Sara (Syrie) Louise Elmslie

The story of Sara Louise Elmslie was introduced to me as I was writing this post. As a result I have deleted the first draft and I am going to concentrate on her. Elmslie was married to Thomas John Barnado who is famous for founding the charity that still bears his name. Starting in 1867 with a ragged school, where the poorest children could get an education for free, he then opened a home for boys in 1870. Now, the fame that Barnado has attracted is absolutely deserved, but I never knew about his wife.

If you look at the Barnado’s website she is given a glowing write up, but until my wife, who works for Barnado’s as a volunteer, mentioned the wife and daughter of Thomas, I had no idea about either. Syrie, his wife, was the driving force behind one element of the Barnado’s mission, namely rescuing young girls who had been forced into prostitution. To this day, the charity are committed to the protection of girls subjected to, or at risk of, child sexual exploitation. In the earliest days of the charity these vulnerable children were rescued and lived in family style groups with a ‘mother’ to look after their well-being. She was already a philanthropist in her own right before marrying Thomas, having set up her own ragged school for girls, and she was central to the charity’s development, but in Victorian England it was considered unseemly for women to be in the spotlight. This of course was extremely hypocritical given who was on the throne at the time! The myth of Victoria as this great monarch was built up by the same men who refused to give non royal women any credit. It seems unlikely that Sara, known as Syrie, cared about this as her only mission was to change the lives of the young girls she supported, but it is nice to see that the charity are giving her long overdue credit on their website. As for his daughter, also called Syrie, she became a famous interior designer and a controversial figure due to her very racy private life. It’s ironic that her fame rests on designing the richest people’s houses, given what her parents sought to do for those who came from the very poorest!

Thousands of children have benefited from the charity’s work in the 150 years since it’s founding. If you are interested in the story of Syrie Barnado take a look at the link. While you are there, you can see what the charity is doing now by clicking on the homepage.

https://www.barnardos.org.uk/blog/who-is-syrie-barnardo