[AnAmericanMother]

Believe it or not, this practice continued into the eighteenth century, with unwanted infants in London being left on the steps of the Temple Church, on the border between the Inner and the Middle Temple (two of the Inns of Court). Babies so left were given the surname "Temple".

It's a very cool church, for one thing it's round. For another it isn't on a street - it's down a maze of alleys and courtyards, no vehicular traffic. Oliver Goldsmith is buried in the courtyard next to the altar end.

[Albion Wilde]

Thank you for your insights about the Temple Church. You are quite knowledgeable about England, and I have benefited more than once reading your posts! I have a good friend surnamed Temple and often wondered about the origin of that name on a Celto-WASP; now I know. (My life inexplicably contains dozens of people who themselves, or a relative or significant tie, were orphaned.)