Meet the Experts: Dr Janette Bright on the Foundling Tokens

Discover the heart-wrenching history behind the Foundling Hospital tokens, tiny objects left with babies in the 18th century.Why are an old bent coin, a piece of ribbon and a hazelnut amongst the most treasured items in the Foundling Museum’s Collection? In this talk, you can learn why such items were so important in the mid-eighteenth-century Foundling Hospital when a child was admitted and why their use as identifiers declined as the century went on. You will discover how and why the tokens had to be hidden and who had access to their secrets, and how many tell us not just about individuals but about life in general at this time. The talk will also reveal the individual stories behind some foundling tokens and why some stories will always be unknown.This talk can be joined in-person in the Museum or online.