Why wasn’t Barney taken into care?

The books! Over seven hundred of them and still counting...
carpediem
Posts: 417
Joined: 29 Aug 2005, 23:01
Favourite book/series: Five Find Outers, Barney Series
Favourite character: Anyone who's a wrong 'un
Location: Scotland

Why wasn’t Barney taken into care?

Post by carpediem »

I’ve often wondered why Barney Lorimer, upon the death of his mother, wasn’t taken into care? As far as I can work out, this child basically became a tramp as he wandered around various parts of England, with a monkey for company, looking for his father who wasn’t even aware of the existence of his son.

We read of Barney sleeping rough. We read of Barney often having little or no money and wearing clothes that were more like rags, and relying upon odd-jobs and hand-outs from kindly people. He didn’t attend any school, had no long-term attachment to any circus or fairground family and appeared to be completely left to his own devices.

The first of the Barney series was written in 1949, long after The Children and Young Persons Act 1932 which introduced supervision orders for children at risk, and a year after the Children Act (1948) which transferred responsibility for care for destitute children from the Poor Law Guardians, approved schools and voluntary organisations to new local authority Children’s Departments, with trained Children’s Officers.

It might, of course, be argued that Barney ‘slipped through the net’. Nevertheless, we must remember that Barney’s plight was known to many responsible adults who should have done something to help this destitute child.

Shame on you Miss Pepper for turning a blind eye to this child’s desperate plight.
Shame on you Mr King for turning a blind eye to this child’s desperate plight.
Shame on you Mr & Mrs Lynton for turning a blind eye to this child’s desperate plight.

Further:
Shame on you Tessie Lorimer for keeping your son ignorant to the whereabouts of his father.
Shame on you Barnabas Martin for your utter selfishness just a few months after vowing to your new bride: “"I, Barnabas Martin, Take you, Tessie Lorimer, To be my wife; To have and to hold, from this day forward, For better, for worse, For richer, for poorer, In sickness and in health, To love and to cherish, 'Till death do us part.".
Shame on you.

Shame on you all.

Anyway, now that I’ve got that off my chest, I think I’ll re-read some of the Barney series. I understand the Rubadub Mystery is a right tear-jerker and that everything turns out all right in the end.

And that let's all of the above off the hook and makes it all okay.

Doesn’t it?
Sally
Posts: 343
Joined: 16 Jul 2010, 17:14
Favourite book/series: Adventure Series, Barney Rs and Find-Outers
Favourite character: Barney, Philip Mannering, Fatty and Bill Smugs

Re: Why wasn’t Barney taken into care?

Post by Sally »

Wow! Glad you managed to get that off your chest. As Barney is one of my two favourite EB characters (Fatty being the other) I have already had similar thoughts in some respects.

You are obviously very knowledgeable about the law on homeless children in hte 1940s. I have always thought along the lines that children could leave school at 14 at that time (as my parents did in the late 20's) and then inevitably went straight into work as further education was for the select few. Barney basically seemed to live within a series of circus and fair environments, mainly in caravans when he was working (a caravan seemed to go with the job) and seemed to be able to turn his hand to anything. Why he moved so often and therefore made himself unemployed and without shelter is explained that he was looking for his father and wanted to travel for that reason.

EB mentioned once that he had never been to school - that was unlikely as he was smart, intelligent, articulate, well mannered and read Shakespeare for interest (and to learn more about his father's work). I always assumed he had attended a variety of schools as he travelled the country with his mother, who appeared to have done a good job bringing him up with the right values.

EB claimed that Tessie Lorrimer "ran away" from Barney's father after three months and we can only assume that whatever her reasons she kept his existence a secret so that she wouldn't lose him - his middle class father and grandmother would have wanted him to be properly educated, probably at boarding school, if they had known of his existence then. She probably thought he was happy and well and he appeared to be all she had. She obviously still cared for her husband as she named her son after him!

As far as his marriage was concerned, Barney's father was on the receiving end of this, and despite being a very attractive man and a presumably successful actor, never remarried. She must have hurt him a great deal. Once he knew of Barney's existence, he appeared to be a good and loving father.

As far as the other adults are concerned - totally agree. Mr King as a police officer could have started an investigation - to find a Shakespearian actor from the 30s who married a Teresa Lorimer in 1933 from my calculations and a photograph of Barney could have been circulated with the Royal Shakespeare Company. But then there would have been no story after the first book! Richard Lynton could also have helped. Miss Pepper did, eventually, when Barney's father's name and home town was known.
One thing is for sure - an army of social workers would be involved now!
User avatar
Lucky Star
Posts: 11484
Joined: 28 May 2006, 12:59
Favourite book/series: The Valley of Adventure
Favourite character: Mr Goon
Location: Surrey, UK

Re: Why wasn’t Barney taken into care?

Post by Lucky Star »

As Sally has said the series would have come to a pretty dismal end if responsible adults had taken Barney into care at the start of The Rockingdown Mystery as they should have. In real life it is inconceivable that Barney could have lived the way he did. If the kindly and matrinly Miss Pepper had not stepped in then surely Mr King or some of the other police officers the gang meet would have. And if not them then any of a thousand or so other adults whom Barney would have met while tramping around who would surely have wondered what such a young boy was doing all alone.

It was down to Enid Blyton's genius that she managed to create this romantic and tragic figure as a hero. Every child reader could both pity and envy Barney in equal measure. Barney as just another boy would have made the series much less exciting as indeed is proven when he does become just another boy. It can be no coincidence that in the final two books the title of "Most Interesting Charcter" shifts to the similarly orphaned Snubby!

Last but not least; although she may not have had it in mind at the beginning, the way Enid Blyton created Barney led up to the single most powerful and emotional page of text out of all the millions of pages she produced. The scene where Barney confronts the man he has been led to believe is his father is one that I can almost quote verbatim after all these years. Sometimes we just have to suspend belief and reality a little when we read fiction. Barney is one of those cases, there could have been no series without his peculiar set of circumstances.
"What a lot of trouble one avoids if one refuses to have anything to do with the common herd. To have no job, to devote ones life to literature, is the most wonderful thing in the world. - Cicero

Society Member
User avatar
Fiona1986
Posts: 10527
Joined: 01 Dec 2007, 15:35
Favourite book/series: Five Go to Smuggler's Top
Favourite character: Julian Kirrin
Location: Dundee, Scotland
Contact:

Re: Why wasn’t Barney taken into care?

Post by Fiona1986 »

I wonder if at 14 Barney may not have been covered by children's acts of the day.
"It's the ash! It's falling!" yelled Julian, almost startling Dick out of his wits...
"Listen to its terrible groans and creaks!" yelled Julian, almost beside himself with impatience.


World of Blyton Blog

Society Member
carpediem
Posts: 417
Joined: 29 Aug 2005, 23:01
Favourite book/series: Five Find Outers, Barney Series
Favourite character: Anyone who's a wrong 'un
Location: Scotland

Re: Why wasn’t Barney taken into care?

Post by carpediem »

Fiona1986 wrote:I wonder if at 14 Barney may not have been covered by children's acts of the day.
Hi Fiona,
The Children Act 1948 - for those children who were orphaned or deserted - provided that local authorities had a duty to put a child under 17 into care in the interests of its welfare if it appeared that:

* the child had neither parent nor guardian;
* the child had been abandoned by parents or guardians; or
* the parents or guardians were unable, due to mental, physical or other incapacity, to provide for the child's proper accommodation, maintenance and upbringing.


I simply mention this because at the time of writing The Rockingdown Mystery (1949) Enid would have been very aware of this Act. The fact that she chose to write a new series with a new hero, who lived a carefree, romantic existence, free from all state interference, both in regards to his schooling and welfare, would have been a very bold thing to do. Maybe she was making a point that free spirits, such as Barney, ought not to be institutionalised. In any case, I'm sure her army of child readers would have loved this new character. And the fact that it is middle-class, family values which win out in the end to rescue poor Barney would make her writings all the more sweeter.

Sally wrote:Wow! Glad you managed to get that off your chest. As Barney is one of my two favourite EB characters (Fatty being the other) I have already had similar thoughts in some respects.
Hey, Sally, my two favourite characters are also Barney and Fatty! Goon comes in third for me. It's just that when I write fanfic about them, especially Fatty, I ... err ... tend to come down a bit hard on him. It must be my harsh, urban, West of Scotland upbringing. I reckon if I was born and raised in middle England I might see things differently.

Another contributor to this forum - Perce - who, I've discovered, is from a similar background to mine pleads with me to go down to Blyton days/gatherings in May. I have to gently remind him that due to the fanfic we have written and posted on this forum - basically slating characters like Fatty and his kind - that we don't deserve to join such an esteemed gathering of Blyton thoroughbreds.

And so we don't come.
dsr
Posts: 1224
Joined: 10 Dec 2006, 00:25
Location: Colne, Lancashire

Re: Why wasn’t Barney taken into care?

Post by dsr »

If children who had been abandoned by their parents had been taken into care, then maybe Anne, Dick and Julian should have been in care too? :o
DSR
User avatar
Anita Bensoussane
Forum Administrator
Posts: 26768
Joined: 30 Jan 2005, 23:25
Favourite book/series: Adventure series, Six Cousins books, Six Bad Boys
Favourite character: Jack Trent, Fatty and Elizabeth Allen
Location: UK

Re: Why wasn’t Barney taken into care?

Post by Anita Bensoussane »

carpediem wrote:...at the time of writing The Rockingdown Mystery (1949) Enid would have been very aware of this Act. The fact that she chose to write a new series with a new hero, who lived a carefree, romantic existence, free from all state interference, both in regards to his schooling and welfare, would have been a very bold thing to do. Maybe she was making a point that free spirits, such as Barney, ought not to be institutionalised.
I must admit I can't imagine Barney settling into a children's home after leading a wandering life and being so independent and self-reliant (despite the hardships that are part and parcel of such an existence). Even going to live with his father and attending boarding-school must have been difficult for him in some ways. I wonder if he sometimes felt restricted by his new middle-class life?
carpediem wrote:Another contributor to this forum - Perce - who, I've discovered, is from a similar background to mine pleads with me to go down to Blyton days/gatherings in May. I have to gently remind him that due to the fanfic we have written and posted on this forum - basically slating characters like Fatty and his kind - that we don't deserve to join such an esteemed gathering of Blyton thoroughbreds.

And so we don't come.
:lol: Your fanfic and your general posts reveal an underlying affection for Blyton's originals and are received in that spirit. A couple of hardy Scottish ponies would be very welcome at the Enid Blyton Day! :D We've already got Fiona considering making the long trek to Loddon Hall on Shanks' pony! :wink:
"Heyho for a starry night and a heathery bed!" - Jack, The Secret Island.

"There is no bond like the bond of having read and liked the same books."
- E. Nesbit, The Wonderful Garden.


Society Member
User avatar
Moonraker
Posts: 22387
Joined: 31 Jan 2005, 19:15
Location: Wiltshire, England
Contact:

Re: Why wasn’t Barney taken into care?

Post by Moonraker »

Anita Bensoussane wrote:
carpediem wrote:...that we don't deserve to join such an esteemed gathering of Blyton thoroughbreds.

And so we don't come.
:lol: Your fanfic and your general posts reveal an underlying affection for Blyton's originals and are received in that spirit. A couple of hardy Scottish ponies would be very welcome at the Enid Blyton Day! :D
Oh don't fall for that, Anita. he only wrote that to get a post begging him to attend! :wink: Good points, carpedeim, I guess you could sum up Enid's portrayal of Barney as having a large dose of dramatic licence!
Society Member
User avatar
Anita Bensoussane
Forum Administrator
Posts: 26768
Joined: 30 Jan 2005, 23:25
Favourite book/series: Adventure series, Six Cousins books, Six Bad Boys
Favourite character: Jack Trent, Fatty and Elizabeth Allen
Location: UK

Re: Why wasn’t Barney taken into care?

Post by Anita Bensoussane »

Moonraker wrote:I guess you could sum up Enid's portrayal of Barney as having a large dose of dramatic licence!
I actually find it easier to believe that Barney was left to fend for himself than to believe that he could read Shakespeare independently!
"Heyho for a starry night and a heathery bed!" - Jack, The Secret Island.

"There is no bond like the bond of having read and liked the same books."
- E. Nesbit, The Wonderful Garden.


Society Member
User avatar
Moonraker
Posts: 22387
Joined: 31 Jan 2005, 19:15
Location: Wiltshire, England
Contact:

Re: Why wasn’t Barney taken into care?

Post by Moonraker »

Anita Bensoussane wrote:
Moonraker wrote:I guess you could sum up Enid's portrayal of Barney as having a large dose of dramatic licence!
I actually find it easier to believe that Barney was left to fend for himself than to believe that he could read Shakespeare independently!
I meant that Enid injected a large dose of dramatic licence, not Barney!
Society Member
User avatar
Anita Bensoussane
Forum Administrator
Posts: 26768
Joined: 30 Jan 2005, 23:25
Favourite book/series: Adventure series, Six Cousins books, Six Bad Boys
Favourite character: Jack Trent, Fatty and Elizabeth Allen
Location: UK

Re: Why wasn’t Barney taken into care?

Post by Anita Bensoussane »

I knew you meant that, old thing!
"Heyho for a starry night and a heathery bed!" - Jack, The Secret Island.

"There is no bond like the bond of having read and liked the same books."
- E. Nesbit, The Wonderful Garden.


Society Member
User avatar
70s-child
Posts: 1264
Joined: 04 May 2009, 14:31
Favourite book/series: Adv. series, Barney series, St. Clare's, FFO
Favourite character: Snubby, Loony, Susie, Dinah, Jack Trent, Fatty
Location: New York, NY

Re: Why wasn’t Barney taken into care?

Post by 70s-child »

Carpediem, that was one heck of a post! I don't know if you intended it or not, but it had me in splits. I never thought of these issues regarding Barney (shame on me too I guess! :lol: ), but then I am not much of a Barney fan. The person I feel sorriest for is Snubby, who I think has a pretty rotten family. He may not be destitute like Barney, but I think because he doesn't have Barney's independence, he is in many ways much worse off. He is after all at the mercy of a rather cold and high-handed family, which just about tolerates him, and doesn't give him any real affection.

With regard to Barney though, my feeling is that even if these books had been written today, the author would have found a way around the legal obstacles. You could make similar arguments for Harry Potter for instance - condemned for 10 years to living with a really cruel family. But Rowling worked her way around that one. My guess is Blyton would have done the same somehow.
Sally wrote:EB mentioned once that he had never been to school - that was unlikely as he was smart, intelligent, articulate, well mannered and read Shakespeare for interest (and to learn more about his father's work). I always assumed he had attended a variety of schools as he travelled the country with his mother, who appeared to have done a good job bringing him up with the right values.
Actually, being smart, articulate, and well-mannered is not really dependent on receiving formal schooling. Plenty of people are smart and articulate while being functionally illiterate (I also know the reverse). Literacy and numeracy are certainly dependent on schooling, but a kid could acquire these through home-schooling, provided of course the adult responsible for the child is diligent and conscientious about giving the child regular lessons. It is perfectly possible that Barney was home-schooled along with other kids who belonged to the circus - this would fit given that he had pretty nomadic life.
Society Member
carpediem
Posts: 417
Joined: 29 Aug 2005, 23:01
Favourite book/series: Five Find Outers, Barney Series
Favourite character: Anyone who's a wrong 'un
Location: Scotland

Re: Why wasn’t Barney taken into care?

Post by carpediem »

70s-child wrote:Carpediem, that was one heck of a post! I don't know if you intended it or not, but it had me in splits.
Now, why would I want to do that, 70s-child?

:wink:

:lol:
Jen-Jen
Posts: 440
Joined: 03 Feb 2007, 03:14
Favourite book/series: The Boy Next Door
Favourite character: Fatty, George, Barney and Darrell
Location: Melbourne, Australia

Re: Why wasn’t Barney taken into care?

Post by Jen-Jen »

Good point Carpediem - I'd never really thought about this aspect before! It is really astonishing that not a single adult looked out for Barney when they knew his plight - especially Mr and Mrs Lyton and Miss Pepper when they were clearly aware of his being all alone.
carpediem wrote: Shame on you Mr & Mrs Lynton for turning a blind eye to this child’s desperate plight.


They also turned a bit of a blind eye to poor Snubby - who was shunted around from family to family, and never given a stable place to call home. If they couldn't even find it in their hearts to take Snubby in permanently - then it stands to reason that it would never cross their minds to take Barney in.
"I should think that if it came to pushing, Eunice might send old Fatty flying" - Larry The Mystery of the Missing Man
User avatar
Lucky Star
Posts: 11484
Joined: 28 May 2006, 12:59
Favourite book/series: The Valley of Adventure
Favourite character: Mr Goon
Location: Surrey, UK

Re: Why wasn’t Barney taken into care?

Post by Lucky Star »

Jen-Jen wrote: They also turned a bit of a blind eye to poor Snubby - who was shunted around from family to family, and never given a stable place to call home. If they couldn't even find it in their hearts to take Snubby in permanently - then it stands to reason that it would never cross their minds to take Barney in.
I actually always felt sorrier for Snubby than Barney. Barney at least had the consolations of his wild existance to bolster him, unlimited freedom etc. Barney also had a great purpose in his life; to find his father. When he did so he joined a stable and loving family. Poor old Snubby, as Jen-Jen mentioned, was just shunted around to whoever's turn it was to put up with him. I do thinl that the Lyntons should have adopted him at the end of the series or something. It would have rounded everything out nicely.
"What a lot of trouble one avoids if one refuses to have anything to do with the common herd. To have no job, to devote ones life to literature, is the most wonderful thing in the world. - Cicero

Society Member
Post Reply