Wikipedia

Foundling Hospital

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

TheFoundling Hospital(formally theHospital for the Maintenance and Education of Exposed and Deserted Young Children) was a children's home inLondon,England,founded in 1739 by thephilanthropicsea captainThomas 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 combatedsmallpox,fevers,consumption,dysenteryand 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]

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″N0°07′11″W/ 51.5247°N 0.1197°W/51.5247; -0.1197
Founding Governor
William Hogarth
Governor
George Frederic Handel

Early history

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Foundation

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The Foundling Hospital was first located inHatton Garden
The same statues from the Foundling Hospital located inHatton Gardenare above the side door of the nearSt Andrew Holborn.Thomas Coram,founder of the Foundlings' Hospital is buried here, his remains were translated from his foundation in the 1960s.

Thomas Coram presented his first petition for the establishment of a Foundling Hospital toKing George IIin 1735. The petition wassigned by 21 prominent womenfromaristocratic families,whose names not only lent respectability to his project, but made Coram's cause "one of the most fashionable charities of the day".[4]Two further petitions, with male signatories from thenobility,professional classes,gentry,andjudiciary,were presented in 1737.[5]The founding royal charter, signed byKing George II,was presented by Coram at a distinguished gathering at 'Old'Somerset Houseto theDuke of Bedfordin 1739.[6]It contains the aims and rules of the hospital and the long list of founding governors and guardians: this includes 17dukes,29earls,6viscounts,20barons,20baronets,7privy counsellors,thelord mayorand 8aldermenof the City of London; and many more besides.[7]The building was constructed between 1742 and 1752 byJohn Deval,the King's Master Mason.[8]

The first children were admitted to the Foundling Hospital on 25 March 1741, into a temporary house located inHatton Garden.At first, no questions were asked about child or parent, but a note was made of any 'particular writing, or other distinguishing mark or token' which might later be used to identify a child if reclaimed. These were often marked coins, trinkets, pieces of fabric or ribbon, playing cards, as well as verses and notes written on scraps of paper. On 16 December 1758, the hospital governors decided to provide receipts to anyone leaving a child making the identifying tokens unnecessary.[9]Despite this, the admission records show that tokens continued to be left.[10]Clothes were carefully recorded as another means to identify a claimed child. One entry in the record reads, "Paper on the breast, clout on the head." The applications became too numerous, and a system of balloting with red, white and black balls was adopted. Records show that between 1 January 1750 and December 1755, 2523 children were brought for admission, but only 783 taken in. Private funding was insufficient to meet public demand.[11]Between 1 June 1756 and 25 March 1760, and with financial support from Parliament, the hospital adopted a period of unrestricted entry. Admission rates soared to highs of 4,000 per year.[12]By 1763 admission was by petition, requiring applicants to provide their name and circumstances.[13]Children were seldom taken after they were 12 months old, except for war orphans.[14]

On reception, children were sent towet nursesin the countryside, where they stayed until they were about four or five years old. Due to the fact that many of these nurses lived outside of London it was necessary to involve a network of voluntary inspectors, who were the hospital's representatives.[15]Although the hospital governors had no specific plan for who these inspectors were, in practice it was often local clergy or gentry who performed this role.[16]

At the age of 16, girls were generallyapprenticedasservantsfor four years; at 14, boys were apprenticed into a variety of occupations, typically for seven years. There was a small benevolent fund for adults.[1]

The London hospital was preceded by theFoundling Hospital, Dublin,founded 1704, and theFoundling Hospital, Cork,founded 1737, both funded by government.[17]

The new hospital

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In September 1742, the stone of the new hospital was laid on land acquired from theEarl of SalisburyonLamb's Conduit FieldinBloomsbury,an undeveloped area lying north ofGreat Ormond Streetand west ofGray's Inn Lane.The hospital was designed by Theodore Jacobsen as a plain brick building with two wings and achapel,built around an opencourtyard.The western wing was finished in October 1745. An eastern wing was added in 1752 "in order that the girls might be kept separate from the boys". The new Hospital was described as "the most imposing single monument erected by eighteenth century benevolence".[18]

In 1756, theHouse of Commonsresolved that all children offered should be received, that local receiving places should be appointed all over the country, and that the funds should be publicly guaranteed. A basket was accordingly hung outside the hospital; the maximum age for admission was raised from two months to 12, and a flood of children poured in fromcountry workhouses.In less than four years 14,934 children were presented, and a vile trade grew up amongvagrants,who sometimes became known as "Coram Men", of promising to carry children from the country to the hospital, an undertaking which they often did not perform or performed with great cruelty. Of these 15,000, only 4,400 survived to be apprenticed out. The total expense was about £500,000, which alarmed the House of Commons. After throwing out abillwhich proposed to raise the necessary funds by fees from a general system ofparochialregistration, they came to the conclusion that the indiscriminate admission should be discontinued. The hospital, being thus thrown on its own resources, adopted a system of receiving children only with considerable sums (e.g., £100), which sometimes led to the children being reclaimed by the parent. This practice was finally stopped in 1801; and it henceforth became a fundamental rule that no money was to be received. The committee of inquiry had to be satisfied of the previous good character and present necessity of the mother, and that the father of the child had deserted both mother and child, and that the reception of the child would probably replace the mother in the course of virtue and in the way of an honest livelihood. At that time,illegitimacycarried deep stigma, especially for the mother but also for the child. All the children at the Foundling Hospital were those of unmarried women, and they were all first children of their mothers. The principle was in fact that laid down byHenry FieldinginThe History of Tom Jones, a Foundling:"Too true I am afraid it is that many women have become abandoned and have sunk to the last degree of vice [i.e.prostitution] by being unable to retrieve the first slip. "[1]

There were some unfortunate incidents, such as the case ofElizabeth Brownrigg(1720–1767), a severely abusive Fetter Lanemidwifewho mercilessly whipped and otherwise maltreated her adolescent female apprentice domestic servants, leading to the death of one, Mary Clifford, from her injuries, neglect and infected wounds. After the Foundling Hospital authorities investigated, Brownrigg was convicted of murder and sentenced to hang atTyburn.Thereafter, the Foundling Hospital instituted more thorough investigation of its prospective apprentice masters and mistresses.[19]

Music and art

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William Hogarth's portrait ofThomas Coram.

The Foundling Hospital grew to become a very fashionable charity, and it was supported by many noted figures of the day in high society and the arts. Its benefactors included a number of renowned artists, thanks to one of its most influential governors, the portrait painter andcartoonistWilliam Hogarth.[20]

Art

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Hogarth, who was childless, had a long association with the hospital and was a founding governor. He designed the children's uniforms and thecoat of arms,and he and his wife Jane fostered foundling children. Hogarth also decided to set up a permanent art exhibition in the new buildings, encouraging other artists to produce work for the hospital. By creating a public attraction, Hogarth turned the Hospital into one of London's most fashionable charities as visitors flocked to view works of art and make donations. At this time, art galleries were unknown in Britain, and Hogarth's fundraising initiative is considered to have established Britain's first ever publicart gallery.[21]

Several contemporary English artists adorned the walls of the hospital with their works, includingSir Joshua Reynolds,Thomas Gainsborough,Richard WilsonandFrancis Hayman.Hogarth himself painted a portrait of Thomas Coram for the hospital, and he also donated hisMoses Brought Before Pharaoh's Daughter.His paintingMarch of the Guards to Finchleywas also obtained by the hospital after Hogarth donated lottery tickets for a sale of his works, and the hospital won it. Another noteworthy piece isRoubiliac's bust of Handel. The hospital also owned several paintings illustrating life in the institution byEmma Brownlow,daughter of the hospital's administrator. In the chapel, thealtarpiecewas originallyAdoration of the MagibyCasali,but this was deemed to looktoo Catholicby the hospital'sAnglicangovernors, and it was replaced byBenjamin West's picture ofChristpresenting a little child. William Hallett, cabinet maker to nobility, produced all the wood panelling with ornate carving, for the court room.[1]

Exhibitions of pictures at the Foundling Hospital, which were organised by theDilettante Society,led to the formation of theRoyal Academyin 1768.[1]The Foundling Hospital art collection can today be seen at theFoundling Museum.[22]

Music

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The chapel as drawn byThomas RowlandsonandAugustus Charles Puginfor Ackermann'sMicrocosm of London(1808-11)
Uncompleted admission ticket for the May 1750 performance of Handel'sMessiah,including the arms of the hospital

In May 1749, the composerGeorge Frederic Handelheld abenefit concertin the Hospital chapel to raise funds for the charity, performing his specially composedchoral piece,theFoundling Hospital Anthem.The work included the "Hallelujah" chorus from recently composedoratorio,Messiah,which had premiered in Dublin in 1742. On 1 May 1750 Handel directed a performance ofMessiahto mark the presentation of theorganto the chapel. That first performance was a great success and Handel was elected a Governor of the hospital on the following day. Handel subsequently put on an annual performance ofMessiahthere, which helped to popularise the piece among British audiences. He bequeathed to the hospital a fair copy (full score) of the work.[21]

The musical service, which was originally sung by the blind children only, was made fashionable by the generosity of Handel. In 1774,Dr Charles Burneyand a SignorGiardinimade an unsuccessful attempt to form in connection with the hospital a public music school, in imitation of thePio Ospedale della PietàinVenice,Italy.In 1847, however, a successful juvenile band was started. The educational effects of music were found excellent, and the hospital supplied many musicians to the bestarmy and navy bands.[1]

Relocation

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In the 1920s, the Hospital decided to move to a healthier location in the countryside. A proposal to turn the buildings over for university use fell through, and they were eventually sold to aproperty developercalled James White in 1926. He hoped to transferCovent Garden Marketto the site, but the local residents successfully opposed that plan. In the end, the original Hospital building was demolished. The children were moved toRedhill, Surrey,where an old convent was used to lodge them, and then in 1935 to the new purpose-built Foundling Hospital inBerkhamsted,Hertfordshire.When, in the 1950s, British law moved away frominstitutionalisationof children toward more family-orientated solutions, such asadoptionandfoster care,the Foundling Hospital ceased most of its operations. The Berkhamsted buildings were sold toHertfordshire County Councilfor use as a school (Ashlyns School)[23]and the Foundling Hospital changed its name to theThomas Coram Foundation for Childrenand currently uses the working name Coram.[24]

Today

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Autumn 2017 in Coram Fields

The Foundling Hospital still has a legacy on the original site. Seven acres (28,000 m2) of it were purchased for use as a playground for children with financial support from the newspaper proprietorLord Rothermere.This area is now calledCoram's Fieldsand owned by an independent charity, Coram's Fields and the Harmsworth Memorial Playground.[25]The Foundling Hospital itself bought back 2.5 acres (10,000 m2) of land in 1937 and built a new headquarters and a children's centre on the site. Although smaller, the building is in a similar style to the original Foundling Hospital and important aspects of the interior architecture were recreated there. It now houses theFoundling Museum,an independent charity, where the art collection can be seen.[26]The original charity still exists as Coram, registered under the nameThomas Coram Foundation for Children.[27]The surviving Foundling Hospital's Archive covers the years 1739 to 1954. 23% of those records, covering the period of 1739 to 1899 have been digitised, transcribed and made available online (as of October 2024).[28][29]

In fiction

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In the 1840sCharles Dickenslived in Doughty Street, near the Foundling Hospital, and rented a pew in the chapel. The foundlings inspired characters in his novels including the apprentice Tattycoram inLittle Dorrit,and Walter Wilding the foundling inNo Thoroughfare.In "Received a Blank Child", published inHousehold Wordsin March 1853, Dickens writes about two foundlings, numbers 20,563 and 20,564, the title referring to the words "received a [blank] child" on the form filled out when a foundling was accepted at the hospital.[30]

The Foundling Hospital is the setting forJamila Gavin's 2000 novelCoram Boy.The story recounts elements of the problems mentioned above, when "Coram Men" were preying on people desperate for their children.[31]

It appears in three books byJacqueline Wilson:Hetty Feather,Sapphire BatterseaandEmerald Star.In the first story,Hetty Feather,Hetty has just arrived in the hospital, after her time with her foster family. This book tells us about her new life in the Foundling Hospital. InSapphire Battersea,Hetty has just left the hospital and speaks ill of it. The Foundling Hospital is mentioned inEmerald Star,although it is mainly about Hetty growing up.[32]

Published in 2020,Stacey Halls'The Foundling(orThe Lost Orphanin the U.S.)[33]sees the main character, Bess Bright, leave her illegitimate daughter Clara at London's Foundling Hospital. The book was aSunday TimesBest Seller.[34]

See also

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References

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  1. ^abcdefChisholm 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.
  4. ^Elizabeth Einberg, "Elegant Revolutionaries", article inLadies of Quality and Distinctioncatalogue, Foundling Hospital, London, 2018, pp. 14–15, p. 15.
  5. ^Exhibition guide:Ladies of Quality and Distinction.London: Foundling Museum. 2018. p. 2.
  6. ^Godfrey, Walter H.; Marcham, W. McB. (eds.) (1952).'The Foundling Hospital', inSurvey of London: Volume 24, the Parish of St Pancras Part 4: King's Cross Neighbourhood.London: London County Council, pp. 10–24. Retrieved 19 December 2015.
  7. ^Copy of the Royal Charter Establishing an Hospital for the Maintenance and Education of Exposed and Deserted Young Children.London: Printed for J. Osborn, at the Golden-Ball in Paternoster Row. 1739.
  8. ^Dictionary of British Sculptors 1660–1851by Rupert Gunnisp.129.
  9. ^London Metropolitan Archives: A/FH/A/03/005/003, p. 79.
  10. ^London Metropolitan Archives: A/FH/A/09/001/124-200 (Admission billets)
  11. ^Mcclure, Ruth (1981).Coram's Children: The London Foundling Hospital in the Eighteenth Century.Yale University Press. p. 78.ISBN978-0300024654.
  12. ^Levene, Alysa (2007).Childcare, Health and Mortality at the London foundling Hospital, 1741–1800: "Left to the mercy of the world".Manchester and New York: Manchester University Press. p. 7.ISBN9780719073540.
  13. ^McClure, Ruth K. (1981).Coram's children: the London Foundling Hospital in the eighteenth century.New Haven: Yale University Press. pp. 139–142.ISBN0300024657.OCLC6707267.
  14. ^McClure, Ruth K. (1981).Coram's Children: The London Foundling Hospital in the Eighteenth Century.Yale University Press. pp. 137–139.ISBN0300024657.
  15. ^Correspondence of the Foundling Hospital inspectors in Berkshire, 1757-68.Clark, Gillian (Independent researcher), Berkshire Record Society. Reading: Berkshire Record Society. 1994. pp. Xiii.ISBN0952494604.OCLC32203580.{{cite book}}:CS1 maint: others (link)
  16. ^McClure, Ruth K. (1981).Coram's children: the London Foundling Hospital in the eighteenth century.New Haven: Yale University Press. p. 47.ISBN0300024657.OCLC6707267.
  17. ^Lewis, Samuel.A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland.S. Lewis & Co, 1837, "Cork" Section.
  18. ^"Foundling Hospital".Jane Austen.Retrieved14 July2018.
  19. ^"Foundling Hospital Records Orphan Train Records".20 August 2016.Archivedfrom the original on 20 July 2017.Retrieved12 June2017.
  20. ^"William Hogarth".Coram. Archived fromthe originalon 14 July 2018.Retrieved14 July2018.
  21. ^abHowell, Caro (13 March 2014)."How Handel's Messiah helped London's orphans – and vice versa".The Guardian.Archivedfrom the original on 25 July 2017.Retrieved25 July2017.
  22. ^The Foundling Museum Guide Book,Second edition, 2009.
  23. ^"Ashlyns School, Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire".Ashlyns.herts.sch.uk. Archived fromthe originalon 27 May 2012.Retrieved19 May2012.
  24. ^"Our story".Coram. Archived fromthe originalon 14 July 2018.Retrieved14 July2018.
  25. ^"Coram's Fields and the Harmsworth Memorial Playground".Charity Commission. Archived fromthe originalon 22 January 2011.Retrieved26 July2014.
  26. ^"The Foundling Museum, registered charity no. 1071167".Charity Commission for England and Wales.
  27. ^"Thomas Coram Foundation for Children (formerly Foundling Hospital), registered charity no. 312278".Charity Commission for England and Wales.
  28. ^"Foundling Hospital Archive".Coram Story.Retrieved22 October2024.
  29. ^"Archive Catalogue".archives.coram.org.uk.Retrieved22 October2024.
  30. ^Pugh, G. (2007),London's forgotten children: Thomas Coram and the Foundling Hospital.Tempus, Stroud: pp. 81–2.
  31. ^"Coram Boy".The Guardian.1 March 2015.Retrieved14 July2018.
  32. ^"Picturing Hetty Feather".The Foundling Museum.Retrieved14 July2018.
  33. ^"The Foundling".Stacey Halls.Retrieved10 March2022.
  34. ^Hall, Stacey (2020).The Foundling.Manila Press.ISBN978-1838771409.

Bibliography

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  • Enlightened Self-interest: The Foundling Hospital and Hogarth(exhibition catalogue), Thomas Coram Foundation for Children, London 1997.
  • The Foundling Museum Guide Book.The Foundling Museum, London, 2004.
  • Gavin, Jamila.Coram Boy.London: Egmont/Mammoth, 2000:ISBN1-4052-1282-9(U.S. Edition: New York: Farrar Straus Giroux, 2001:ISBN0-374-31544-2)
  • Jocelyn, Marthe.A Home for Foundlings.Toronto: Tundra Books: 2005:ISBN0-88776-709-5
  • McClure, Ruth.Coram's Children: The London Foundling Hospital in the Eighteenth Century.New Haven: Yale University Press, 1981:ISBN0-300-02465-7
  • Nichols, R. H., and F. A. Wray.The History of the Foundling Hospital(London: Oxford University Press, 1935).
  • Oliver, Christine, and Peter Aggleton.Coram's Children: Growing Up in the Care of the Foundling Hospital: 1900-1955.London: Coram Family, 2000:ISBN0-9536613-1-8
  • Sheetz-Nguyen, Jessica A.Unwed Mothers: Victorian Women and the London Foundling Hospital.London: Continuum, 2012.
  • Zunshine, Lisa.Bastards and Foundlings: Illegitimacy in Eighteenth Century England,Columbus: Ohio State University Press, 2005:ISBN0-8142-0995-5
  • This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain:Chisholm, Hugh,ed. (1911). "Foundling Hospitals".Encyclopædia Britannica.Vol. 10 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 746–747.
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