Date/Time: Tuesday, 21st April 2026 at 11:00 - 12:15
Location: Foundling Museum, 40 Brunswick Square, London, WC1N 1AZ
Price: £23 per person. Member and guest £46.
Event Organiser: Nigel Bartlett. 190 Church Road, London W7 3BP
The Foundling Museum explores the history of the Foundling Hospital, which continues today as the children’s charity Coram. Artists such as William Hogarth and the composer George Frideric Handel are central to the Hospital story and today the museum celebrates the ways in which creative people have helped improve children’s lives for over 275 years.
In 1739, after 17 years of tireless campaigning, the philanthropist Thomas Coram was granted a Royal charter by King George II, enabling him to set up the UK’s first children’s charity in Bloomsbury. Unfortunately, by the early 1920s the hospital was no longer removed from the pollution of the city; it had been subsumed into central London. The trustees relocated operations to a modern purpose-built facility in Berkhamsted and the land occupied by the former Hospital was sold off. Between 1935 and 1937 the Thomas Coram Foundation (now known as Coram) built a new headquarters at 40 Brunswick Square. This new building incorporates architectural features and Rococo interiors from the original Foundling Hospital building.
The Foundling Hospital Collection includes works of art by some of Britain’s most prominent eighteenth-century artists: William Hogarth, Thomas Gainsborough, Joshua Reynolds, Louis-Francois Roubiliac and many others. These paintings and sculptures, donated by the artists themselves, were given in order to support the Foundling Hospital and effectively made the institution the UK’s first public art gallery.
Our guide, Alan, will talk about the following highlights of the museum:
- Thomas Coram & the need for a Royal Charter
- William Hogarth
- The Gin Craze (no free samples, sorry)
- London’s first art gallery
- The true life story of a foundling
- The Handel collection & the Messiah
The tour will be limited to a maximum of 12 places but, if demand is sufficient, we will run additional tours.
Event Booking
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The standard, printable event booking sheet is downloadable here.