Thomas Coram

Thomas Coram
Thomas Coram painted by William Hogarth, 1740.
Born	(c. 1668) Lyme Regis, Dorset, United Kingdom
Died	29 March 1751 London
Nationality	English
Occupation	Sea Captain, Philanthropist
Title	Captain Thomas Hal Burken Coram
Spouse(s)	Eunice Waite

Captain Thomas Coram (c. 1668 – 29 March 1751) was a philanthropist who created the London Foundling Hospital in Lamb's Conduit Fields, Bloomsbury to look after abandoned children. It is said to be the world's first incorporated charity.

Thomas Coram was born in Lyme Regis, Dorset, England. His father is believed to have been a master mariner. He was sent to sea at age 11. As such, he never received proper education. In 1694 he was settled at Taunton, Massachusetts. By a deed dated 8 December 1703 he gave 59 acres (24 ha) of land at Taunton to be used for a schoolhouse, whenever the people should desire the establishment of the Church of England. In the deed he is described as "of Boston, sometimes residing in Taunton", and he seems to have been a shipwright. He gave some books to the library at Taunton, one of which, a Book of Common Prayer, given to him by Speaker Onslow, is (or was in 1844) preserved in St. Thomas' Church, Taunton.

In 1704, at the age of 36, he returned to London, and helped to obtain an act of Parliament giving a bounty on the importation of tar from the colonies. He carried on business for some time. During the War of the Spanish Succession (1701–1714) he commanded a merchant ship and acquired the epithet of captain. In 1712 he obtained a role in Trinity House, Deptford, a private corporation that combined public responsibilities with charitable purposes. In 1717, he unsuccessfully promoted the idea of founding a colony to be called 'Georgia' in what is today Maine as a philanthropic venture. In 1719 he was stranded off Cuxhaven, when sailing for Hamburg in the Sea Flower, and the ship was plundered by the neighbouring inhabitants.

He became known for his public spirit. Old Horace Walpole (afterwards Lord Walpole) called him (18 April 1735) "the honestest, most disinterested, most knowing person about the plantations he had ever talked with". He obtained an act of parliament taking off the prohibition upon deal from Germany and the Netherlands. In 1732 he was appointed one of the trustees for Georgia colony, then founded through James Oglethorpe’s exertions.