Thomas John Barnardo
Thomas John Barnardo (4 July 1845 – 19 September 1905) was an Irish-born, Christian[1] philanthropist and founder and director of homes for poor and deprived children. From the foundation of the first Barnardo's home in 1867 to the date of Barnardo's death, nearly 60,000 children had been taken in.
Thomas John Barnardo
4 July 1845
19 September 1905 (aged 60)
Founder and Director of Barnardo's
Sara Louise Elmslie
7, including Syrie Maugham
Although Barnardo never finished his studies at the London Hospital, he used the title of 'doctor' and later secured a licentiate.
Early life[edit]
Barnardo was born in Dublin, Ireland, in 1845. He was the fourth of five children (one died in childbirth) of John Michaelis Barnardo, a furrier who was of Sephardic Jewish descent, and his second wife, Abigail,[2] an Englishwoman and member of the Plymouth Brethren.
In the early 1840s, John emigrated from Prussia via Hamburg to Dublin, where he established a business; he married twice and fathered seven children. The Barnardo family "traced its origin to Venice, followed by conversion to the Lutheran Church in the sixteenth century".[3] Barnardo wrote that, as a child, he was selfish and thought that everything that was not his should belong to him. However, as he grew older, he abandoned this mindset in favour of helping people experiencing poverty.
Barnardo moved to London in 1866. It was during this time that he became interested in becoming a missionary.[2]
Media related to Thomas John Barnardo at Wikimedia Commons