Gillian Wagner. Thomas Coram, Gent.: 1688-1751. Woodbridge: Boydell & Brewer, 2004. 218 pp. $39.95 (cloth), ISBN 978-1-84383-057-3.
Reviewed by Peter Shapely (Department of History and Welsh History, University of Wales Bangor)
Published on H-Albion (March, 2007)
The Darling Project
Gillian Wagner's biography of the eighteenth-century British philanthropist, Thomas Coram, provides a valuable insight into society, culture, and the politics of charity. It will be of value to anyone interested in charity or this rich period of British history.
Wagner provides a detailed account of Coram's life. The lengthy narrative uses a wide and impressive range of sources, some of which are deployed for the first time. The book paints a picture of life in the both England and America, though the occasional drift into conjecture introduces an unnecessarily woolly element. Nevertheless, the clear prose does successfully provide a vibrant portrayal of life in the two countries. It also attempts to give an interpretation of Coram's character, as well as his life story. The book is source driven and its many lengthy quotes give a positive sense of the man and his time.
Coram is shown as a man of drive and energy, the type of dynamic figure that was to propel Britain's economic revolution and to build its huge empire. It was his own vision and determination that eventually led to the creation of the Foundling Hospital in 1739. Yet this was just one episode in a full life. After his mother's untimely death when he was only four years old, he went to sea at age eleven, and then trained as a shipwright before going to America for ten years where he received a commission to build ships. Although he retuned to England, his affection and ambitions for the colonies remained. He attempted to exert influence on the area through introducing government reforms and by supporting Protestant refugees and the unemployed to start a new life as settlers. Wagner depicts a man driven by loyalty to the crown and by his Anglicanism, influences which shaped his attempts to introduce reforms in the colonies. His ambitions were generally thwarted, but his interest in colonial issues eventually gave way to his determination to establish the Foundling Hospital. Wagner's largely uncritical account shows Coram as a man of deep humanity and conviction. He was keen to promote women's rights and education, but it was the abandoned children of London that moved and inspired him to campaign tirelessly for a charter to establish the Hospital for the Maintenance and Education of Exposed and Deserted Children, the Foundling Hospital. His entrepreneurial qualities were reflected in his ability to sell the idea of the Hospital to leading members of the aristocracy and in his use of concerts (conducted by George Frideric Handel) to raise money and publicity for the cause.
Wagner touches on a number of key issues, but many needed greater exploration and explanation. For example, she shows how the trustees came to manage and dominate the Foundling Hospital, leading to Coram's effective exclusion. Power, finance, and management were important issues. This was a period which witnessed the start of the new subscriber-democracies, the associated charity. With industrialization and urbanization, this became the dominant institutional form and structure for most charities from the late eighteenth and throughout the nineteenth centuries. It became an important element in the exercise of power and authority in local communities. As such, Coram's life and experience with the Hospital is important in what it reflects about this process. These issues, however, are not sufficiently examined in a wider context. There were a number of other possible areas that could be looked at within the framework of Coram's life. Besides power, authority, and the role of organized charity, issues of social status, gender, and child care could also be explored. Like charity, the influence of religion is evident throughout the text, though, again, there is only limited analysis of its significance. Similarly, the growing importance of imperial ambitions and culture on Georgian society could be investigated in greater depth.
Nevertheless, this is a narrative which stays focused on Coram's life. Dynamic and committed individuals like Coram were to transform the structure and function of charity in modern Britain. Like others across the country, he provided a bridge to the organized, institutional form of charity that was to provide the backbone of welfare provision outside of the Poor Law. The book provides a celebration of the man and his achievements and, as such, it is also a testimony to basic human energy and compassion.
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Citation:
Peter Shapely. Review of Wagner, Gillian, Thomas Coram, Gent.: 1688-1751.
H-Albion, H-Net Reviews.
March, 2007.
URL: http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=12997
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