The Hospital for the Maintenance and Education of Exposed and Deserted Young Children was established in 1739. It was the ‘darling project’ of Thomas Coram who saw the need to care for infants when their parents were unable to. The Hospital underwent great changes between 1739 when its opening was a watershed event in British child welfare and 1954 when it ended its practice of institutional care. This conference aims to bring together the global community of Foundling Hospital researchers for the first time to discuss all aspects of the charity’s history, and stimulate new avenues of investigation in the institution’s archives. We invite proposals for papers on a wide-range of social or cultural history topics that focus on the institution in some capacity.


Suggestions for proposals for 20-minute paper presentations include, but are not necessarily limited to:

· Evolving ideas about the Hospital’s purpose and aims

· Motherhood, childbirth, and childrearing

· The petitioning mothers and their plight

· The foundlings and their nurse families

· Children’s health and disabilities

· Education, vocational training, and apprenticeships

· Clergy, religion, and the chapel

· Music, art, and culture at the Foundling Hospital

· Relations with government and other institutions

· Race, gender, and other intersectionalities

· Employees and/or governors

· Illegitimacy and legitimacy

· The wider social context and how it sheds light on the nature of the Foundling Hospital

We welcome proposals with a more conventional, historical focus, as well as ones that represent departures from traditional practice and embrace the creative spirit of the history of the Foundling Hospital.



All enquiries regarding the conference should be addressed to

LFHconference2023@gmail.com