“There Was no Goodnight Hug or Kiss”: The Foundling Hospital and the Feeling of Family, 1900–1950

Experiences of former foundlings have often been neglected. However, a project collecting the memories of former foundlings from 1900 to 1950 has allowed an analysis of foundlings’ experiences of family within the first half of the twentieth century. This collection of oral histories permits development in the historiography of children’s institutions in the twentieth century. This article shares experiences of family within the London Foundling Hospital and argues that while the Foundling Hospital provided foster care for children under the age of five, therefore providing them with a family, upon their return to the London Hospital this family disappeared. Family life and relationships became complicated throughout their time in the Hospital’s care.