Person    | Male  Born 1668  Died 1751

Captain Thomas Coram

Categories: Children, Social Welfare

Countries: USA

Born Lyme Regis, Dorset, where there is now a commemorative tower. Pioneer in the cause of child welfare.

He became a Captain in the Merchant Navy trading between England and America. For several years he lived in America as a shipwright gaining a great reputation as an expert on all matters concerning the Colonies. As a staunch churchman he realised the importance of the spiritual needs of the settlers and left land in trust for the building of a church in Taunton, Massachusetts. He became a Younger Brother of Trinity House and a trustee of the Colony of Georgia and settled in London in 1720. Here, in 1739, appalled at the number of abandoned children on the streets, he obtained a Royal Charter and established the Foundling Hospital, a "hospital for the maintenance and education of exposed and deserted young children". Buried in the Church of Saint Andrew, Holborn.

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This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
Captain Thomas Coram

Commemorated ati

Coram bust

The base of the bust is inscribed "D Evans".

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Coram's Fields

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

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Coram statue

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

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Other Subjects

Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children

Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children

Founded as The Hospital for Sick Children, the first hospital in England to provide in-patient beds specifically for children. Its first premises were at 49 Great Ormond Street a converted 17th cen...

Group, Children, Medicine

5 memorials
Mary Styles

Mary Styles

One of the 11 "children of England" present on 7th July 1933 when The Princess Royal laid a foundation stone for a nurses home for the Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital.

Person, Children

1 memorial
North Islington Infant Welfare Centre and School for Mothers

North Islington Infant Welfare Centre and School for Mothers

Founded by Florence Keen.  1983 renamed 'Manor Gardens Centre'.

Group, Children, Social Welfare

2 memorials
Eton Mission Rowing Club

Eton Mission Rowing Club

From Hear the Boat Sing: "EMRC has a fascinating history and was started in the East London docklands in the late 19th century by a group of old Etonians, who saw it as their mission to help boys i...

Group, Children, Sport / Games

1 memorial
First Belgian School WW1

First Belgian School WW1

By June 1915, the population of Belgian refugees in Britain rose to 265,000. But we couldn't find anything on the web about the school in Cale Street.

Group, Children, Education, Belgium

1 memorial