Conserving and opening up access to the Foundling Hospital’s medical records

The Foundling Hospital was the first dedicated children’s charity in the UK. Its rich history, spanning more than 275 years, is recorded in a large archive detailing the lives of 25,000 children. The medical records of the hospital provide a detailed and complete account of the health and medical treatment of the children from the 18th to the 20th century. These records are catalogued online but the physical records are too fragile to be made available to researchers. The aim of this project is to repair the fragile and damaged items, and repackage them using conservation-grade materials.