Stepney Causeway is associated with Thomas John Barnardo, who opened his first shelter for homeless children at number 18.
Stepney Causeway runs north-south between the Commercial Road and Cable Street. It is crossed by a railway bridge carrying the Docklands Light Railway.
Dr Barnardo opened 18 Stepney Causeway in December 1870 as a home for working and homeless boys. The home housed 60 boys in five bedrooms and provided trade training and general education.
In 1871, an 11-year-old boy called John Somers couldn’t be taken in because the shelter was full. He was found dead two days later from malnutrition and exposure. Barnardo then 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. Bernardo was to open several more buildings on the street. Number 10 Stepney Causeway opened in 1874 for homeless children and stayed open until 1939 when Stepney was evacuated. It never re-opened after the war.
The trade training section of the home closed in 1923 and it was used as a reception home and head office. The building closed its doors for the last time in 1969 when the Barnardo’s staff moved to their new headquarters at Barnardo House, Barkingside.
