Foundlings were visible phenomenon in 18c Britain [audio 15min]

"Invention of Childhood" is major 30-part narrative history series exploring British childhood and the experience of British children over the last thousand years, with one 15-minute programme each weekday from Mon 25th Sept for 6 weeks. Each programme may be streamed online for 7 days after broadcast. Week Three -- 9 to 13 Oct: Children in the 18th Century. Episode 11: "Like an Angelic Choir". Michael Morpurgo traces the story of two 18th-century Thomases: Tom Grenville, a blind orphan boy, and Thomas Coram, who set up Britain's first Foundling Hospital in London in 1741. Tom Grenville was taken in by the Hospital and, when his musical talent was discovered, he was trained up as an organist. Even in old age, when he fell on hard times, he was granted a pension. But not all children were to benefit from this new kind of philanthropy -- a philanthropy that could be as ostentatious as it was well-meaning. Popular children's writer Michael Morpurgo is Britain's former Children's Laureate. Readers include Jack Blumenau, Anna Maxwell Martin, Timothy West and Adam Godley.