The History and Design of the Foundling Hospital
With a Memoir of the Founder

This 1858 account of Thomas Coram's Foundling Hospital, opened in London in 1741, complements the author's Chronicles (1847).

John Brownlow (Author)

9781108069434, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 19 February 2015

160 pages, 3 b/w illus.
24.4 x 17 x 0.9 cm, 0.27 kg

Captain Coram's Foundling Hospital was opened in London in 1741 for 'the maintenance and education of exposed and deserted young children'. Hogarth was a governor of the hospital - he donated several pictures, including his portrait of Coram - as was Handel, whose famous performances of his oratorio Messiah were given there from 1750 to raise funds. John Brownlow (1800–73), himself a foundling, became secretary of the hospital from 1849 until his retirement. He introduced improvements to the children's education and was a staunch defender of the hospital, refuting criticisms often levelled in the nineteenth century that taking in illegitimate children simply encouraged neglect. This brief account, building on his 1847 Memoranda, or, Chronicles of the Foundling Hospital (also reissued in this series), covers Coram, early supporters, the institution's paintings - which formed the first public art gallery in London - and the care of the foundlings.

1. History and objects of the charity
2. Early admission of children
3. Reasons for the existence of the charity
4. The privileges of the governors
5. Naming and baptizing of the children
6. Nursing of the children
7. The disposal of the children
8. The revenue of the hospital
9. The benevolent fund
10. The hospital and the arts
11. The chapel
12. The catacombs
13. Proposal for a music school
14. Memoir of the founder
15. Catalogue of pictures
16. List of governors and guardians.

Subject Areas: British & Irish history [HBJD1]