Thomas Coram

Coram, Thomas (kôrˈəm) [key], 1668?–1751, English philanthropist and colonizer. He lived for some years in Massachusetts, working as a shipbuilder. On his return to England he became (1732) a trustee of James Oglethorpe's Georgia colony and sponsored (1735) a colony in Nova Scotia for unemployed artisans. He established the London Foundling Hospital (1739), a pioneer institution of its kind.

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2012, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

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