Coram is the oldest continuing children’s charity in the UK. It was established in 1739 as the Foundling Hospital, London, and still owns the world-famous Foundling Hospital Archive. 

Nearly 100,000 pages of Coram’s Foundling Hospital Archive are now available to view online for free. The digital archive records the lives of nearly 23,000 children who grew up in the Hospital between 1741 and 1899, as well as those of their parents, apprentice masters, Hospital staff, and others. The digital archive is also a significant source for social history, women’s history, and regional English history, as well as the history of apprenticeships, medicine, textiles, and more. 

In 1739, philanthropist Thomas Coram received a Royal Charter to establish the Foundling Hospital, a residential home in London for children whose parents were unable to care for them. The nursing, health, education, and employment of these children was the responsibility of the Hospital until they reached the age of 21. The first Foundlings were admitted on 25 March 1741, and the Hospital ran until 1954. Its work now continues as Coram, a group of specialist organisations creating better chances for thousands of children and young people each year.  

The digital archive is the culmination of Coram’s five-year programme, Voices Through Time: The Story of Care, made possible by The National Lottery Heritage Fund. 

_{^{Detailed records from admission to adulthood}} 

Each baby handed over to the Foundling Hospital was given a new name and assigned a number. From the day of their admission up until they left the Hospital, meticulous records were kept about each of them. The General Register acted as the primary record of a child’s life at the Hospital and recorded key information, such as their new name, identifying number, date of admission, and sex. On this page, all ten infants were immediately sent to live with a wet nurse in the countryside (middle column), and six were later apprenticed (final column).  

The General Register also contains medical information, such as illness, disability, smallpox inoculation, and cause of death. Separate registers record further detail about each child’s baptism, time with their county nurse, and apprenticeship.    

The heart-wrenching separation of parent and child is not often at the forefront of these bureaucratic documents. However, the day of the first admissions, 25 March 1741, is described in the Hospital’s committee minutes. It reads: ‘On this Occasion the Expressions of Grief of the women whose Children could not be admitted were Scarcely more observable than those of some of the women who parted with their Children, So that a more moving Scene can’t well be imagined.’ 

_^Tokens 

The best-known section of the Foundling Hospital Archive is the tokens collection. Tokens were small items handed in with the babies which acted as parting expressions of love from their parents and as identifiers. If parents’ circumstances changed and they became able to look after their child, they could reclaim them. In order to verify their link to a child, parents could describe the token left with them or present a matching part of it. 

The image shows fabric, ribbon, paper tokens, a fabric heart, a painted lion, a playing card, and a hornbook (a basic aide for teaching children to read and write).  In addition, parents often attached a note to the child’s wrist or clothing. The example pictured top left is a short poem: ‘Go gentle Babe! thy future hours be spent / In Vertuous purity and calm content. / Life’s sunshine Bless thee; and no anxious care / Sit on thy Brow, and draw the falling tear’. 

In reality, only around 3% of the 27,000 children admitted to the Foundling Hospital were ever reclaimed. The tokens remain pinned to the billet sheets, and can be viewed in the digital archive. Try searching for ‘token, fabric’ or ‘handwritten note’! 

_{^{Women’s stories}} 

The Foundling Hospital Archive is a rich source for the lives of 18^th– and 19^th-century women. The Committee Minutes reveal much about the role of the Matron, the girls’ schoolmistress, and other female staff members. The Nursery and Inspections Books record the names and locations of the wet nurses who raised the children until age 5, and the Inspectors, many of whom were women, who managed the nurses in their districts. The online archive also brings to light more personal pieces of women’s history. Across more than 35,000 pages, the Petitions record the formal requests by mothers to have their children admitted into the Foundling Hospital’s care. 

Mary Rosina Busby was one such mother. Her 1853 case is detailed across eleven pages. As her initial petition form (pictured, right) states, she was just 19 years old, unmarried, and entirely unable to support her one-month-old son. In her interview with the Hospital she explains how she met the father of her child, an officer in the French army, whilst studying in Calais. When he disappeared, supposedly called away on service, she returned to London and subsequently discovered her pregnancy.  

After each interview, the Secretary would make inquiries into the mother’s case. As a result, the petitions feature a plethora of voices, including corroborative letters from friends, relatives and employers, information from the doctor who attended the birth, and any letters the petitioner had received from the father.  

The petition letters provide a precious opportunity to read about women’s lives in their own words, offering a unique insight into the feelings and experiences of these mothers and the people around them. Mary’s petition ends with a character reference from Mrs. Francis, her former landlady in Calais (pictured, left). She concludes her letter with hope that ‘the poor young creature may meet with a favorable turn in her fortunes’. Mary’s son was accepted into the Foundling Hospital in January 1854, and given the name Frederick Collett (No. 20609). 

_{^{Apprenticeships}} 

The Apprenticeship Registers, which span 1751 to 1899, provide fascinating insights into the history of British trades and employment. They also enable us to follow the lives of the Foundling children beyond the Hospital and into adulthood.  

Children went to live with their apprentice master or mistress once they had finished their education at the Hospital. This was usually aged 10 or 11 in the 18^th century, and between 14 and 16 in the 19^th century. Boys were apprenticed into a wide variety of trades, from manual work like blacksmithing, iron mongering and husbandry, to more skilled trades such as bookbinding, tailoring, and musical instrument making. John Crowdhill (No. 624), for instance, was apprenticed in 1764, at the age of 14, to a watchmaker, William Harrison of Red Lyon Square, London. Other boys entered the Army or Navy, often as members of their brass band. 

When it came to girls’ apprenticeships, they were largely sent into domestic service (‘household business’). Some, however, were given their own trades, such as millinery or embroidery. Elizabeth Garton (No. 1148), was apprenticed to a tailor to learn ‘mantua making’ (dressmaking). As this page shows, the registers detail the full name, occupation and address of each apprentice master/mistress, making these a valuable source for research before 1841 and the start of the modern census.  

The notion that the children should be set up with specific skills to find future employment was one of the Foundling Hospital’s guiding principles. The Governors took pains to find alternative placements if either apprentice or master were unhappy. In the case of John Crowdhill, the apprenticeship was a success. He remained with his master until age 24, after which he set up his own watchmaking business.  

_^Disability 

The Foundling Hospital admitted children with visible and invisible disabilities and provided treatment for their conditions according to medical practice at the time. As shown on this page of meeting minutes, on 21 June 1783, the Sub-Committee approved the apothecary’s recommendation of providing cold baths to these children with physical ‘disorders’ and ‘weakness’. Other children received prosthetic limbs, learning aids, and treatments outside the Hospital. Blanch Thetford (No. 7538) was given a new invention, a board for ‘teaching Blind Persons Musick’. 

The Hospital was committed to caring for all Foundlings until age 21 and provided disabled children with the same care, education, and apprenticeship opportunities as their non-disabled peers. Martha Hare (No. 16854), seen on this page, was apprenticed in domestic service to a haberdasher on Wigmore Street, London. Hussey Fleet (No. 16855), also here, was apprenticed to a watch enamel dial plate maker on Old Street, London. 

Not every disabled child was able to take up an apprenticeship and support themselves as adults, however. These remained at the Hospital and were found work commensurate with their abilities. For example, Mary Elson (No. 1002), who was d/Deaf, worked in the kitchen, while Blanch Thetford became the principal music teacher at the Hospital.  

At a time when society was unwilling to accommodate people with disabilities, or offer them opportunities, archival records show that the Foundling Hospital recognised its duty of care towards the disabled community under its roof. 

_{^{Exploring the Foundling Hospital Archive online}} 

Coram’s digital archive makes in-depth exploration of the Foundling Hospital’s history easier than ever. Every image of a handwritten page has an accompanying transcript, meaning these records are searchable and accessible. The complete list of Foundlings (pictured) acts as an entry point for research into an individual child. It collates their key information and, unlike the paper records, links the parents’ names with the child. The additional functionality offered by the site provides researchers with opportunities for ‘data mining’ across 160 years of archival records. 

Whether your interest is in family history, women’s history, social history, military history, or the history of healthcare, education, and employment, the online Foundling Hospital Archive has something to offer. These unique records give a voice to unheard experiences which can now be accessed by anyone, anywhere in the world. 

Delve into the digital archive at this link.