University of Sussex
Browse

File(s) under permanent embargo

Go gentle babe: accounting and the London Foundling Hospital 1757–97

journal contribution
posted on 2023-06-09, 06:10 authored by Frances Miley, Andrew Read
The London Foundling Hospital was a charitable institution established to turn children of the poor into virtuous and industrious members of society. Poverty-stricken parents gave their children to the hospital which cared for and educated the children, known as foundlings, until they could be placed by the hospital into employment. Since eighteenth century Britain stigmatised and marginalised the poor, viewing them as immoral and indigent, an important aspect of the charity’s function was (re)creating stigmatised foundling identities so they could leave the hospital as accepted members of mainstream society. This research examines the role of accounting in supporting the hospital’s efforts to (re)create stigmatised identities. We examine the plethora of records the hospital maintained about every aspect of the children’s lives, which were both mechanisms of surveillance and control and evidence of the hospital’s successful efforts in moulding the foundlings into virtuous and industrious members of society. The hospital did not distinguish between financial and non-financial records, ensuring both were regularly reviewed audited before being made available to selected members of the public. We contrast the public availability of these records, which evidenced (re)created identities the hospital created, with the hospital’s secrecy concerning tokens, which were small items brought by a parent hospitalising a child. We contend that the tokens were a form of accounting record that represented stigmatised identities of the poor and had to be hidden so they could be replaced with (re)created acceptable identities. We conclude that examining accounting records maintained by the hospital provides insights into the role accounting can play in supporting the work of charitable institutions seeking to create social acceptability for stigmatised groups.

History

Publication status

  • Published

Journal

Accounting History

ISSN

1032-3732

Publisher

SAGE Publications

Issue

2-3

Volume

21

Page range

167-184

Department affiliated with

  • Business and Management Publications

Full text available

  • No

Peer reviewed?

  • Yes

Legacy Posted Date

2017-05-08

First Compliant Deposit (FCD) Date

2017-05-08

Usage metrics

    University of Sussex (Publications)

    Categories

    No categories selected

    Exports

    RefWorks
    BibTeX
    Ref. manager
    Endnote
    DataCite
    NLM
    DC