Bio by: David Conway
Inscription
"Captain Thomas Coram,"
Whose Name will never want a Monument
So long as this Hospital shall subsist,
Was born in the year 1668;
A Man eminent in that mosl eminent virtue,
The Love of Mankind;
Little attentive to his Private Fortune,
And refuseing many Opportunities of increaseing it,
His Time and Thoughts were continually employed
In Endeavours to promote the Public Happiness,
Both in this Kingdom and else where;
Particularly in the Colonies of North America;
And his Endeavours were many Times crowned
With the desired Success.
His unwearied Solicitation for above Seventeen Years together
(Which would have baffled the Patience and Industry
Of any Man less zealous in doing Good),
And his application to persons of distinction, of both sexes,
Obtained at length the Charter of the Incorporation
(Bearing Date the 17th of October, 1739),
FOR THE MAINTENANCE AND EDUCATION
OF EXPOSED AND DESERTED YOUNG CHILDREN,
By which many Thousands of Lives
May be preserved to the Public, and employed in a frugal
And honest Course of Industry.
He died the 29th March, 1751, in the 84th year of his age;
Poor in Worldly Estate, rich in Good Works,
And was buried, at his own Desire, in the Vault underneath this
Chapel (the first there deposited), at the east end thereof,
Many of the Governors and other Gentlemen
Attending the funeral to do Honour to his Memory.
Reader, Thy Actions will shew wether thou art sincere
In the Praises thou mayest bestow on him;
And if thou hail Virtue enough to commend his Virtues,
Forget not to add also the Imitation of them.
Gravesite Details
The Monumental Inscriptions of Middlesex Vol II - Cansick 1872.
Inscription from the Foundling Hospital Chapel.
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