That Perennial Favourite Refugee: Paddington Bear

Paddington on a bench with a marmalade sandwich

 I was surprised, earlier this month, to see a life-size Paddington Bear gracing a bench in the middle of the Apex here, the main shopping centre in Bury St Edmunds. Since then, for perhaps nearly a month now, I have enjoyed seeing countless toddlers and slightly older children, sitting, arms around this familiar little figure, ready for a family photo! There is a seemingly universal affection for this special little bear and I set out to discover his heritage!          

Always ready to go, with suitcase and label

In fact, he was created in a story entitled, “A Bear Called Paddington” by the author Michael Bond who had bought a teddy bear which he thought looked rather lonely in a toyshop window, as a stocking-filler for his wife on Christmas Eve, 1956, naming the bear Paddington after Paddington Station near where they lived. He modelled the refugee status of the bear on World War 11 evacuees, most of whom had been removed from family and familiar surroundings to be sent to live with strangers elsewhere in the country deemed to be safer. He remembered seeing evacuees in transit during the war, all wearing labels with their names and home addresses pinned to them and clutching little suitcases. He also became acquainted with some Jewish children who had sought sanctuary in the UK from the Nazis in Europe.  Similar to the British evacuees and those fleeing the Nazis,  Paddington had sought refuge from his native Peru and was sent to London by his Aunt Lucy with a label attached to him saying, “Please look after this bear.”  He arrived complete with suitcase which he always carried, and a love of marmalade sandwiches. Paddington’s polite label, I now recall delightedly, was re-used, probably fifty years ago, perhaps almost twenty years after his creation, by a then great friend of my youngest daughter, Cait.  When Adele was staying with us, I took a little family party on a day trip to London and to my amusement, Adele, wore a brown luggage label attached to her coat all day, which said, “Please look after this bear.” She told me it was Very Important.    

Paddington with his favourite sandwiches

Paddington became enormously popular and, as the nation took him to their heart, sales of Bond’s books soared, and he was eventually enabled to leave his full-time job at the BBC in 1965 to write full-time and begin to produce what became his wonderful legacy. In BBC Two’s Paddington, The Man Behind the Bear it was revealed that in 2010, in a letter written to the Paddington Film producer, Rosie Allison, Michael had told how Jewish children had also come to live in his home from Nazi Germany: “We took in some Jewish children who often sat in front of the fire every evening, quietly crying, because they had no idea what had happened to their parents, and neither did we, at the time. It's the reason why Paddington arrived with the label round his neck."

Paddington enables the Bond family to live here
in an elegant part of London,
at 32, Windsor Gardens

 We can easily summarise Paddington’s character and appearance in a few words: He always wears a blue duffel coat and a red hat and always, always carries a suitcase. He is a well-meaning but accident-prone bear who is unfailingly polite and generally happy, especially when marmalade sandwiches are available! Remarkably, he has two birthdays like Queen Elisabeth did; one on June 25th and one on December 25th. His official name is Paddington Brown and amazingly, it took him a Very Long Time to be granted a British passport which did not arrive until October 2024.

Paddington gets commercial

In fact, on reflection, Paddington is a powerful symbol of what refugees can bring to their host countries when they are welcomed and supported, even if they do arrive in unplanned and irregular ways. With the right help, people seeking safety can contribute a great deal to the U.K. There are many people and several organisations in the UK working to help refugees already here, to settle in and live independently, such as Right To Remain and the Anti-Racism Movement plus the Migrant Rights Network. End Mass Migration which has links to Reform, led by Nigel Farage, and the Brexit Party in the meantime are seeking to create a mass movement against immigration as are Patriotic Alternative and UKIP. These right-wing groups seek to permit limited immigration of white people who share the same ethnic background or can prove British ancestry, though white South Africans would be among the groups granted asylum due to their “descent from European nations.” Happily, the pro-immigrant groups outnumber the anti.

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Michael Bond, Creator of Paddington Bear, Dies at 91

The author’s stories about a plucky, marmalade-loving bear sold more than 35 million copies worldwide

                                Headline in June 2017.

Michael Bond with his famous creation.

Paddington and his British passport.