Another American Abroad

Did you know that Benjamin Franklin lived in London for nearly 16 years? I didn't until I visited the lodging house where he stayed between 1757 and 1775.

36 Craven Street, London

During his time in London he was mediating the unrest between Britain and the American colonies. Obviously it didn't end well and he high-tailed it back to America just before the American Revolution.

The lodging house where he stayed is said to be the world's only remaining Benjamin Franklin residence. His wife Deborah never joined him in London while he lived here. She feared traveling across the Atlantic ocean. Sadly, she died in 1774 while Benjamin was in England.

Photo owned by "Benjamin Franklin House"

The house was rescued from dereliction and has been brought back to life with its original features restored. Historical tours are given by an actress in period costume portraying the landlady's daughter. "Polly" takes the tour group through various rooms of the house and re-enacts what might have taken place there, tea in the parlor, scientific experiments in another room, visiting around the fireplace. We climbed up and down the same narrow, well-worn, wooden staircase that Franklin would have walked on.

The house is situated near the Thames River and it is said that Franklin would go there for a swim.

An interesting side story is the discovery of the "Craven Street Bones". When the house was being renovated in 1998, human and animal bones were uncovered under the basement floor. The location would have been the garden in Franklin's day. It turns out the bones are remnants of the anatomy school run from the house by the son-in-law of Franklin's landlady. Some of the bones have dissection marks showing how they were used for teaching purposes.

I learned quite a bit about Benjamin Franklin from touring the house, particularly that he was an American living abroad in England... just like me!