The need for charity London in the eighteenth century was a swirling mass of contrasts. A rowdy hedonistic, gin-swilling public rubbed shoulders with gentlefolk keen to do good work. One of the worst problems affected by the social conditions in London in the early eighteenth century was the large numbers of children either entirely abandoned or thrown on the tender mercies of the parish - illegitimate children were handed over to parish officers for a lump sum. A rowdy hedonistic, gin-swilling public rubbed shoulders with gentlefolk keen to do good work. But London was late in providing welfare for these children in comparison with many other European cities. Rome, for example, already had its Conservatorio della Ruota, founded by Pope Innocent III in the thirteenth century, and Venice had La Pietà, a fourteenth-century orphanage for girls. Apathy, puritan morality and disapproval of illegitimacy (the usual reason for deserted children) produced inaction in Britain. The only establishment dealing with foundlings as well as legitimate orphans was Christ's Hospital, founded in 1552, but by 1676 the illegitimate were prohibited. During the 1720s and 30s poor children were dying at an alarming rate - medicine was not winning the battle against disease and death after decades of severe epidemics (typhus, dysentery, measles, influenza) and the Gin Craze (11.2 million gallons of spirits consumed in a year in London - roughly seven gallons per adult) was sweeping the nation with disastrous consequences. And in general, the only provision for illegitimate babies was the parish poorhouses or, from 1722, the workhouses where they frequently died of neglect. Mortality rates were extremely high: over 74% of children born in London died before they were five. In workhouses the death rate increased to over 90%. Top

Hospitals in 18th-century London In 1700 the only medical hospitals in London were the Royal Hospitals of St Bartholomew and St Thomas. There were other hospitals for special categories, such as Bethlem for the mentally ill, or Greenwich for sailors and refugees, such as the Magdalen Hospital founded to rescue penitent prostitutes, or the Marine Society for Educating Poor Destitute Boys. Between 1719 and 1750 five new general hospitals were founded in London and nine in the country. These were for the sick, but the term 'hospital' was also used for institutions concerned with the poor or destitute, as in the case of the Foundling Hospital. The 'Age of Hogarth' (who was born in 1697) was, as he commented himself, 'a golden age of English philanthropy'. The impulse towards social reform in London was largely the desire to reduce the terrible waste of life. The Foundling Hospital was one product of that great wave of philanthropic activity that took place in England during the eighteenth century. The liberal beliefs of the Latitudinarian branch of the Church of England partly accounted for this; they emphasised benevolent deeds as opposed to mere church worship, coupled with philosophical underpinnings found in the writings of John Locke, who wrote of the utility of virtue. The cult of Sensibility focused on the engagement of an individual's compassion and sense of moral or spiritual duty with the plight of the less fortunate. The impulse towards social reform in London was largely the desire to reduce the terrible waste of life. Top

Thomas Coram's struggle Captain Thomas Coram retired to Rotherhithe in 1719 after achieving success in the New World, establishing a shipwright's business in Boston, and later in Taunton, Massachusetts. In both towns he encountered anti-Anglican prejudice from the Puritan populations, culminating in a series of lawsuits. These experiences perhaps taught him to be undaunted by opposition, and fostered that perseverance which was to be his strength in later years. His reputation in England was high. Horace Walpole in a letter to Sir Robert Walpole, the Prime Minister, described him as, 'the honestest, the most disinterested, and the most knowing person about the plantations I ever talked with'. On his frequent walks through the City on winter mornings, Coram was appalled at the sight of dead and dying babies abandoned on the streets. This tragedy spurred him into action. He was 54 years old. The enterprise would turn him grey during 17 long years of pleading on the foundlings' behalf. His idea was to petition the king for a charter to create a non-profit-making organisation supported by subscriptions, but at first this met with no success. He found it impossible to gain the support of anyone influential enough to approach the king and there continued to be great opposition to the idea of a Foundling Hospital, partly because it was considered to encourage wantonness and prostitution. Top

Support from George and Caroline In 1727 George I died and George II took over the throne. His wife, Queen Caroline, was sympathetic to the rescue of foundlings even to the extent of writing a pamphlet on the Hospital for Foundlings in Paris, published after her death. Coram decided to enlist the support of noble and fashionable ladies after discovering the important role of women in the Paris hospital. The Foundling Hospital was established for the 'education and maintenance of exposed and deserted young children'. At last by 1739 - after presenting the King with numerous petitions which emphasised not only Coram's compassion for the children but also concern for their subsequent education into useful citizens - subscriptions poured in and on 17 October 1739 the King signed a Royal Charter. The Governors and Guardians of this new enterprise met to receive the Charter on 20th November 1739 at Somerset House. The group included many of the important figures of the day. The aristocracy was represented by dukes and earls; magnates and merchant bankers represented the financial world and men of standing included Dr Richard Mead (the foremost physician), the artist William Hogarth and Captain Coram himself. Thus the Foundling Hospital was established for the 'education and maintenance of exposed and deserted young children'. The first children were admitted to the Foundling Hospital on 25th March 1741, into a temporary house located in Hatton Garden. Scenes of extraordinary drama and poignancy followed as the cries of the departing mothers and children echoed through the night. The Governors began the search for a permanent site that would house the purpose-built hospital. A solution was found in the area known as Bloomsbury Fields, the Earl of Salisbury's estate, lying north of Great Ormond Street and west of Gray's Inn Lane. It consisted of 56 acres of land amidst green fields. The price was £7000, the Earl donating £500 of this to the Hospital. Top

Artists and the Foundling Hospital This institution, described as 'the most imposing single monument erected by eighteenth century benevolence', caught the public imagination and became London's most popular charity. William Hogarth, who was childless, had a long association with the Hospital and was a founding Governor. He designed the children's uniforms, the Coat of Arms, he was an Inspector for Wet Nurses, and he and his wife Jane fostered foundling children. Hogarth also decorated the walls of the hospital with works of art donated by contemporary British artists - the Governors being unwilling to spend money on such 'ornaments'. ...the Foundling Hospital provided what was in fact the first contemporary gallery of British art. His example inspired many other contemporary British artists to donate works to this pioneering and philanthropic institution. At this time Britain had no public places for artists to exhibit their works and the Foundling Hospital provided what was in fact the first contemporary gallery of British art. The artists involved with the Hospital were made governors in recognition of their generosity and started to meet there on an annual basis. The idea of instituting exhibitions of art under the aegis of a national academy was much debated by the artist-governors and is a key episode in the development of a structure that led to the founding of the Royal Academy in 1768. George Frideric Handel also supported the Hospital's charitable work by giving benefit performances of his work in the Chapel. Top

The Foundling Hospital in the 20th-century In 1742, the site of the Foundling Hospital in London was in green fields and clean air. But by 1926 the unhealthy atmosphere of the area, caused partly by the coming of the railways and pollution, forced the Hospital to move. ...by 1926, the unhealthy atmosphere of the area, caused partly by the coming of the railways and pollution forced the Hospital to move. Several ideas for the sale of the site were considered, including one in 1912 to use it for the new university buildings. Finally it was sold in 1926 to a property speculator, Mr James White, who intended to transfer Covent Garden Market there: a plan which failed because of local residents' opposition. The only casualty was the original Hospital building which was demolished. The Hospital moved the children to Redhill, Surrey; and then in 1935 to a new purpose-built school in Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire. The Berkhamsted buildings were eventually sold to Hertfordshire County Council for use as a school. Later, around seven acres of the original site was purchased, largely through the help of Lord Rothermere, to be preserved as a playground for children. This became an independent charity known today as Coram's Fields. The Foundling Hospital itself bought back 2.5 acres of land and, in 1937, 40 Brunswick Square was built as the administrative headquarters for the Foundling Hospital and a place to house the collection, followed by a Children's Centre in 1939. The hospital then began a new life as the Thomas Coram Foundation for Children. Top

Find out more Books Britons: Forging the Nation 1707-1837 by Linda Colley (Yale University Press, New Haven & London, 1992) Thomas Coram: Churchman, Empire Builder and Philanthropist by Herbert Fuller Bright Compston (1918) Thomas Coram: Projector of Two Georgias and Father of the Foundling Hospital by HB Fant (The Georgia Historical Quarterly 32, 1948) Coram Boy by Gavin, Jamilla (Mammoth 2000) Enlightened Self-interest: The Foundling Hospital and Hogarth by Rhian Harris and edited by Robin Simon (Draig Press, London 1997) Thomas Coram in Boston and Taunton by Hamilton Andrews Hill (Worcester, Mass. 1892) Survey of London: King's Cross Neighbourhood by London County Council (vol. xxiv, part iv 1952) The London Foundling Hospital in the Eighteenth Century by Ruth McClure (Yale, New Haven 1981) Charles Half and Half: The Memoirs of a Charity Brat 1908-1989 by Nalden (Moana Press, New Zealand 1990) Treasures of the Foundling Hospital by Benedict Nicholson (Clarendon Press 1972) The History of the Foundling Hospital by RH Nicols and FA Wray (Oxford University Press 1935) English Society in the Eighteenth Century by Roy Porter (Penguin, London 1982) Notebooks by George Vertue (Walpole Society, London 1933-34) Links Coram - the UK's first children's charity Top