During the season of goodwill I read Jamila Gavin’s, Coram Boy.
It made me pick Bloomsbury for my London Christmas visit. Parts of Gavin’s novel are set around this area, and, although fictional, information for the book was gained from archivists from Coram (formerly the Foundling Hospital)
Seasonal Offerings in Coram Boy
- Angels, symbolic to nativity plays, bring comfort to Meshak the son of Otis the villain. He spends time with the stained-glass angels in Gloucester cathedral, and the cherubs in Coram Field’s churchyard
They were his friends. Sometimes they leapt out of their lead-encased glass windows and swooped round him, enveloping him in feathers and gentle hands and caressing fingers, and they would fly with him up into the stars ….
- Religious or not, there is nothing like live choral music at Christmas. In Coram Boy Alexander and Thomas are noted for their exceptional performances
- One character has a change of heart
- Charity goes hand -in-hand with Christmas. If not for 18th Century philanthropy, we wouldn’t be able to imagine the protagonists surviving the tale.
From the book, I would select Mrs Ashbrook as the most charitable. She struggles tirelessly to get support with the local parish orphanage. In contrast to Thomas Coram who managed to secure a royal charter for the Foundling Hospital, the wealthy around Ashbrook have little concern for the high infant mortality rate.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Coram-Boy-Jamila-Gavin/dp/1405212829
Akin to Dickens’ Victorian classics not all is joyous. I found the first part particularly disturbing.
Foundling Museum Permanent Exhibits
The museum is a haven away from the busy streets of London at this time of year.
Welcoming me was a tall, decorated Christmas tree and a panel of names of fictional characters who were orphans: a surprisingly large amount
I needed a while to take in the cabinet of the identity tokens left by desperate mothers. How well the dainty objects have been preserved is remarkable. I stood and thought that for each unclaimed token, a child and mother were never reunited.
Whilst in Bloomsbury look for tokens in the pavement on Marchmont Street. They are not real Foundling tokens, but have been there, as poignant reminders, since 2006 when John Aldus was commissioned to create a permanent art exhibit in the area.
After the tokens, the exhibit moves on to more modern social history with accounts from latter foundlings. Their stories are different to Gavin’s portrayal of it; they were not there in fiction and their experiences were at the tail end of institutionalised care.
If you’ve read or are reading Coram Boy, look out for the following pieces of art whilst visiting the museum
Portrait of Captain Thomas Coram by Hogarth
Unlike Coram Man, the real Captain Coram cared about London’s children and founded the Foundling Hospital. He was friends with Hogarth who became a supporter of Coram’s charity.
Print of William Hogarth’s Gin Lane
…. squeezing through narrow, rat infested alleys and lanes, and skirting the piles of rubbish. They ignored the drunks and down-and-outs, the men, women and children, slumped in doorways or under the arches of bridges, dying of gin and starvation. (Gavin, J Coram Boy)
A Choir of Foundling Girls by Dutch artist Therese Schwartze
With music being an important part of being a foundling at the hospital, it is no surprise that it’s a theme in Gavin’s novel. The girl in the middle of the painting with eyes raised upwards reminds me of Mercy Bligh. Mercy is the sightless character in Coram who adores music.
Large Map of 18th Century London
The map shows you the River Thames as it would have looked when Aaron and Toby socialised together there after being apprenticed. Toby believes that the large ships on the river were a means for him, one day, to return to his mother in Africa or America.
Trumpet Boy by Yinka Shonibare CBE
The Trumpet Boy is dressed in colourful, Dutch wax textile with links to African trade routes. When you see it, you can’t help but be reminded of Toby being put on display in such attire at Mr Gaddarn’s parties.
Handel’s Messiah
Aaron is talent-spotted by Handel when he is practising for the Foundling’s performance of the Messiah. Afterwards, he got an apprenticeship learning music copying and harpsichord tuning. Doubtful that a foundling would gain such a grand apprenticeship in reality, but it is true that Handel conducted the Messiah at the Foundling Hospital chapel. In fact, it’s thought that the Hallelujah chorus was first performed in the chapel in 1749.
As a benefactor of London’s Foundling Hospital, Handel raised money for charity through concerts; donated the chapel’s organ; and in his will gave the charity a fair copy of Messiah’s score.
It was a Christmas treat to sit in the quiet study of the Gerald Coke Collection with Handel’s Messiah playing.
I visited when A Grand Chorus: The Power of Music was on which helped me to think about how important music was to Alexander and Aaron Ashbrook, and the greatness it has had in my own life.
Bloomsbury at Christmas
If your looking for a quieter Christmas visit to London, I would highly recommend Bloomsbury: there are less crowds but still Christmas spirit, I even found myself sprinkled with fake snow at a festive event at the Brunswick Centre.
By Alan Stanton – The Foundling Museum Uploaded by Snowmanradio, CC BY-SA 2.0,