James W C Fegan

Early Life

James William Condell Fegan was born on 27 April 1852 in Southampton, England. His father worked as a civil servant with the Ordnance Survey, and both parents were committed Nonconformist Christians. Their home was shaped by regular Bible reading, prayer, and a strong sense of Christian duty. Through his parents, James grew up aware of the early Brethren movement and figures such as John Nelson Darby, whose visits left a quiet but lasting impression.

Until the age of ten, James was educated at home by his mother. In 1865, the family moved to London, where he entered the City of London School. He proved to be an able and disciplined student and earned the respect of his headmaster, Edwin Abbott Abbott, who later gave him a glowing testimonial. Although academically successful, James felt increasingly restless and dissatisfied with a purely conventional future.

Conversion and Spiritual Awakening

In 1869, Fegan entered business as a clerk with a firm of colonial brokers in Mincing Lane. The pressures of city life, combined with his spiritual sensitivity, soon led to a crisis. In 1870, while alone and reading Scripture, he experienced a profound conversion. As he later described it, reading Romans chapter 3 brought him face to face with his own sinfulness, but also with the truth of God’s righteousness provided through Christ. That night he found peace with God, resting entirely on what Christ had accomplished on the cross.

This conversion became the decisive turning point of his life. From that moment, Fegan devoted himself wholeheartedly to Christian service.

First Steps in Christian Service

Almost immediately after his conversion, Fegan began distributing gospel tracts, though at first he was too shy to speak directly to individuals. Soon, however, he was drawn into open-air preaching and evening work at ragged schools, where he encountered boys living in extreme poverty and neglect.

A period of illness in 1871, caused by the strain of long working days followed by evening ministry, forced him to rest. During his recovery at Bognor Regis, he met a homeless boy whose condition deeply affected him. This encounter crystallised what would become his life’s calling: the rescue and restoration of neglected and homeless boys.

Founding of Fegan’s Homes

On 1 May 1872, supported by a few friends who each lent him £5, Fegan opened his first small boys’ home at Deptford, London. What began with a handful of boys quickly expanded as the scale of need became apparent. Additional premises were acquired, and in 1879 he opened the Little Wanderers’ Home at Greenwich, followed by a seaside branch at Ramsgate.

Fegan’s approach combined firm discipline with deep compassion. He believed that rescue work must address both physical need and spiritual salvation, and he insisted that every boy be treated with dignity, responsibility, and hope.

Expansion and Emigration Work

In 1882, Fegan relocated his main work to Southwark Street, close to the Thames, establishing what he described as the most centrally located rescue home in London. The building could house up to 150 boys, offering shelter, education, and vocational training in trades such as shoemaking and printing.

Believing that emigration offered many boys a real chance at a fresh start, Fegan organised his first journey to Canada in 1884, taking ten boys initially, followed later that year by fifty more. A Distributing Home was established in Toronto, enabling boys to be placed on farms across the country. Many later repaid the cost of their passage so that others could follow—a fact Fegan regarded as one of the greatest successes of the work.

Marriage and Continued Growth

In 1889, Fegan married Mary Pope, who became his closest partner in both life and ministry. For over twenty years, they lived within the Southwark Street Home itself, sharing daily life with the boys and staff. Mary’s practical wisdom, spiritual strength, and organisational ability greatly contributed to the stability and expansion of the work.

In 1900, the Greenwich Home was moved to a large former school building at Stony Stratford, Buckinghamshire, purchased in an extraordinary act of faith for £4,500, despite being worth many times that amount. The property became a major orphanage and educational centre.

Later Developments and the “Red Lamp”

In 1913, Fegan opened new headquarters at Horseferry Road, Westminster, known as “The Red Lamp”, named after the light left burning through the night to signal help available at any hour. This centre functioned as a hostel, enquiry bureau, and administrative hub.

To prepare boys for rural life overseas, Fegan also established a training farm at Goudhurst, Kent, using Canadian farming methods. This site later became his home, Blantyre Lodge.

Character and Legacy

Fegan was energetic, determined, and at times autocratic. He demanded high standards and worked relentlessly. Yet he was also deeply compassionate, humorous, and profoundly loved by the boys he rescued. To thousands, he was guide, disciplinarian, father-figure, and friend.

After his death, his widow Mary continued the work until she was tragically killed in a German air raid in 1943 during the Second World War.

Although the original homes no longer operate, Fegans, the modern charity that bears his name, continues Christian work with children, families, and churches—an enduring legacy of a life spent in sacrificial service.

James W. C. Fegan gave himself completely to rescuing the forgotten, believing that every child mattered to God—and living as if that were unquestionably true.