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City of London Corporation
The London Archives

The Foundling Hospital

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13 October 2026Find out more about the Foundling Hospital collection which was established in 1739.
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The Foundling Hospital was established by Royal Charter on 17 October 1739 by Captain Thomas Coram (c.1668-1751) as a refuge for abandoned children. Its creation in the eighteenth century was unique.

a man with a full head of curls and bushy eyebrows with a neck scarf
London Picture Archive - 288789Portrait of Thomas Coram by William Hogarth, this engraving is dated 4 May, 1844.

The Foundling Hospital archives

For clarification, foundlings were children that were left by parents who weren't able to care for them in various circumstances. The London Archives looks after the collection relating to the Foundling Hospital and the archive is owned by the children's charity Coram. Some of these records have been digitised and can be viewed on their website for free.

Explore the digitised records

The records included as part of the digitisation programme are as follows:

  • A/FH/A/03/001/001-006 - General court rough minutes, 1739-1895
  • A/FH/A/03/004 - Daily Committee & House Committee minutes, 1740-1742
  • A/FH/A/03/005/001-036 - Sub-Committee minutes, 1748-1843
  • A/FH/A/08/001/001/001-025 - Petitions to ballot: admitted, rejected, 1768-1800
  • A/FH/A/08/001/002/001-090 - Petitions admitted, 1763-1881
  • A/FH/A/09/002/001-005 - General registers, 1741-1880
  • A/FH/A/09/003/001 - Parish register (London), 1767-1798
  • A/FH/A/09/001/001-203 - Billet books, 1741-1814
  • A/FH/A/10/003/004-007 - Nursery books, 1756-1812
  • A/FH/A/10/004/001-002 - Inspection books, 1749-1764
  • A/FH/A/10/006/001 - County Hospital Register: Ackworth, 1757-1772
  • A/FH/Q/01/064 - County Hospital Register: Ackworth (damaged), 1757-1770
  • A/FH/A/10/009/001 - County Hospital Register: Chester, 1763-1767
  • A/FH/A/10/007/001 - County Hospital Register: Shrewsbury, 1759-1771
  • A/FH/A/10/008/001 - County Hospital Register: Westerham, 1760-1769
  • A/FH/A/11/001/001 - Claimed children register (mostly shoe orders), 1764-1765
  • A/FH/A/11/002/001-020 - Petitions claiming children, 1758-1796
  • A/FH/A/12/003/001-003, 007 - Apprenticeship registers, 1751-1898
  • A/FH/A/14/004/001-002 - Baptism Registers, 1741-1885
A large building set back from a walled garden
London Picture Archive - 305557The Foundling Hospital, Guilford Street, 1766.

Access and data protection

In the interest of protecting the confidentiality of living individuals some documents will not be available to public access. Documents in this collection are closed for a period of 110 years from the last date in the register.

For records less than 110 years old it is advisable to contact Coram Community Campus, 49 Mecklenburgh Square, London WC1N 2QA, 020 7520 0300, www.coram.org.uk. Coram still provides counselling and advice to relatives of former foundlings.

You can find out more about the collection that is held at TLA by searching our catalogue:

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Images relating to the Foundling Hospital buildings can be explored on the London Picture Archive:

Search the London Picture Archive
a large building with people be the gates in eighteenth-century dress
London Picture Archive - 23681View of the Foundling Hospital, St Pancras, showing figures gathered at the gates to the hospital, 1749.