Foundlings and Philanthropy in Eighteenth-Century London

The London Foundling Hospital, founded in 1739, was the first of a new kind of subscription charity, which multiplied across eighteenth-century England. Queen Caroline’s support was decisive and reflected her German background. In this lecture, John Styles (Research Professor in History, University of Hertfordshire, UK) explores how the Foundling Hospital came to initiate a new wave of enlightened philanthropy. It examines the contribution of the Hanoverian princesses, the influence of German Protestantism, and the ways art, architecture, and music were employed to raise the hospital’s profile and its revenues.