2-982-206 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Group of Children in the Royal Caledonian Asylum [in London] - from a painting by Mr. Wighton, 1858. 'The object of the institution is the maintenance and education of the children of soldiers, sailors, and marines, natives of Scotland, who have either died or been disabled in the service of their country...At present there are sixty-seven boys and forty-nine girls in the asylum, many of whom are the sons and daughters of the brave Scottish soldiers who so nobly fought and died during the late Russian war...There is here represented a very touching picture of a little orphan boy, about five years of age, who has recently been placed in the Asylum. He appears to have just returned from the childlike occupation of gathering wild flowers, and to have attracted the attention of an elder boy and two girls who stand around him, and seem to contemplate his youthful appearance with feelings of sympathy and admiration'. From "Illustrated London News", 1858.