Captain Thomas Coram (1668 – 1751) was a philanthropist. He was concerned about the care of foundlings, infants who were abandoned by their parents and cared for by others. Coram founded the Foundling Hospital to look after abandoned children in London. In 1741, the first children were admitted. Coram’s statue by the sculptor William Calder Marshall, was erected in 1856, onto the central pier of the Foundling Hospital’s gateway at Coram Fields. The statue was moved in 1935, when the Foundling Hospital relocated to Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire. The work of the charity has evolved and today is known as “Coram” and continues to provide support to children from its original London site.
