Abstract
THE term ‘foundling’ has been immortalized in the public memory by Thomas Coram’s Foundling Hospital, established in 1741, though the problem of abandoned children has existed far longer. ‘Foundling’ is first used in England in the fourteenth century and from the beginning took on its current meaning of ‘a deserted infant whose parents are unknown, a child whom there is no one to claim’.1 One of the chief problems in integrating foundlings into society was that of identity. By around 1400 it was common practice in England for an individual to have a personal name and an hereditary surname to distinguish themselves from others in the local community.2 In most cases this was not a complicated process as, for instance, William the son of John Smith, would be known as William Smith. Equally, in the case of illegitimate births when the father was unknown, the child would take the surname of the mother.3
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