Foundling Hospital

The Foundling Hospital
	1753 engraving of the Foundling Hospital building, now demolished
	1889 map of Bloomsbury, showing the Foundling Hospital
Successor	Thomas Coram Foundation for Children; Ashlyns School
Formation	25 March 1741
Founder	Thomas Coram
Founded at	London, Great Britain
Dissolved	1951
Type	Orphanage
Legal status	Closed
Purpose	"The education and maintenance of exposed and deserted young children"
Location	Lamb's Conduit Field, Bloomsbury;
Coordinates	51°31′29″N 0°07′11″W / 51.5247°N 0.1197°W
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]

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

[FOOTNOTEChisholm1911747-1] 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.

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