Foundling Hospital

This article is about the children's home in London. For institutions for the reception of foundlings in general, see foundling hospital. For the Italian orphanage known by the same name, see Ospedale degli Innocenti.

The Foundling Hospital
SuccessorThomas Coram Foundation for Children; Ashlyns School
Formation25 March 1741; 283 years ago (1741-03-25)
FounderThomas Coram
Founded atLondon, Great Britain
Dissolved1951
TypeOrphanage
Legal statusClosed
Purpose"The education and maintenance of exposed and deserted young children"
Location
Coordinates51°31′29″N 0°07′11″W / 51.5247°N 0.1197°W / 51.5247; -0.1197
Founding Governor
William Hogarth
Governor
George Frederic Handel

The Foundling Hospital (formally the Hospital for the Maintenance and Education of Exposed and Deserted Young Children) was a children's home in London, England, founded in 1739 by the philanthropic sea captain Thomas Coram. It was established for the "education and maintenance of exposed and deserted young children."[1] The word "hospital" was used in a more general sense than it is in the 21st century, simply indicating the institution's "hospitality" to those less fortunate. Nevertheless, one of the top priorities of the committee at the Foundling Hospital was children's health, as they combated smallpox, fevers, consumption, dysentery and even infections from everyday activities like teething that drove up mortality rates and risked epidemics.[2] With their energies focused on maintaining a disinfected environment, providing simple clothing and fare, the committee paid less attention to and spent less on developing children's education. As a result, financial problems would hound the institution for years to come, despite the growing "fashionableness" of charities like the hospital.[3]

  1. ^ Chisholm 1911, p. 747.
  2. ^ McCLure, Ruth K. (1981). Coram's Children: The London Foundling Hospital in the Eighteenth Century. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. pp. 205–210.
  3. ^ McClure, Ruth K. (1981). Coram's Children: The London Foundling Hospital in the Eighteenth Century. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. p. 219.