About

Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)

Be civil to all; sociable to many; familiar with few; friend to one; enemy to none. ~ Benjamin Franklin

Ben Franklin was born in Boston, Massachusetts but resided in many countries including, France, Sweden and the UK.  For almost 16 years, between 1775 Benjamin lived in London at 36 Craven Street London WC2N 5N, England.  It is the only house remaining in the world where he lived.  It is currently rated the #258 most popular attraction in London by Trip Advisor.  Visit the website for more information >

To find more information about visiting the home and the times/days it is available for touring, please visit www.benjaminfranklinhouse.org

Ben Franklin first visited England in late 1724. At that time he lived at 6 Duke Street – now Sardinia Street – in an area of London called “Little Britain” – in the heart of the City of London. There he developed his skills as a printer. Franklin returned to America after eighteen months, arriving in Philadelphia in October 1726. He returned to England thirty-one years later, by which time the printer had become the statesman.

“I have found genteel lodgings in Craven Street” – Letter to his wife Deborah Franklin, 1757

Accompanied by his 26 year old son William, Franklin returned to London in 1757 as a representative of the Pennsylvania Assembly. He needed to be at the center of political London, so father and son took a suite of rooms at 36 Craven Street.

36 Craven Street is located in the heart of London. In Franklin’s time it was five minutes walk east of Charing Cross (now Trafalgar Square, non existent in 1757, the battle of Trafalgar was fought in 1805), and just south of Hungerford market and Northumberland House (now Charing Cross railway station), and close to the river Thames. Thus, the house was convenient for both Parliament, the printing presses of Fleet Street, and London’s coffee houses. The coffee houses served as venues for political discussion, society gossip and centers for Americans in London. Franklin himself particularly frequented St Paul’s coffee house, among others.

Franklin’s “land lady” was a widow, Mrs. Margaret Stevenson. She lived in the house with her daughter, Polly, and her family. During this time in London Margaret Stevenson and Polly became Franklin’s life-long friends. Indeed, one biographer wrote that at 36 Craven Street Franklin was “less a lodger than the head of a household living in serene comfort and affection!”

After discharging his mission for Pennsylvania, Franklin returned to Philadelphia in 1763. However, he stayed only a short while before returning to England, again to represent Pennsylvania.

Franklin arrived in London in December 1764 and proceeded back to 36 Craven Street. His new mission, to petition King George to turn Pennsylvania into a Royal Colony, was overshadowed by the controversy created by the Stamp act of 1765 – Parliament’s means of funding defense of the American frontier.
Stamp Act

Franklin opposed the Act and lobbied hard against it. In 1766 he testified in the House of Commons, and the Act was repealed. However, paying for defense of the frontier remained an issue and Parliament continued to impose revenue gathering schemes on the colonies – while simultaneously denying American representation in Parliament itself. Through these ill considered actions relations between Britain and the Colonies continued to deteriorate.

Throughout the 1760s and early 1770s Franklin worked tirelessly to reconcile Britain and the Colonies however, his efforts came to naught. Finally, Franklin left England for the last time, returning to Philadelphia in May 1775. In 1776 he became one of the United States Founding Fathers – the only man to sign the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution of the United States, and the Bill of Rights – and the chief negotiator of the Treaty of Paris ending the War of Independence.

Yet always Franklin maintained a connection to Britain that was a progenitor of the Anglo-American “Special Relationship.” Indeed, when Benjamin Franklin died in 1790 Polly Stevenson, now the widow Polly Hewson, was at his bedside.

During his time at 36 Craven Street Ben Franklin invented:

* Bifocal glasses
* The Glass Armonica – an example is on display at 36 Craven Street
* 24 Hour clock for navigation
* Stable ships lanterns

He perfected:

* The “Franklin Stove” which re-circulates its own hot smoke through internal channels, thereby increasing heat efficiency, and thenvents the smoke outside the room, thereby reducing pollution
* The lightening conductor – his lightening conductors were installed on St Paul’s cathedral in London

He wrote:

* The first accurate scientific paper explaining the Gulf Stream

Links from Friends of Benjamin Franklin House

Here is a link to the Benjamin Franklin House website, maintained by the Friends of Benjamin Franklin House, UK owners and managers of 36 Craven Street, and links to several other Benjamin Franklin or Philadelphia related websites.

Benjamin Franklin House
American Philosophical Society
Franklin Institute
US history.org

Other Facts:

Open Directory Project – other sites of interest:

Author: benfrank on November 6, 2011
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