Waldo McGillicuddy Eagar (1884-1966) was, for a number of years , associated with, and warden of, the Oxford and Bermondsey Club in Southwark (then known as the Oxford and Bermondsey Mission). He played an important role in the formation and running of the National Association of Boys' Clubs. Waldo Eagar also wrote the classic statement of Principles and Aims of the Boys' Club Movement, along with Basil Henriques, Lionel Ellis and Colonel Campbell (Ellis and Campbell were joint secretaries of NABC) Later 1953 he wrote a classic history of boys' work Making Men (1953).
While living in Bermondsey Eagar began photographing the Thames and the life of the people who lived and worked along its shores. The resulting collection (a significant part of which is held in the National Maritime Museum) is described as forming 'a remarkable document of a maritime community that no longer exists' (PortCities: London undated).