Collections

Foundling Collection

The Foundling Museum was established as an independent organisation in 1998 by the childcare charity the Thomas Coram Foundation for Children, which is today known as Coram. Coram is the successor organisation of the original Foundling Hospital. The Museum has two principal collections: the Foundling Collection and the Gerald Coke Handel Collection.

The Foundling Collection relates primarily to the history of the Foundling Hospital between its foundation in 1739 and its closure in 1954. The Museum has agreed to purchase the Foundling Collection from Coram over a period of twenty five years.

The Gerald Coke Handel Collection relates to the life and work of the composer George Frideric Handel. The collection was assembled by Gerald Coke and includes manuscripts, printed books and music, ephemera, coins, medals and art works from the eighteenth to the twentieth century.  The Coke Collection is the largest privately held collection of Handel material and a major international research collection. It was permanently allocated to the Foundling Museum by the British Government in December 2008.

The Foundling Hospital Archive

The Foundling Museum not only showcases the Foundling Collection and the Gerald Coke Handel Collection but most importantly tells the story of the 27,000 children who passed through the Hospital between 1739 and 1954. While some important documentation dealing with the children's lives is on display at the Foundling Museum most is contained in the Foundling Hospital Archives housed at the London Metropolitan Archives. Please click here for more information.