The picture above is that of our founder, Dr. Thomas John Barnardo. We, feel it is only right that we should have some information on our website regarding Thomas, whom most of us refer to as Dad. As without his sterling work and that chance meeting with Jim Jarvis, who took Thomas on a walkabout, we may never have gone to Goldings.

Some information we read about Thomas was written down many years later by Thomas in his more senior years where some meetings have been forgotten and some of the dates are completely wrong. So be warned some of the dates may change along with the information, but one fact will never change, Thomas Barnardo did what he did for the children and his love of Jesus.

The Goldonian web has been given permission by the author to copy or use information from he book 'Barnardo' Gillian Wagner who was chair of Barnardo's Council and was given access to many files and private letters.

You can also see information on Barkingside The Girls Village Home that Thomas opened in 1876 and information about Mossford Lodge Thomas' first girls home, that in his mind was a total failure, but it was just a toe in the water that led to greater things.

The England Thomas had arrived in was at the peak of being the Great Britain we read about in books of people like Isambard Kingdom Brunel who left his mark with the many bridges and ships along with the first tunnel under the river Thames that he designed and built. He and others like him had put the Great in Great Britain, but the country was not so great in looking after it's children they were left to fend for themselves. Thomas had arrived in 1866 into the area of Whitechapel in hope to register at the London Hospital as a medical student.

Thomas Barnardo  was accepted at The London as a  medical student, no sooner had he registered he started caring for the poor. Within a year Thomas was dealing with over 16 deaths a night with the Cholera epidemic that was prevalent in the East. This was down to one factor, the drinking water. Thomas had left the 300 bed London hospital to care for the poor of the East End. The Dr, was given to Thomas Barnardo by those that loved him and respected his work, prior to him achieving the title in1876. As prior to this, he had chosen to do a job that had no title, and 'Dr' allowed him to collect more money for the children that were flooding in the Ever Open Door. Further, his belief in what he was doing, led to him appearing in court 88 times by 1896. The publicity created by three cases in particular was in part responsible for a change in the law in 1891, which put the welfare of the child above the rights of the parent.

Thomas had many false allegations made against him, all were proved to be unfounded. What he did was for the children who he protected and looked after. One allegation that did stand up was A Baptist Minister accused him, in blunt terms, of faking his records. He wrote: 'The system of taking, and making capital of, the children's photographs is not only dishonest'. But in who's eyes as he did it for the benefit of the children. Many tried to destroy Thomas Barnardo and his efforts to help the destitute of this country, and it is evident, from our own experiences, that they failed.

One verse Doctor Barnardo preached from was John Chapter 6 verse 37. 'Him that cometh to me  I will in no wise cast out'.  Doctor Barnardo likened it to the inscription above the main door of the home in Stepney Causeway ' No Destitute Child Ever Refused Admission'

The last traditional Dr. Barnardo children's home closed in 1989 with the battle won, or was it? More than a century since Dr Thomas John Barnardo started helping homeless children, young people all around the UK are still sleeping rough on the streets. Barnardo's today continues to fight the old problems of poverty, homelessness, child prostitution, or young people who have been sexually abused along with the new issues of coping with HIV/AIDS. The fact is Barnardo's today helps more young people than it ever did per year, That's a fact! They help around 100,000 children and young people a year. That's many more being helped by the charity Barnardo's today.

While viewing any information that Goldonian web has published please place the information on a set of imaginary scales and you will find like us that the good far out weighs any alleged bad reports of the day.

Do you have some information about Thomas Barnardo that could be added to our archive?

Source information:

Mrs. Barnardo & James Marchant "Memoirs of the late Dr. Barnardo 1907
Gillian Wagner "Barnardo" Weidenfield and Nicholson 1979
A. E Williams " Barnardo of Stepney" George Allen & Unwin Ltd 1966
Norman Wymer "Father of nobody's children"  London: Hutchinson, 1954
The Barnardo Guild Magazine