Thomas Coram
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Captain Thomas Coram (c. 1668 – March 29, 1751) was born in Lyme Regis, Dorset, UK. He spent much of his early life at sea and in the American colonies. From 1694 to 1705, he operated a ship building business at Taunton, Massachusetts. He afterwards became a successful merchant in London and, in 1732, a trustee of James Oglethorpe’s Georgia colony. In 1735 he sponsored a colony in Nova Scotia for unemployed artisans. As a great philanthropist Coram was appalled by the many abandoned, homeless children living in the streets of London. On October 17, 1739 he obtained a Royal Charter granted by George II establishing a "hospital for the maintenance and education of exposed and deserted young children."
In 1742-1745, the Foundling Hospital was erected in Lamb's Conduit Fields, Bloomsbury. It is said to be the world's first incorporated charity. William Hogarth was among the first governors of the hospital. He painted a famous portrait of Thomas Coram (1740; now Foundling Museum, London; reproduced in stipple by William Nutter [1754-1802] for R. Cribb in 1796), and, together with some of his fellow artists, decorated the Governors' Court Room. He contributed paintings for the benefit of the Foundation, and the Foundling Hospital became the first art gallery open to the public.
Georg Friedrich Händel allowed a concert performance of Messiah to benefit the foundation.
The hospital site is now a children's play area and petting zoo, Coram's Fields, which refuses entry to adults unaccompanied by children.
In 2000, Jamila Gavin published a children's book called Coram Boy about the Foundling Hospital. The book was adapted into a play by Helen Edmundson, which had its world premiere at the Royal National Theatre in London in November 2005.
[edit] Bibliography
- Harriet Amos and Alice Meyers: Thomas Coram: The Man Who Saved Children: London: Foundling Mueseum: 2006: ISBN 0-9551808-0-5
- Gillian Wagner: Thomas Coram, Gent: 1668-1751: Woodbridge, Suffolk/Rochester, New York: Boydell Press: 2004: ISBN 1-84383-057-4
