Thomas John Barnardo

Thomas John Barnardo (4 July 1845 –19 September 1905) was an Irish, 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.

Although Barnardo never finished his studies at the London Hospital, he used the title of 'doctor' and later secured a licentiate.

Barnardo was born in Dublin, Ireland (then part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and 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 English woman and member of the Plymouth Brethren.

Sometime before his first marriage in 1827 to Elizabeth O'Brien, John Michaelis emigrated from Prussia via Hamburg to Dublin, where he established a business; he married twice and fathered children with both wives. 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]

Barnardo established 'Hope Place' ragged school in the East End of London in 1868, his first attempt at aiding the estimated 30,000 'destitute' children in Victorian London.^[4] Many of these children were not only impoverished but orphaned, as the result of a recent cholera outbreak.^[5] For those unable to afford private education, the school offered education which although Christian-based, was not exclusively religion-focused,^[6] and worked to provide tutelage on various common trades of that time (for example, newsboys and shoe-shiners).^[7]

In 1870, Barnardo was prompted to form a boys' orphanage at 18 Stepney Causeway after inspecting the conditions within which London's orphaned population slept.^[8] This was the first of 122 such establishments, caring for over 8,500 children, founded before he died in 1905.^[9] Significant provisions were available to occupants; infants/younger children were sent to rural districts in an attempt to protect them from industrial pollution, and teenagers were trained in skills such as carpentry and metal work, to provide them a form of basic financial stability.^[10]

Barnardo's homes did not just accommodate boys; in 1876, the 'Girls' Village Home' in Barkingside was established, and by 1905, accommodated 1,300 girls who were trained for 'domestic occupation'. Another establishment, the 'rescue home for girls in serious danger', aimed to protect girls from the growing tide of child prostitution.^[11]

In addition to the various homes and schools established by Barnardo and his wife, Sara Louise Elmslie, a seaside retreat and hospital were also founded.^[11]

From the foundation of the homes in 1867 to Barnardo's death, nearly 60,000 children had been taken in, most being trained and placed out in life.^[12] At his death, his charity cared for over 8,500 children in 96 homes.^[13]

In June 1873, Barnardo married Sara Louise Elmslie (1842–1944), known as Syrie, the daughter of an underwriter for Lloyd's of London. Syrie shared her husband's interests in evangelism and social work. The couple settled at Mossford Lodge, Essex, where they had seven children, three of whom died in early childhood. A fourth child, Marjorie, had Down syndrome.^[14]

One daughter, Gwendolyn Maud Syrie (1879–1955), known as Syrie like her mother, was married to wealthy businessman Henry Wellcome, and later to the writer Somerset Maugham, and became a socially prominent London interior designer.

توفي برناردو في لندن في 19 سبتمبر 1905، إثر إصابته بذبحة صدرية ، ^{[ 12 ] [ 15 ]} ودُفن أمام منزل كيرنز في باركينغسايد ، إسكس. يُعدّ المنزل الآن المقر الرئيسي لجمعية برناردو الخيرية للأطفال التي أسسها . ^{[ 16 ]} ويوجد نصب تذكاري خارج منزل كيرنز. ^{[ 17 ]}

بعد وفاة بارناردو، أُنشئ صندوق تذكاري وطني بقيمة 250 ألف جنيه إسترليني لإعفاء المؤسسات المختلفة من جميع الالتزامات المالية وتوثيق العمل بالكامل بشكل دائم. واختير ويليام بيكر، الرئيس السابق للمجلس، ليخلف مؤسس دور الرعاية كمدير فخري. كان بارناردو مؤلفًا لـ 192 كتابًا تتناول العمل الخيري الذي كرس حياته له. ^{[ 12 ]}

استمر عمل برناردو بفضل العديد من مؤيديه تحت اسم " منازل الدكتور برناردو" . [20] بعد التغيرات المجتمعية في منتصف القرن العشرين، حوّلت المؤسسة الخيرية تركيزها من الرعاية المباشرة للأطفال إلى التبني والحضانة ، ^{وغيرت اسمها إلى} " دار الدكتور برناردو " . وبعد إغلاق آخر دار أيتام تقليدية تابعة لها عام 1989، اتخذت اسمًا أبسط هو "برناردو" .

• The Likes of Us
• Charitable organization
• Orphanage
• Ragged School Museum
• List of Freemasons

الإسناد

• تتضمن هذه المقالة نصًا من منشور أصبح الآن ملكًا عامًا : تشيشولم، هيو ، محرر (1911). " بارناردو، توماس جون ". الموسوعة البريطانية . المجلد 3 ( الطبعة الحادية عشرة). مطبعة جامعة كامبريدج. ص 411.     

الوسائط المتعلقة بتوماس جون بارناردو على ويكيميديا ​​كومنز

• موقع أبحاث المجموعة الدولية البريطانية لرعاية الأطفال في دور الرعاية
• IllustratedPast.com – صور فوتوغرافية لدار أيتام برناردو عام 1893