E's father was an engineer on a steam ship. He died of a heart attack when the ship was in a Russian port. The stress of this caused his wife to have a breakdown and she was put into an asylum. They were a "respectable" family and although the elder brother wanted the younger children to go into the Society's care, he was concerned about them mixing with the "lower class of children". E went into the St Michael's Orphanage in Chislehurst in April 1895. He returned to live with his brother in 1903.
