CROSSING THE WHITE LINE

7 year old Walter faces the camera on the day of his mother, Alice Tull's funeral.

The Tull family Portrait taken at Alice Tull's funeral. Clockwise from Top: William, Edward, Daniel (father), Elsie, Walter and Cecillia. Portrait of Alice Tull (mother). All pictures Phil Vasili/Finlayson Family Collection

Walter Daniel John Tull was born on 28 April, 1888, in Folkestone, Kent. His father, Daniel Tull, was a carpenter from Barbados and worked as a ships joiner when he arrived and settled in

England at around 1876/77

. Walter’s mother, Alice Palmer, came from a family of farm labourers in West Hougham, Dover, Kent. Both Daniel and Alice were Methodists and met at Grace Hill Methodist Church.

Daniel and Alice had six children, Bertha, who died in infancy, William, Cecillia, Edward, Walter and Elsie. They lived in 16 Allendale Street, Folkestone, where Walter was born and later moved nearby to 51 Walton Street, Folkestone. Walter and his siblings went to North Board Elementary school, now called Mundella Primary School.

Sadly, in 1895, Alice, aged 42, died leaving Daniel to bring up their children alone. A year after his wife’s death, Daniel married her niece, Clara Palmer. They had a daughter, Miriam. On the 10 December, 1897, the family suffered another tragic loss when Daniel suddenly died of a heart attack, leaving Clara, aged just 27, to bring up six children.

Life in 1897 was very different to what it is today. Clara had to rely on charity to help feed her six children and pay the rent. Only William was working. Clara looked to her place of worship, the Grace Hill Methodist Chapel for support. It was decided that Edward and Walter would go to an orphanage while the other children would either work or help Clara at home with baby Miriam and the household chores. On a cold winter’s day, 24 February, 1898, the boys entered the Children’s Home and Orphanage, Bonner Road, Bethnal Green, East London.


Children’s Home and Orphanage, Bonner Road, East London. NCH Action for Children	Dr Stephenson founder of the Children’s Home and Orphanage. NCH Action for Children

Nothing could have prepared the boys for the shock of arriving in the largest city in the world. Sprawling with people, with noises and smells that overpowered, it was a far cry from the rolling hills and fresh sea air they were used to. East London, in particular, was notorious for its poverty and homelessness. Many children lived and begged on the streets. The boys arrived at the Children’s Home unsure of what their future held for them.

The Children’s Home and Orphanage was founded by Dr Thomas Stephenson, a well respected Methodist minister, who in 1869 was so moved by the plight of children living in London, he opened his first children’s home; by 1908 the organisation had grown into the National Children’s Home and Orphanage (NCHO).

For the next two years Walter and Edward lived together at the orphanage. They kept in close contact with their family back in Folkestone; they would often go back to Folkestone during holidays. Walter joined the orphanage football team and Edward, the orphanage choir. In the autumn of 1900, Edward went on a money raising tour with the choir. He was spotted by a Glaswegian family who were struck by his beautiful voice.

In November 1900, Edward was adopted by the family and moved to Glasgow leaving Walter alone at the orphanage. Fortunately for both Walter and Edward, the Glaswegian family were keen for the Tull family to remain in contact, and would frequently invite Walter and his family to their home in Scotland. The father of the family was a dentist and in later years, Edward took up a profession in dentistry.

Walter was a keen sportsman and his passion for sports probably helped him get through the next 8 years without Edward, whom he’d always been very close to. He excelled at cricket, but it was football that captured his imagination. After completing his elementary schooling Walter was apprenticed to the Home’s printing department.


Mundella Primary School, formerly known as North Board Elementary, where Walter and his siblings went. Dover War Memorial Project	Walter Tull pictured in the orphanage football team. Phil Vasili/Finlayson Family collection

The Tull family. Clockwise from Top: William, Edward, Daniel (father), Miriam, Walter and CecilliaPhil Vasili/Finlayson Family collection

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