Thomas Bowman Stephenson ( 22 December 1839 – 6 July 1912) was a

Wesleyan Methodist The Wesleyan Church is a Methodist Christian denomination aligned with the holiness movement. Wesleyan Church may also refer to: * Wesleyan Methodist Church of Australia, the Australian branch of the Wesleyan Church Denominations * Allegheny We ...

minister and philanthropist who founded

children's home Residential child care communities or children's homes are a type of residential care, which refers to long-term care given to children who cannot stay in their birth family home. There are two different approaches towards residential care: The fam ...

s and the charity now called

Action for Children Action for Children (formerly National Children's Home) is a United Kingdom, UK children's charity created to help vulnerable children and young people and their families in the UK. The charity has 7,000 staff and volunteers who operate over 4 ...

. He also founded an order of

deaconess The ministry of a deaconess is a ministry for women in some Protestant, Oriental Orthodox, and Eastern Orthodox churches to provide pastoral care, especially for other women, and which may carry a liturgical role. The word comes from the Greek ...

es.

Early life

He was born in

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne, or simply Newcastle ( , Received Pronunciation, RP: ), is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is England's northernmost metropolitan borough, located o ...

, and attended

King Edward VI Grammar School, Louth King Edward VI Grammar School (sometimes abbreviated to KEVIGS) is a grammar school located in Louth, Lincolnshire, England. History As early as the 8th century schooling was available at Louth,Wesley College, Sheffield Wesley College was a school in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, from 1838 until 1905, when it was merged with Sheffield Royal Grammar School to form King Edward VII School. History The school, whose mission was to educate the sons of th ...

Career

He founded what was to become the National Children's Home in 1869. He later founded the Wesleyan Deaconesses in 1890. In 1891 he was elected President of the Methodist Conference. He was a member of the

London School Board The School Board for London, commonly known as the London School Board (LSB), was an institution of local government and the first directly elected body covering the whole of London. The Elementary Education Act 1870 ( 33 & 34 Vict. c. 75) was ...

. From 1902 to 1907 he was warden of the Methodist Deaconess Training College at

Ilkley Ilkley is a spa town and civil parish in the City of Bradford in West Yorkshire, in Northern England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, Ilkley civil parish includes the adjacent village of Ben Rhydding and is a ward within ...

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a Metropolitan counties of England, metropolitan and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and east, South Yorkshire and De ...

. He retired in 1907 and died in London on 6 July 1912. He is buried in

City of London Cemetery The City of London Cemetery and Crematorium is a cemetery and crematorium in the east of London. It is owned and operated by the City of London Corporation. It is designated Grade I on the Historic England National Register of Historic Parks an ...

.London Cemeteries: An Illustrated Guide and Gazetteer, by Hugh Meller & Brian Parsons

References

External links

Thomas Bowman Stephenson and the National Children's Home
1839 births 1912 deaths 19th-century Methodists 20th-century Methodists Burials at City of London Cemetery and Crematorium English Methodists Members of the London School Board People educated at King Edward VI Grammar School, Louth People educated at Wesley College, Sheffield Presidents of the Methodist Conference Wesleyan Methodists {{UK-Christian-clergy-stub