Background
Barnardo was born in Dublin, Ireland, in 1845. His father was of Spanish origin, his mother being an Englishwoman.
Barnardo was born in Dublin, Ireland, in 1845. His father was of Spanish origin, his mother being an Englishwoman.
With the intention of qualifying for medical missionary work in China, he studied medicine at the London hospital, and later at Paris and Edinburgh, where. he became a fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons.
Encouraged by the support of the seventh earl of Shaftesbury, he gave up his early ambition of foreign missionary labour, and began what was to prove his life's work.
The first of the " Dr Barnardo's Homes " was opened in 1867 in Stepney Causeway, London, where are still the headquarters of the institution.
Besides the various branches necessary for the foregoing work, there are also, among others, the following institutions:-a rescue home for girls in danger, a convalescent seaside home, and a hospital for sick waifs.
In 1901, through the generosity of Mr E. H. Watts, a naval school was started at North Elmham, near Norwich, to which boys are drafted from the homes to be trained for the navy and the mercantile marine.
Perhaps the most useful of all the varied work instituted by Barnardo is the emigration system, by which means thousands of boys and girls have been sent to British colonies, chiefly to Canada, where there are distributing centres at Toronto and Winnipeg, and an industrial farm of some 8000 acres near Russell in Manitoba.
The object for which these institutions were started was to search for and to receive waifs and strays, to feed, clothe, educate, and, where possible, to give an industrial training suitable to each child.
Each child is brought up under the influence and teaching of the denomination of the parents.
The fact that in Canada less than 2 % of the children sent out proved failures confirmed Barnardo's conviction that "if the children of the slums can be removed from their surroundings early enough, and can be kept sufficiently long under training, heredity counts for little, environment for almost everything. "
Barnardo laid great stress on the religious teaching of the children under his care.
The homes are divided into two sections for religious teaching, Church of England and Nonconformists; children of Jewish and Roman Catholic parentage are, where possible, handed over to the care of the Jewish Board of Guardians in London, and to Roman Catholic institutions, respectively.
Dr William Baker, formerly the chairman of the council, was selected to succeed the founder of the homes as director.
In June 1873, Barnardo married Sara Louise Elmslie (1842–1944), known as Syrie, the daughter of an underwriter for Lloyd's of London. They had seven children, three of whom died in early childhood.
