Charity Action for Children turns 140

George Oliver (left) and Frederick Hall, the first boys to be admitted to the Children's Home – the original name for Action for Children – in 1869 Photograph: Action for Children/Public Domain

The admissions register of the Children's Home when it first opened its doors Photograph: Action for Children/Public Domain

Thomas Bowman Stephenson, the Methodist minister who founded the charity in 1869. He was assigned to a poor London parish and was determined to do something about the poverty, unemployment and neglect that he encountered Photograph: Action for Children/Public Domain

London's streets accommodated many orphaned, neglected or abandoned children in 1869 Photograph: Action for Children/Public Domain

The charity's original residence in Church street, Waterloo, London Photograph: Action for Children/Public Domain

House guardians Mr and Mrs Austin who, according to the 1869 minutes, were in charge of the home and were listed as 'father' and 'mother' Photograph: Action for Children/Public Domain

The charity soon expanded to take in girls in 1871 Photograph: Action for Children/Public Domain

The Children's Home moved to its Bonner Road residence in Bethnal Green, London, in October 1871 Photograph: Action for Children/Public Domain

Some of the children cared for at Bonner Road Photograph: Action for Children/Public Domain

The charity's Bramhope branch opened in 1907 Photograph: Action for Children/Public Domain

A printing school for boys transferred to the Harpenden branch when the Bonner Road branch closed in 1913 Photograph: Action for Children/Public Domain

The Friends of Waterloo Chapel donated a horse and cart to the charity to help teach 'thrift and industry' Photograph: Action for Children/Public Domain

Thomas Stephenson with some the boys the Childrens' Home helped Photograph: Action for Children/Public Domain

True to Stephenson's desire to create a home and not an institution, dormitories were small and had a family feel Photograph: Action for Children/Public Domain

A branch of the charity opened in Sheringham, Norfolk, in 1916 Photograph: Action for Children/Public Domain