Benjamin Frankln first came to London as a young printer in 1725. He spent 18 months working for James Watts, whose printing shop was in Wild Court, St Giles.

Wild Court is still there, now an alley behind the new City Lit. Some would say there is nothing there, but you try walking along Wild Court and tell  me there are no ghosts of it’s past. During Victorian times it was a slum.

Whilst working in Wild Court, Benjamin Franklin lodged nearby in Duke Street. This no longer exists, it ran between Little Wild Street (modern day Keeley Street) and Kemble Street.

Benjamin Franklin returned to London in 1757 as Colonial agent to mediate unrest bewteen Britain and America. He stayed at 36 Craven Street, the street next to Charing Cross station that you have to look for or you miss it. The house is marked by a plaque put up by the old London County Council. Benjamin Franklin returned to America in 1775, it was the outbreak of the American War of Independance.

The good news is that the house is now a museum to the life and work of this great American.  Benjamin Franklin House