The education of children in London’s foundling hospital, c. 1800–1825

Abstract

ABSTRACTThis article examines the education provided to the children in the London Foundling Hospital in the first quarter of the nineteenth century. These children were abandoned children, paying for the immorality of their parents. However, the Foundling Hospital provided them with an opportunity to escape their hereditary poverty. This research utilizes the education records of the London Foundling Hospital as well as its records of apprenticeship, to examine the education received by Foundling children, and the various career paths the children took during the early part of the nineteenth century.