Foundling Museum
Britain’s first children’s charity and public art gallery under one roof: Thomas Coram’s 18th-century Foundling Hospital, supported by Handel, Hogarth and friends. The museum pairs heartbreaking ‘tokens’ left by mothers with grand period rooms, paintings and music. It’s intimate, moving and cultural at once; allow 60–90 minutes and don’t skip the audio or volunteer talks.
Opening Hours
What's not to miss inside?
Tokens of Identity
Tiny objects with vast storiesPins, fabric scraps and coins were kept so a parent might later prove a child was theirs.
📍 Ground floor, Intro gallery
Hogarth & the Artists’ Room
Art in service of charityHogarth persuaded leading artists to donate works—Britain’s first proto-public gallery was born to help children.
📍 First floor, period rooms
Handel & the Hospital
Music that paid the billsAnnual performances of ‘Messiah’ raised funds and awareness, fusing London’s culture with its conscience.
📍 Handel Room
Committee Room
Hard choices in a beautiful spaceMothers pleaded here; art dignified a process often shaped by scarcity.
📍 First floor
Inspire your Friends
- Mothers did not sign names: tokens and meticulously recorded descriptions were the only link if circumstances later changed.
- The Foundling Hospital effectively created London’s first public art gallery—Hogarth’s idea to attract donors with great paintings.
- Handel conducted fundraising performances of ‘Messiah’ for the Hospital; the work became tied to the charity in Londoners’ minds.
