Benjamin Franklin House
Home to Benjamin Franklin between 1757 and 1775, 36 Craven Street is the location where the famous US statesman conducted numerous important experiments such as measuring the effects of the Gulf Stream, exploring Daylight Saving Time and inventing bi-focal lenses.
Venue Type:
Museum, Historic house or home, Science centre
Additional info
Our Scholarship Centre is open by appointment only, please contact the House for further information
Entangled Lives in Georgian Portraits
- 10 May 2018 6-8pm
The Portrait of Dido Elizabeth Belle and Lady Elizabeth Murray (1770s-1780s, Scone Palace) pictures two cousins together, one Afro-Scottish and the other Scottish and Polish. Their depiction offers a contrast: Dido is shown in an exoticised fashion, whereas Lady Elizabeth is portrayed as an English rose. Dido’s mother was enslaved and her father was an officer in the Royal Navy. Their portrait was painted against the backdrop of the two major slavery cases in the eighteenth-century – the Somerset Case of 1772 and the Zong Trial of 1783-1783, both of which their guardian and great-uncle, Lord Mansfield, presided over. Dr. Jennifer Germann will address the complexity of the portrait in light of conflicted ideas about liberty and slavery across the Atlantic world.
Suitable for
- Any age
Admission
£6.00 per person + £1.48 booking fee.
Website
Museums at Night – ‘Candle Lit’ Architectural Tours
- 17 May 2018 6-7pm, 7-8pm, 8-9pm
- 18 May 2018 6-7pm, 7-8pm, 8-9pm
The atmospheric rooms of Benjamin Franklin’s only remaining residence will be the feature of this night-time architectural tour, highlighting the original features of our Grade I listed Georgian townhouse in evening light.
Suitable for
- Any age
Admission
£10/per person, drink included
Website
http://www.benjaminfranklinhouse.org
Indigenous London
- 24 May 2018 6-8pm
Historian Coll Thrush offers a new and compelling view of London’s history through the lived experiences of indigenous women, children, and men who have travelled to the city, willingly or otherwise, since the beginning of the sixteenth century. They included captives and diplomats, missionaries and medicine people, poets and performers, athletes and sovereigns. Together, their stories illuminate a London that has until now largely been ignored: an imperial capital shaped in profound ways by its entanglements with indigenous peoples and places. Benjamin Franklin's own Craven Street is part of the story.
Suitable for
- Any age
Admission
£6.00 per person + £1.48 booking fee.
Website
Museums at Night - Craven Street Bones
- 27 October 2018 6-7:30pm, 8-9:30pm
Explore the darker side of the 18th century’s pursuit of knowledge with the staff members of Benjamin Franklin House. As you make your way through the House you’ll discover why over 1200 bones were unearthed in the basement.
Suitable for
- Any age
Admission
£10/per person, drink included
Website
http://www.benjaminfranklinhouse.org
Benjamin Franklin House
36 Craven Street
London
Greater London
WC2N 5NF
England
Website
info@benjaminfranklinhouse.org
Telephone
General Enquiries
0207 839 2006
