Orphans of Empire
The Fate of London's Foundlings
Format:Hardback
Publisher:Oxford University Press
Published:11th Apr '19
Should be back in stock very soon
This hardback is available in another edition too:
- Paperback£14.99(9780198860297)
Shortlisted for the 2019 Cundill History Prize
The fascinating story of what happened to the orphaned and abandoned children of the London Foundling Hospital, and the consequences of Georgian philanthropy. From serving Britain's growing global empire in the Royal Navy, to the suffering of child workers in the Industrial Revolution, the Foundling Hospital was no simple act of charity.Eighteenth-century London was teeming with humanity, and poverty was never far from politeness. Legend has it that, on his daily commute through this thronging metropolis, Captain Thomas Coram witnessed one of the city's most shocking sights-the widespread abandonment of infant corpses by the roadside. He could have just passed by. Instead, he devised a plan to create a charity that would care for these infants; one that was to have enormous consequences for children born into poverty in Britain over the next two hundred years. Orphans of Empire tells the story of what happened to the thousands of children who were raised at the London Foundling Hospital, Coram's brainchild, which opened in 1741 and grew to become the most famous charity in Georgian England. It provides vivid insights into the lives and fortunes of London's poorest children, from the earliest days of the Foundling Hospital to the mid-Victorian era, when Charles Dickens was moved by his observations of the charity's work to campaign on behalf of orphans. Through the lives of London's foundlings, this book provides readers with a street-level insight into the wider global history of a period of monumental change in British history as the nation grew into the world's leading superpower. Some foundling children were destined for Britain's 'outer Empire' overseas, but many more toiled in the 'inner Empire', labouring in the cotton mills and factories of northern England at the dawn of the new industrial age. Through extensive archival research, Helen Berry uncovers previously untold stories of what happened to former foundlings, including the suffering and small triumphs they experienced as child workers during the upheavals of the Industrial Revolution. Sometimes, using many different fragments of evidence, the voices of the children themselves emerge. Extracts from George King's autobiography, the only surviving first-hand account written by a Foundling Hospital child born in the eighteenth century, published here for the first time, provide touching insights into how he came to terms...
clear and instructive ... rphans of Empire makes a significant contribution to the history of the Foundling Hospital * Susannah Ottaway, Cultural and Social History *
A fascinating, beautifully written and deeply sensitive story... * Gerard DeGroot, The Times, History Books of the Year 2019 *
A creative, illuminating history of how Britain's poorest children survived and sometimes served its empire. * Helen Parr, History Today, Books of the Year 2019 *
... her honest subjectivity makes this a better book. It has a soul. Orphans of Empire is a fascinating, beautifully written story about an 18th century charity, but also a book that asks difficult questions about welfare that remain relevant today. * Gerard DeGroot, The Times *
Overturns preconceptions ... Orphans of Empire is noteworthy for Berry's meticulous examination of the records that document individual appeals and interventions. Helen Berry has produced a remarkable study, informative and impassioned. * Jenny Uglow, The Times Literary Supplement *
Her well organised, workman-like account concentrates on the 18th century and does an important job of clearing a way through a mass of repetitious detail, while acknowledging how telling and human that detail is. She is particularly good at interweaving a surviving autobiographical account by one foundling, George King, with the records of other lives. * Fiona Sampson, The Spectator *
The history of the Foundling Hospital is well known, but for those coming new to the story Berry's is a fresh and insightful introduction. Her pace is lively and her touch is light ... Helen Berry's book is a welcome addition to a crowded field. It offers an up-to-date and authoritative history of Thomas Coram's hospital that is at its most valuable when focusing on the life stories of the foundlings themselves. * Gerry White, Literary Review *
[Berry's] study is an exemplary piece of objective historical research... * John Pridmore, Church Times *
Orphans of Empire is a super book, nicely produced, with good black & white illustrations, clear endnotes and indexing, and I recommend it. * Mike Patterson, London Historians *
An excellent book ... There is a Foundling Museum at Brunswick Square and to my shame I'd never visited it until the book inspired me to go along... * Peter Gruner, Islington Tribune *
... a highly readable, hybrid popular-academic study of the London Foundling Hospital ... This book will delight readers of popular history and provides sufficient academic content to satisfy academic audiences too. It is an important book on the history of childhood, charity, education, apprenticeship, the metropolis, and empire. It is nicely illustrated and good value for money. * Samantha Williams, Family & Community History *
Orphans of Empire is a heartbreaking read that is also absolutely unputdownable. Helen Berry brings the 18th century to glorious life in a way that few historians can match, every book of hers is a treasure. * Dr. Amanda Foreman, FRSA *
ISBN: 9780198758488
Dimensions: 226mm x 152mm x 36mm
Weight: 518g
384 pages