Barnardo, Thomas John [key], 1845–1905, British social reformer. Pioneering in the care of destitute children, he founded (1867) in London the East End Juvenile Mission. In 1870, with the aid of the 7th earl of Shaftesbury, he opened a boys' home, the first of his famous Dr. Barnardo Homes. There are presently over 100 homes in Britain and others in Australia and Canada; in England, the homes have moved away from a strictly Christian image to better serve a multicultural population. Barnardo was instrumental in securing the passage (1891) of parliamentary legislation for child welfare.
See biographies by A. Williams (3d ed. 1966) and G. Williams (1966); J. Rose, Inside Dr. Barnardo's (1988).
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