Claim: Thomas Coram (c. 1668 – 29 March 1751) was a philanthropist and the son of a master mariner from Lyme Regis, Dorset who created the  London Foundling Hospital, which is the world's first incorporated charity.
Evidence: Captain Thomas Coram (c. 1668 – 29 March 1751) was a philanthropist who created the London Foundling Hospital in Lamb's Conduit Fields, Bloomsbury, to look after abandoned children. Thomas Coram presented his first petition for the establishment of a Foundling Hospital to King George II in 1735. His father is believed to have been a master mariner. Thomas Coram was born in Lyme Regis, Dorset, England.