'London Orphan Asylum, Hackney Road', engraving after T. H. Shepherd, ca. 1840

Print depicting the London Orphan Asylum, Clapton.

Given by the Hon. Arthur Villiers

Although the print is titled 'London Orphan Asylum, Hackney Road', it is almost identical to an earlier print titled 'London Orphan Asylum, Clapton', published in Metropolitan Improvements; or London in the nineteenth century (1827-8). The orphanage had outgrown its premises on Hackney Road by 1820 and a new building was constructed on an 8 acre site in Clapton in 1825, housing 300 children. The area gradually became more built up, and the institution moved to Watford in 1871 after an outbreak of typhoid killed 15 children, (see references).

This object was part of the John Edmund Gardner collection of topographical prints and drawings of London. After Gardner's death the collection passed to his son Edmund Thomas, but was sold to Edward Coates MP in 1910. The collection was sold again in 1923 after Coates' death, and was split between various institutions and private collectors. The portion connected with Hoxton, Homerton, Hackney and Bethnal Green was bought by the Hon. Arthur Villiers and donated to the Bethnal Green Museum.

E.4801-1923