Thomas Coram: Difference between revisions

{{Short description|Seventeenth and eighteenth-century English businessman and philanthropist (d. 1751)}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=DecemberMarch 20172024}}

| name = harryThomas chealCoram

| birth_date = c. {{Circa|1668}}

| birth_place = [[Lyme Regis]], [[Dorset]],<br/> [[Kingdom of Great BritainEngland|Great BritainEngland]]

| death_place = [[London]], [[Kingdom of Great Britain|Great Britain]]

| spouse = jucyEunice Waite

[[Sea captain|Captain]] '''Thomas Coram''' (c. {{Circa|1668}} – 29 March 1751) was aan English sea captain and philanthropist who created the London [[Foundling Hospital]] in Lamb's Conduit Fields, [[Bloomsbury]], to look after abandoned children on the streets of London. It is said to be the world's first incorporated charity.

HarryChealThomas Coram was born in [[Lyme Regis]], Dorset, England. His father is believed to have been a master mariner.{{sfn|Howell|2014|p=10}} He was sent to sea at age 11. As such, he never received a proper education.{{sfn|Wagner|2004|p=7}} {{sfn|Staff|1998|p=1}}{{efn| "He wrote that his mother died when he was young and he went to sea in his eleventh year, that his father remarried and moved to Hackney, and that he, Thomas, was later apprenticed by his father to a Thames-side shipwright" {{harv|Taylor|2006}}.}} In 1694, he was settled in what is now [[Dighton, Massachusetts]], then part of [[Taunton, Massachusetts|Taunton]].<ref name="Lane">{{cite book|last1=Lane|first1=Helen|title=History of the town of Dighton, Massachusetts: The South Purchase|date=1962|publisher=Town of Dighton|location=Dighton, Massachusetts|pages=148–149|url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=wu.89060721800;view=1up;seq=164|access-date=15 April 2018}}</ref> Coram lived in Dighton for ten years, founding [[Coram Shipyard Historic District|a shipyard]] there.<ref name="Lane" />

By a deed dated 8 December 1703, he gave {{convert|59|acres}} of land at Taunton to be used for a schoolhouse, whenever the people should desire the establishment of the [[Church of England]]. In the deed, he is described as "of Boston, sometimes residing in Taunton",{{sfn|Stephen|1887|p=194}} and he seems to have been a shipwright.{{sfn|Stephen|1887|p=194}} He gave some books to form a library at [[St. Thomas Episcopal Church (Taunton, Massachusetts)|St. Thomas' Church, Taunton]], one of which, a [[Book of Common Prayer]] given to him by [[Speaker Onslow]], is preserved in the church.{{sfn|Stephen|1887|p=194}}<ref>{{cite news |last1=Deschenes |first1=Jordan |title=U.K. celebrates 350th birthday of philanthropic Taunton shipbuilder |url=http://www.tauntongazette.com/news/20180928/uk-celebrates-350th-birthday-of-philanthropic-taunton-shipbuilder |access-date=September 29, September 2018 |work=[[Taunton Daily Gazette]] |date=September 28, September 2018 |ref=gazette2018}}</ref>

This theme was also prevalent in his plans for the Foundling Hospital in that girls should also receive an education.<ref>{{sfncite web |Coramtitle=The creation of the Foundling Hospital |url=https://coramstory.org.uk/explore/content/article/the-creation-of-the-foundling-hospital/ |website=Coram Story Foundling Hospital|date=2 December 2020 }}</ref>

Together with some of his fellow artists, Hogarth decorated the Governors' Court Room, which contains paintings by [[Francis Hayman]], [[Thomas Gainsborough]] and [[Richard Wilson (painter)|Richard Wilson]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.royalacademy.org.uk/art-artists/book/the-history-and-objects-of-the-foundling-hospital-with-a-memoir-of-the |title=The History And Objects of the Foundling Hospital, With A Memoir of the Founder. By John Brownlow, Secretary of the Hospital. Third Edition. |publisher=[[Royal Academy of Arts]] |access-date=2019-03-28 |df=dmy-allMarch 2019 }}</ref> He contributed paintings for the benefit of the Foundation, and the Foundling Hospital became the first art gallery in London open to the public.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=n06ICwAAQBAJ&pg=PT23 |title=Museums in Britain: A History |last=Garwood |first=Christine |date=2014-06-10 June 2014 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=9780747815266 |pages=23 |df=dmy-all}}</ref>

Handel allowed a concert performance of ''[[Messiah (Handel)|Messiah]]'' to benefit the foundation, and donated the manuscript of the Hallelujah Chorus to the hospital. He also composed an anthem specially for a performance at the Hospital, now called the ''[[Foundling Hospital Anthem]]''.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/mar/13/handel-messiah-helped-london-orphans-foundling-hospital |title=How Handel's Messiah helped London's orphans – and vice versa |last=Howell |first=Caro |date=2014-03-13 March 2014 |work=[[The Guardian]] |access-date=2019-03-28 |df=dmy-allMarch 2019 |issn=0261-3077|ref=none}}</ref>

The Foundling Hospital charity continues today and is known as [[Thomas Coram Foundation for Children|Coram]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://apps.charitycommission.gov.uk/Showcharity/RegisterOfCharities/CharityWithPartB.aspx?RegisteredCharityNumber=312278&SubsidiaryNumber=0 |title=Thomas Coram Foundation for Children |website=[[Charity Commission for England and Wales]] |language=en |access-date=2019-03-28 March 2019}}</ref> The original site is also home to a seven-acre children's park and play area, [[Coram's Fields]], which refuses entry to adults unaccompanied by children. Coram's Fields is a registered charity and also provides children's and youth services for the local community, including a Youth Centre and free Sports Programme.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://camden.gov.uk/ccm/content/leisure/outdoor-camden/parks/corams-fields.en;jsessionid=23E97892125568179158ED5A215F062F |title=Coram's Fields |publisher=Camden Council |access-date=2013-04-25 April 2013 |url-status = dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100706140202/http://www.camden.gov.uk/ccm/content/leisure/outdoor-camden/parks/corams-fields.en |archive-date=6 July 2010-07-06 |df=dmy-all }}</ref>

In 2000, [[Jamila Gavin]] published a children's book called ''[[Coram Boy]]'' about the Foundling Hospital. The book was adapted into [[Coram Boy (play)|a play]] by [[Helen Edmundson]],<ref>{{cite web| title= Coram Boy| publisher= [[Royal National Theatre|National Theatre]]| date= 24 February 2008| access-date= 2007-05-31 May 2007| url= http://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/?lid=16220 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070814095027/http://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/?lid=16220| archive-date=2007-08-14 August 2007| df=dmy-all}}</ref> which had its world premiere at the [[Royal National Theatre]] in London in November 2005 and subsequently had a brief run on [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]].<ref>{{cite web |title= Blue Boy: Coram Boy Closes on Broadway May 27|url=http://www.playbill.com/news/article/108338.html |first=Andrew |last=Gans |date= 2007-05-27 May 2007 |access-date= 2007-05-31 May 2007 |publisher= Playbill |url-status = dead|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070930184247/http://www.playbill.com/news/article/108338.html |archive-date = 2007-09-30 September 2007 |df= dmy-all}}</ref>

[[Category:16681660s births]]