Foundlings and Their Identifying Tokens

The Guardian has an absolutely heartrending and fascinating article about the scraps of material left with abandoned babies at London's Foundling Hospital:

In the mid-18th century thousands of poor women, similarly at the end of their tethers, deposited their newborn babies at the hospital. A sign instructed them to leave some kind of identifying token pinned to the child in the event they were one day in a position to take it home. Neither the name of the mother nor the baby would be recorded, so this token needed to be memorable and distinctive.

The hospital's thinking was not as punitive as it sounds. To give the child the best shot at a new life, the governors thought it best to erase its old identity. In that single liminal moment, one history would be wiped out and another begun – a new name, some basic schooling and, in time, apprenticeship to a useful trade. Just in case the mother's circumstances changed, though, she was advised to leave some piece of material evidence to prove the child was hers. The hospital promised that "great care will be taken for the preservation" of the item. In years to come the mother's description of that token would be her only way of proving she was the mother of the baby she had given up all those years ago.

Via Light Reading. These scraps of material are currently on display at the Foundling Museum in London, which I'd never heard of until now. I'd like to visit.

Comments

[babelbabe]

i think it would break my heart.

[babelbabe]

also, though, can I just say I found that website weirdly hilarious? "Family Fun! At the Foundling Museum!" I mean, seriously???

[Steph]

I noticed that "Family Fun!" thing, too. Weirdly hilarious is exactly right.

[sara]

Oh lord, the tokens ... absolutely heart-rendering as Anne Shirley might say.

Three books that might interest you in relation to this topic:

Tattycoram by Audrey Thomas (novel)
http://www.amazon.ca/Tattycoram-Audrey-Thomas/dp/0864924313

Cirrus Flux by Matthew Skeleton (kids novel)
http://www.amazon.ca/Story-Cirrus-Flux-Matthew-Skelton/dp/0141320370/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1286823227&sr=1-1

A Home for Foundlings by Marthe Jocelyn (fantastic picture book/non-fiction)
http://www.marthejocelyn.com/a_home_for_foundlings_25285.htm

[Steph Burgis]

Oh, that is heartbreaking and fascinating. I will definitely be visiting that museum one day!

[Thea]

As an European orphan, who passed through an orphanage in London, before being fostered/adopted, this touches me greatly. I must check out the exhibition.