead from exposure the following day. Barnardo now put a sign up which declared ‘No Destitute Child Refused Admission’.
A tireless worker, Barnardo’s work amongst homeless boys expanded rapidly. He didn’t just simply shelter and feed boys, he gave them education, Christian teaching and work training as well. Barnardo soon built up a generous network of donors and became a pioneer – if a controversial one – in using photography in public appeals. Nevertheless, his habit of spending on projects in advance of money arriving meant he was always just ahead of a financial crisis.
In 1873 Barnardo married Syrie Elmslie, who shared his passion for evangelism and charitable work. The Barnardos had seven children and the fact that one of them had Down’s syndrome encouraged a new emphasis on children with disabilities. Syrie pioneered a successful work with orphaned girls, many of whom were sliding into prostitution. Here one notable achievement was Barkingside, a community of 65 cottages through which 8,000 girls were to pass.
Barnardo kept creating new homes and promoted various other social endeavours – a seaside retreat, a hospital and coffee shops – until his death in 1905. By then there were over a hundred homes caring for more than 8,500 vulnerable children and nearly 60,000 children had been rescued. His work outlasted him and although, inevitably, its approach has changed, Barnardo’s continues today as a major charity dealing with disadvantaged children and one which retains a strong Christian ethos.
Thomas Barnardo saw an appalling social need and tackled it with remarkable and lasting success. He was, of course, a man of his time, and he didn’t get everything right. In particular, the well-meant resettling of some orphans in the colonies, especially Canada, is now considered to have been a mistake. Yet an extraordinary amount of what Barnardo achieved has stood the test of time. Indeed, he pioneered much that we now take for granted. He rejected large-scale orphanages, adopting instead ‘cottage homes’ where children could be supported in small family-style groups. He promoted fostering and adoption, unfamiliar concepts in Victorian society. He sought not just to protect and support children but to teach and train them with a view to offering them a life-long path out of poverty. The concern of the Barnardos to prevent sexual trafficking of vulnerable girls and to support children with learning difficulties are all rightly honoured today.
Barnardo was an inspirational Christian. He is a striking case of someone who, having decided where God was calling them, subsequently realised that their true calling lay elsewhere. He embodied the famous missionary principle ‘plan to go, be prepared to stay’. Above all, Barnardo never let his social action dull his evangelistic zeal.
Beyond these things, let me suggest three particular aspects of Thomas Barnardo which I find striking, and which seem to me to reflect the spirit of the gospel.
First, Barnardo stood for deeds over words. The Victorian world was not short of strong emotions, speeches and proposals about the poor. But Barnardo did something. Indeed, one reason he was so well funded was because other people recognised that he was doing what they couldn’t (or wouldn’t) do. Action is a gospel value.
Second, Barnardo stood for the weak over the mighty. In the many battles that Barnardo was engaged in, one consistent principle he adopted was to stand alongside the child, whether against abusive parents or bureaucratic local authorities. There’s another gospel value.
Third, Barnardo stood for grace over judgement. He lived at a time when it was common to view poverty as something that the poor brought on themselves through laziness or moral failings. In contrast, Barnardo made no distinction between the poor who were ‘deserving’ and ‘undeserving’; he simply gave assistance to all who needed it. That’s a gospel value too: none of us deserve grace – it wouldn’t be grace if we did.
Tens of thousands of children were helped by Thomas Barnardo’s work and many thousands more have been helped by the organisation he created. What a legacy!
J.John
Reverend Canon
