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Emma Brownlow was born and raised in London’s Foundling Hospital.
Dad was foundling no. 18,607 and he spent 72 of his 73 years at Foundling Hospital, raising his kids there. The little orphanage must have saved his baby butt back in the early 1800s and he was clearly grateful. Ms. Brownlow is known for her paintings of the orphanage. She believed an optimistic outlook on life is very important and this is no Orphan Annie story. In her paintings the Foundling is a clean, orderly home of well-cared for abandoned kids. In one painting, a redeemed mother (no longer a "fallen" woman) returns to get her little one back - a foundling’s dream.
24 year-old Charles Dickens lived around the corner from the hospital for two years and his book Oliver Twist is a less glossy version of the foundling life. Dickens was friends with Brownlow’s father, John, and wrote the book while hanging out at the Foundling Hospital. John is in the book, as a good man who pulls messed-up Oliver off the cruel London streets. After more orphan misadventures John adopts little Twist and things turn out more or less OK.
Dickens was a good guy and supported the Foundling Hospital, and was key to setting up a home for "fallen women" called Urania Home. He even wrote "An Appeal to Fallen Women" which was distributed to women in prison for prostitution, encouraging them to enter Urania. For the Greeks, Urania was the divine daughter of Zeus who, through her imagination and thought, lifted people’s souls to great heights.
Brownlow went on to marry an unlucky singer and became Emma Brownlow King. A failed career in Italian opera and supporting seven kid bankrupted Mr. King. His first wife, a daughter, and then his oldest son all died. Brownlow marred him and added three non-foundling kids to the brood. Out of the spotlight, how they did after that is anyone's guess. But we're guessing Brownlow didn't abandon any wee ones.
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Here is what Wikipedia says about Emma Brownlow
Emma Brownlow (1832–1905) was a Victorian era artist who is best known for her paintings depicting scenes from life at the Foundling Hospital in London.
Life
Emma was the daughter of John Brownlow, a foundling who had been brought up in the Hospital. He had risen within the institution to become its director. John Brownlow had written several books about the institution, and a novel Hans Sloane (1831). The novel was an influence on Charles Dickens's later novel Oliver Twist, and its author is believed to be the model for the character Mr. Brownlow. Dickens was a friend of the Brownlow family.
Emma became an artist, producing a series of paintings in the 1850s and 1860s depicting scenes from life at the hospital. She also painted portraits and genre subjects. She exhibited at the Royal Academy of Arts. Her most notable painting was The Foundling Restored to its Mother, exhibited at the RA in 1858.
She met the man she would marry, Donald King, through her involvement with the Hospital choir. King was a professional singer. Emma died 1st January 1905 in Kent. She was laid to rest with her daughter Marian Brownlow King on the Isle of Wight, UK.
Check out the full Wikipedia article about Emma Brownlow
