The Fegan Home
295 George Street, Toronto, Ontario
Photo of the Fegan's 1906 boys from the Percy Bint Family
Edward Addyman, Frederick Abrams, Percy Alexander, Jesse Archer, Edward Arnold, Charles Barber, George Bartlett, Lawrence Beaumont, Sydney Benz, Percy Bint, Frederick Blake, George Boyce, George Brown, Ernest Budd, Arthur Burley, Alfred Challis, James W Chapman, Victor Chapman, William Chapman, Albert Chappel, Arthur Cracknell, Charles Craig, Victor Crook, William Thomas Davis, Alfred Dearnley, Francis Delaney, Earnest Dickson, Harold Dowling, Benjamin Dunstall, Earnest Duryer, Charles Evans, James Everett, William Field, Bertie Foreman, Harry Good, Thomas Goodman, Thomas Gornall, George Hadder, Earnest Hall, Harry Hall, Harry Hayford, Alfred Heather, Victor Howlett, Earnest Jackson, William Joel, Joseph Johnson, Ernest Joll, William King, John Kohl, Harry Lane, Frederick Lawerence, Alfred Sidney Lee, William Lill, John Lipschitz, Walter Manhood, Joseph Marshall, Stanley Maxter, Albert Mayhew, Thomas McNicol, Luther Miles, Alfred Mist, John Neal, George Norman, Bernard Noyce, David Obrey, Stephen ONeill, Alfred Page, Alfred Pascal, Samuel Perry, Arnold Phelps, Harry Phillips, William Pipe, Alfred Rawlinson, Samuel Richards, Albert Rose, Leonard Russell, Reginald Sacks, George Savage, Henry Scott, Frank Simpson, Earnest Smith, Robert Smith, William Henry Stacey, Reginald Stafford, Robert Stafford, George Stalder, Samuel Suttle, Joseph Tamplin, Stanley Taylor, Earnest Thomas, Findlay Thompson, Albert Thurbon, Eugene Tietz, George Tilley, William Treacher, Earnest Trump, Samuel Webber, Edward Wilson, Lucas Worsnop, John Edward Wortley, Frederick Wright
James William Condell Fegan
Written by Watling Way Middle School CLUTCH Club
James William Condell Fegan was born on the 27th April 1852. He was the youngest of four children born to James and Anne Fegan. His father worked at the Ordnance Survey office in Southampton, England.
He was brought up in a religious family, which coloured his entire life. Although James Fegan didn’t belong to any particular church, he was well known for his beliefs. His mother taught him at home until the age of ten. His hobbies and interests were mainly outdoor pursuits, such as football, cricket and fishing.
In 1869 the Fegan family moved to London, and on his thirteenth birthday James entered the city of London school. After four years James left the school and went to work for a firm of colonial brokers. As young man, he had a strange experience while sitting in his room one evening he had a strong need to turn to god. It was almost from this moment that he devoted his time and energy to spreading his religious beliefs.
It was while out one evening preaching that Fegan noticed a group of dirty, scantily dressed and barefooted boys sitting on a kerb near to where he was standing. As the boys got up to leave, Fegan felt compelled to follow them, until they turned down a narrow alley and entered a shabby building. It had the name The Ragged School. He himself entered that building and was greeted by array of faces, all asking him to teach them. So James Fegan had his first contact with the first of a great many poor boys whom he would spend his life helping. He taught the boys and even spent Sunday evenings working with them. But soon his health started to suffer; coping with the hustle and bustle of commercial life and then devoting most evenings working with the boys, his health deteriorated and went to the seaside resort of Bognor Regis to re-couperate. It was whilst in Bognor that James helped his first boy to find a home. That boy's name was Tom Hammond. He brought the boy back to London and looked after him until he could organise a place in an institution. Here the boy spent eighteen months before being sent to Canada to start a new life.James Fegan also made a good friend in Canada, Mr Gooderham, a man who was willing to help the boys who were sent there. It was with his help that a distributing home was erected in Toronto. The boys would stay at the home until a place could be found for them within the farming community, now with the home erected a yearly journey was made from England to Canada for as many as 130 boys each spring.
During the following years James Fegan took an active role in the running of all of his homes. Not all the boys James Fegan rescued stayed in Britian; Lord Blantyre, a close friend of James Fegan, suggested that he should make a journey to Canada to see if there were any opportunities for the boys in his care to make a fresh life there. Acting on this suggestion, he made the journey in 1884 taking ten boys with him, he was so impressed with the opportunities he saw, that he made another journey that year taking 50 boys. Lord Blantrye met the cost of taking the boys on the second expedition to Canada.
Although sending the boys to Canada was a great success, it soon became evident that a lot of the boys lacked skills in working on the Canadian farm. James Fegan had an inspirational idea of recreating a Canadian-style farm in Britain. A farm was found and bought and all the farming implements were ordered from Canada so the boys could be trained in their usage before being sent to that country. The name of this farm was Home Farm and was situated at Goudhurst, in Kent.
It was here that James and Mary Fegan had a cottage built for them, called Blantyre Lodge. Gradually James Fegan's health deteriorated and he was confined to a wheelchair, but despite his difficulties he still kept working for the homes to which he had dedicated so much of his life.
James Fegan died on December 9th 1925 aged 73, leaving behind a legacy of goodness in the work he had done to help so many homeless boys.
James William Condell Fegan was born on the 27th April 1852. He was the youngest of four children born to James and Anne Fegan. His father worked at the Ordnance Survey office in Southampton, England.
He was brought up in a religious family, which coloured his entire life. Although James Fegan didn’t belong to any particular church, he was well known for his beliefs. His mother taught him at home until the age of ten. His hobbies and interests were mainly outdoor pursuits, such as football, cricket and fishing.
In 1869 the Fegan family moved to London, and on his thirteenth birthday James entered the city of London school. After four years James left the school and went to work for a firm of colonial brokers. As young man, he had a strange experience while sitting in his room one evening he had a strong need to turn to god. It was almost from this moment that he devoted his time and energy to spreading his religious beliefs.
It was while out one evening preaching that Fegan noticed a group of dirty, scantily dressed and barefooted boys sitting on a kerb near to where he was standing. As the boys got up to leave, Fegan felt compelled to follow them, until they turned down a narrow alley and entered a shabby building. It had the name The Ragged School. He himself entered that building and was greeted by array of faces, all asking him to teach them. So James Fegan had his first contact with the first of a great many poor boys whom he would spend his life helping. He taught the boys and even spent Sunday evenings working with them. But soon his health started to suffer; coping with the hustle and bustle of commercial life and then devoting most evenings working with the boys, his health deteriorated and went to the seaside resort of Bognor Regis to re-couperate. It was whilst in Bognor that James helped his first boy to find a home. That boy's name was Tom Hammond. He brought the boy back to London and looked after him until he could organise a place in an institution. Here the boy spent eighteen months before being sent to Canada to start a new life.James Fegan also made a good friend in Canada, Mr Gooderham, a man who was willing to help the boys who were sent there. It was with his help that a distributing home was erected in Toronto. The boys would stay at the home until a place could be found for them within the farming community, now with the home erected a yearly journey was made from England to Canada for as many as 130 boys each spring.
During the following years James Fegan took an active role in the running of all of his homes. Not all the boys James Fegan rescued stayed in Britian; Lord Blantyre, a close friend of James Fegan, suggested that he should make a journey to Canada to see if there were any opportunities for the boys in his care to make a fresh life there. Acting on this suggestion, he made the journey in 1884 taking ten boys with him, he was so impressed with the opportunities he saw, that he made another journey that year taking 50 boys. Lord Blantrye met the cost of taking the boys on the second expedition to Canada.
Although sending the boys to Canada was a great success, it soon became evident that a lot of the boys lacked skills in working on the Canadian farm. James Fegan had an inspirational idea of recreating a Canadian-style farm in Britain. A farm was found and bought and all the farming implements were ordered from Canada so the boys could be trained in their usage before being sent to that country. The name of this farm was Home Farm and was situated at Goudhurst, in Kent.
It was here that James and Mary Fegan had a cottage built for them, called Blantyre Lodge. Gradually James Fegan's health deteriorated and he was confined to a wheelchair, but despite his difficulties he still kept working for the homes to which he had dedicated so much of his life.
James Fegan died on December 9th 1925 aged 73, leaving behind a legacy of goodness in the work he had done to help so many homeless boys.
Sources and Links
More information on the Fegan Homes - Young immigrants to Canada
Fegan's Homes Newsletters - The Red Lamp 1913-20
