Dr. Barnardo and the Suffolk Children

 The subject for the April speaker's presentation at Bacton WI was " Barnardo's children in Suffolk 1890 - 1950".

It was a really good talk as the speaker had done so much research. His interest in the subject had begun because of the old school records in his village (Wickham Skeith in Mid Suffolk) which mentioned all the children listed as "boarders".

He gave us some background on Barnardo himself

Thomas John Barnardo was born in Dublin, Ireland, in 1845. As a young man he moved to London to train as a doctor. When he arrived, he was shocked to find children living in terrible conditions, with no access to education. Poverty and disease were so widespread that one in five children died before their fifth birthday.

His first step, in 1867, was to set up a ‘ragged school’ where children could get a free basic education. One evening a boy at the mission, Jim Jarvis, took Barnardo around the East End, showing him children sleeping on roofs and in gutters. What he saw affected him so deeply he decided to abandon his medical training and devote himself to helping children living in poverty.

Then came the children's homes both for boys and, after his marriage, also for girls who were housed in cottages in Barkingside. By 1900 the Barkingside ‘garden village’ had 65 cottages, a school, a hospital and a church, and provided a home – and training – to 1500 girls

Although he was famous for his children’s homes, Barnardo believed that ideally a child should grow up in a family setting.As early as 1887 he introduced the practice of ‘boarding out’ children to host families – an early form of fostering and that's how so many Barnardo's children came to be living in so many Suffolk villages."away from the industry of cities in healthy locations". The families were paid a few shillings a week to take care of the children and in a low-paid farming area this could have been one of the reasons so many children  were "boarded" in Suffolk.

Census and Barnardo's records show many of the foster parents were widows and this was especially so after the first and second world wars.

Then there was something that is now seen as controversial .........

Barnardo’s was one of many children’s charities that sent some children to start a new life in Australia or Canada from the late nineteenth century to the 1960s. This was a popular policy, supported by the British government, who believed that the children would benefit from opportunities they wouldn’t have in the UK. We now know that however well-intentioned, it was a deeply misguided policy. The last Barnardo’s child to be migrated was in 1967, to Australia. In 2010 the British government formally apologised for the UK’s role in sending more than 130,000 child migrants to former colonies

 

I found the whole talk especially interesting because where I grew up  the houses each side of me both had "Barnardo's children". They were adults of course by the time I was born but I grew up knowing these people had different surnames to the mothers (both widows). On one side "Auntie M"  only found out she had family in Australia after her 'Mum' had died . She'd got to retirement age thinking she was an illegitimate only child but actually had come from a family ( perhaps where the mother had died in childbirth which was the most common reason for children being in care) and had a sibling who had been sent abroad. So sad. Luckily she got to meet up with her Australian family about 15 years ago.

Barnardo's collection box

 There is one part of WI that happens in all the groups that I have belonged to ....The Birthday Posy......and my birthday is in April so......

Coffee and cakes were served of course and we got the programme for the next 4 months. If I go to the June meeting I shall hear the lady doing the armchair tour of Ipswich that I heard at the Over 60s group last week! 

One of the 'problems' of belonging to three groups that all have speakers.

Back Tomorrow

Sue