Stepney Causeway is a street in

Stepney Stepney is an area in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in the East End of London. Stepney is no longer officially defined, and is usually used to refer to a relatively small area. However, for much of its history the place name was applied to ...

, in the East End of London. It runs north–south between the A13 road (Commercial Road) and the B126 Cable Street. It is crossed by a railway bridge carrying the

Docklands Light Railway The Docklands Light Railway (DLR) is an automated medium-capacity rail system, light metro system primarily serving the redeveloped London Docklands, Docklands area of London and providing a direct connection between London's two major financi ...

and

c2c Trenitalia c2c, trading as c2c, is a British train operating company that operates commuter services from its London terminus at to parts of East London and south Essex along the London, Tilbury and Southend line, as part of the Essex Thame ...

line out of

Fenchurch Street railway station Fenchurch Street railway station, also known as London Fenchurch Street, is a London station group, central London railway terminus in the southeastern corner of the City of London. It takes its name from its proximity to Fenchurch Street, a ke ...

. The street is particularly associated with

Thomas John Barnardo Thomas John Barnardo (4 July 184519 September 1905) was an Irish, Christian 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 dea ...

, who opened his first shelter for homeless children at No 18.

Barnardo

Dr. Barnardo opened 18 Stepney Causeway in December 1870 as a home for working and homeless boys.Stepney Causway
/ref> The property was on a 99-year lease at £57 per year. The home housed 60 boys in 5 bedrooms. In 1908, 18 Stepney Causeway provided trade training and general education. In 1871, an 11-year-old boy called John Somers (nicknamed "Carrots") was not taken in because the shelter was full. He was found dead two days later from malnutrition and exposure. Thomas decided not to limit the number of children he helped. From that time on the home bore the sign "No Destitute Boy Ever Refused Admission". The ever-open door at 10 Stepney Causeway opened in 1874 for homeless children. Number 10 stayed open until 1939 when Stepney was evacuated. It never re-opened after the war. Over the next few years Bernardo was to open several more buildings on Stepney Causeway. On 19 April 1922, 260 boys marched out from Stepney to go to their new home The William Baker Memorial Technical School on Goldings estate,

Hertford Hertford ( ) is the county town of Hertfordshire, England, and is also a civil parish in the East Hertfordshire district of the county. The parish had a population of 26,783 at the 2011 census. The town grew around a Ford (crossing), ford on ...

.The William Baker Technical School, Goldings
Hertford The

Prince of Wales Prince of Wales (, ; ) is a title traditionally given to the male heir apparent to the History of the English monarchy, English, and later, the British throne. The title originated with the Welsh rulers of Kingdom of Gwynedd, Gwynedd who, from ...

, who later became King

Edward VIII Edward VIII (Edward Albert Christian George Andrew Patrick David; 23 June 1894 – 28 May 1972), later known as the Duke of Windsor, was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Empire, and Emperor of India, from 20 January ...

, opened the school officially on 17 November 1922. The trade training section of the home closed in 1923 and it was used as a reception home and head office. Stepney Causeway closed its doors for the last time in 1969 when the Barnardo's staff moved to their new headquarters at Barnardo House,

Barkingside Barkingside is an area in Ilford, in the London Borough of Redbridge. It includes the major road junction of Fullwell Cross, which also gives its name to the locality near that roundabout. The area is situated 10.6 miles (17km) north east of Ch ...

References

Streets in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets Orphanages in the United Kingdom 1870 establishments in the United Kingdom 1923 disestablishments in the United Kingdom History of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets Charities based in London Stepney {{London-road-stub