Building    From 1739  To 1920

Foundling Hospital

Categories: Children, Social Welfare

England's first home for abandoned children. Established in 1739 by Captain Thomas Coram.

From the Museum's Friends Update: "On the afternoon of Wednesday 25 March {1741}, the coat of arms designed by William Hogarth was hung above the entrance to the Hospital's temporary residence in Hatton Garden. The Governors' had given public notice that:  "...on Wednesday, the 25th March, at 8 o clock at night, and from that time till the House should be full, their House will be opened for the reception of Children"  That evening the first 30 babies were admitted..."

A purpose-built 'hospital' (orphanage) in Bloomsbury was begun in 1742 and finished in October 1745.  The eastern wing for the girls was added in 1752. 

In the 1920s the children were moved to the healthier countryside, first to an old convent in Redhill, and then in 1935 to the new purpose-built Foundling Hospital in Berkhamsted. In the 1950s orphanages were largely done away with and the Foundling Hospital ceased most of its operations. The Berkhamsted buildings are now used by Ashlyns School.

The Bloomsbury buildings were demolished shortly after 1926 and the site is now occupied by Coram's Fields. The charitable work is continued by Thomas Coram Foundation for Children in buildings just to the north of the Fields.

The Governors included Handel and Hogarth

Comments are provided by Facebook, please ensure you are signed in here to see them

This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
Foundling Hospital

Commemorated ati

Coram's Fields

These grounds, the site of the Foundling Hospital, established in 1739 by Cap...

Read More

Coram's fountain

The lamb relief is also carved on the rim of the fountain.

Read More

Foundling pavement plaque

We had spotted this unusual plaque in 2015 but put it on the long finger. The...

Read More

Jim Gaffney

Jim Gaffney, 1941 - 2002. Jim spent his life helping vulnerable children. H...

Read More

This section lists the memorials created by the subject on this page:
Foundling Hospital

Creations i

Collingham Garden

Collingham Garden The use of this ground for the welfare of children for all...

Read More

Coram statue

The base of the statue is inscribed "Wm. MacMillan Sc. 1963". The pose is tak...

Read More

Other Subjects

Rose Lucetta Elliott

Rose Lucetta Elliott

Drowned in the 1898 HMS Albion disaster, aged 17. Buried in grave 2 at the memorial in East London Cemetery.

Person, Children, Tragedy

1 memorial
Holly Susan Whitlock

Holly Susan Whitlock

2015: Our colleague Andrew Behan has been register-diving again and writes: "I think that this three year old girl was Holly Susan Whitlock. The registers record her death in the Borough of Camden,...

Person, Children

1 memorial
Emily Yeates

Emily Yeates

Born Horton, daughter of William Wlllson Yeates. See there for information about her family. Buried in St Michaels churchyard Horton,13 February 1835.  

Person, Children, Friend / family

1 memorial
Queenie Isabella White

Queenie Isabella White

Drowned in the 1898 HMS Albion disaster, aged 1. Buried in grave 3 at the memorial in East London Cemetery.

Person, Children, Tragedy

1 memorial
Rita Ferguson

Rita Ferguson

We think Ferguson lived locally and was involved in the community at the Grove Estate, possibly in a role for the Hyde Housing Association.

Person, Children, Gardens / Agriculture

1 memorial

Previously viewed

Paul Mervyn Pascall

Paul Mervyn Pascall

N6, Church Road, All Saints Church

The last digit of the year is difficult to decipher, but we've plumped for 1918 being the year. The cross is planted in a heap of stones...

War dead | WW1
1 subject commemorated
Sir Thomas Fowell Buxton (d.1915)

Sir Thomas Fowell Buxton (d.1915)

Politician. Born Essex. Grandson of the first baronet.  Governor of South Australia. Died in a cottage at Cromer, rather than in his nearby family seat, Colne House, because at the time, WW1, that ...

Person, Politics & Administration, Race Issues, Social Welfare, Australia

0 memorials
Elizabeth Fry

Elizabeth Fry

Prison reformer.  Born as Elizabeth Gurney in Norwich into a Quaker banking family. Priscilla Wakefield was her aunt. She first visited Newgate prison in 1813 and was appalled at the conditions of ...

Person, Seriously Famous, Social Welfare

2 memorials
William George Armstrong

William George Armstrong

Born Newcastle. Armaments manufacturer and industrialist.  Developed the hydraulic accumulator.

Person, Industry

2 memorials
H. G. Wells

H. G. Wells

Born Bromley, Kent. Wrote "The Time Machine", "The War of the Worlds", "The History of Mr Polly" (1909). Married twice but believed in and practised free love. Had many affairs, his mistresses incl...

Person, Literature, Seriously Famous

11 memorials