📍Benjamin Franklin House, 36 Craven Street, WC2N 5NFBenjamin Franklin House, a 300-year-old home located at 36 Craven Street, has long been named after its most recognizable tenant. However, Franklin lived there as a lodger during his tenure as an agent for the American colonies between 1757-1775. Whilst in London, Franklin not only served as a political envoy, but he also invented a musical instrument, expanded his research on electricity, helped to install the first-ever lightning rod on St. Paul’s Cathedral, advanced his understandings on eyeglasses, invented a new means for telling time with the three-wheeled clock, assessed the gulf stream, and made valuable social connections across Great Britain. So, that begs the question – how could a single man living 3,500 miles away from his family accomplish so much on his own? The truth is that he had an entire support network within his boarding house, some of whom supported his ambitions voluntarily and others who were enslaved in his service. Together, we’ll unpack the legacies of these ‘hidden’ individuals and the relationships that they shared with Franklin.

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