Henry Nelson ONeil, A Mother Depositing Her Child at the Foundling Hospital in Paris, c1855 © The Foundling Museum

The Foundling Hospital (L’Hôpital des Enfants-Trouvés) in Paris was established by royal edict in 1670 during the reign of Louis XIV. The Paris Hospital differed in many respects from its London counterpart. It had a different admission system whereby mothers were not required to bring their children to the Hospital but could abandon them in a public place or, as illustrated in this picture, leave them at the Hospital gate.