Women holding their children at the entrance gates of the Foundling Hospital
Women holding their children at the entrance gates of the Foundling Hospital
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Women holding their children at the entrance gates of the Foundling Hospital
p538251x (Collage 23680)
London Metropolitan Archives: Lysons' Environs of London
Destitute women with their babies are queuing up at the gates, to leave their children at the Foundling Hospital. The hospital opened in 1741 to look after abandoned children. When the children were admitted they would be renamed. Originally on admission, mothers would leave a “token” such as a coin, jewellery or needlework, and this would be kept at the hospital, in order to be able to identify them, if they later returned to be reunited with their child. Some of these tokens are on display at the Foundling Museum in London. The engraving depicts the hospital building behind the entrance gates and two statues. Below the image are two verses of prose.
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