A child born in Marylebone Workhouse in 1880 to an unmarried mother was brought to the attention of the Church of England Central Society for Waifs and Strays when he was aged 5. He was admitted, with the approval of his mother – who was struggling financially – to the Society’s first home for boys in Ashdon, Essex. At age 12 he was boarded out to Effingham, this evidently brought about through the action of the Vicar of St Lawrence, Rev Ernest Frederic Bayly. This article describes the child’s beginnings and traces the remaining course of his life.