Barnado's Releases Photos Of U.K.'s First Fostered Children

Bernado's children — A photograph taken in 1901 of Lilian Irene Murray, born 21 September 1899 in England, who was one of the country's first fostered children. Children's charity Barnardo's has released a series of previously unseen photographs... Barnardo's

Today, the U.K.'s largest children's charity, Barnardo's, released previously unseen photographs of the first fostered children from the Victorian period. Back then, social workers didn't exist and there was no notion of the welfare state.

To celebrate the charity's 150th anniversary, Barnardo's hopes that more people will come forward to care for the estimated 52,000 children currently in foster care across the country.

"Much has changed over the past 130 years, but there are still vulnerable children who simply need someone who can always be there for them," said Barnardo's chief executive Javed Khan in a statement Friday.

Elizabeth Mouncey was the first black child to be fostered in Britain when she was sent to live with a family in Kent, photographed on April 12, 1892. Barnardo's

"Just as in Victorian times, today we're looking for people with a genuine desire to make life better for some of the country's most vulnerable children to become foster carers. Barnardo's foster carers benefit from our experience; we know how to support both you and the child you care for. If you are considering fostering, then I would urge you to get in touch with our Barnardo's foster care team."

Herbert John Ransom Adm 23 — Herbert John Ransom, one of the first fostered children in the U.K. photographed in England on June 24, 1886. Barnardo's

In 1887, Thomas Barnardo, an Irish philanthropist who believed that the U.K's most vulnerable children deserved appropriate care, sent 320 impoverished young boys to live with rural villagers in the south and east of England.

As a pioneer and the founder of the charity Barnardo's, he was the first to introduce the idea of foster care in Britain. By the time Thomas Barnardo died in 1905, the charity had opened 96 homes caring for more than 8,500 children from overcrowded, heavily polluted slums.

Medical records show that a third of the first 457 boys who were moved into foster care suffered from a variety of health ailments from bad teeth to ringworm.

Today, 75 percent of children in care in England are fostered.

According to the Fostering Network, 9,070 fostering families are needed across the U.K.