Helen Berry - Orphans of Empire

Orphans of Empire

In Orphans of Empire, historian Helen Berry tells the story of the London Foundling Hospital and the 6000 children who passed through it from the hospitals foundation in 1741 until the mid-Victorian era when a visit by Charles Dickens lead the great author to launch a stirring public campaign on behalf orphans. Central to the book’s extraordinary street-level view of eighteenth and nineteenth century British life is the remarkable tale of courageous George King, a foundling boy who fought at the Battle of Trafalgar. Like so many of the foundlings, King’s is a life that stands testimony to the strength of the human spirit.  

Chaired by Jacqui Hodgson