Franklin’s London

On the 300th anniversary of Benjamin Franklin’s arrival in England, Mr Londoner explores the legacy of one of America’s founding fathers and his connections to the Royal Society of Arts.

Hiding behind the facade of shops and offices on London’s famous Strand, lies a building with both a stunning interior and links to one of the USA’s most celebrated sons. Number Eight John Adam Street is the home of the Royal Society of Arts (RSA), known to many simply as the Society. Its Fellows past and present form a roll-call of the world’s leading lights. They include abolitionist William Wilberforce and London’s biographer Charles Dickens. Current luminaries include broadcaster and naturalist Sir David Attenborough; inventor of the World Wide Web Sir Tim Berners-Lee; academic and Booker Prize winner Bernadine Evaristo and famous actor of stage and screen, Dame Judi Dench.

Sustainability, social equity and opportunity
Drawing master and social reformer William Shipley and his associates founded the organisation in 1754 as the Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce. It received its royal charter in 1847. It became The Royal Society of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce in 1908.

RSA Exhibition poster 1849, by William Etty, RSA House. 

From its creation in Covent Garden’s Rawthmell’s coffee house, the Society developed an innovative system of public subscriptions to fund new inventions and ambitious creative endeavours. It was the very first major body of its kind to promote public works with private funds. This innovative thinking developed more broadly throughout the Georgian and later Victorian eras. It’s this concept that encouraged the opening of the National Gallery in 1824. Working with Prince Albert, the Fellows of the Society played a pivotal role in the staging of the 1851 Great Exhibition – an opportunity to put the nation on display. Its commercial success generated revenues which supported the opening of the famous South Kensington museums.

With its coffee house beginnings, the RSA is very much a product of the Age of Enlightenment – the period from the late 17th century to the dawn of the industrial revolution. Through exploration and debate, people (mainly upper-class men), set out to make sense of the world, to categorise it, and to shape their own environment. Patriarchal though it most certainly was, this was the era that saw the development of key ideas including liberty and natural law, the separation of church and state and the promotion of constitutional government. Sir Isaac Newton’s scientific endeavours during the Age of Enlightenment gave the world the theory of gravity.

The Society continues to promote debate and ideas through its ongoing dedication to seeking solutions to the world’s most pressing challenges. It remains at the forefront of contemporary thinking and social change. Today, the RSA embraces a vast and diverse programme promoting sustainability, social equity and opportunity for all. Its simple but compelling mission, ‘Design for Life’, aims to ‘enable people, places and the planet to flourish in harmony’.

The Benjamin Franklin Room with its beautiful chandelier bringing to mind the invention of the bi-focal lens @meetmrlondoner

The neo-classical interior of RSA House is a work of art in itself. Designed and built by the Scottish Adam brothers, it dates from 1774. The centrepiece of its ground floor is the elegant Benjamin Franklin Room, which boasts two of the building’s original Adam fireplaces. The room is dominated by the contemporary Troika chandelier, casting dramatic geometric reflections across the ceiling.

With his eye on proceedings, is Franklin himself, in the form of an 18th century bust. This is a cast, a high-quality French-made copy, from the Salon de Correspondence. The 1777 artwork was presented to the Society 14 years later. The original piece was by Parisian-born Jean-Jacques Caffieri, sculptor to the court of Louis XV. Caffieri is best known for creating the exquisite staircase – the ramp d’escalier – at Paris’s Palais Royale.

The cast is a thoughtful work depicting the thinker, philosopher and one of America’s founding fathers. Franklin is shown in his 70s. He sports his cravat and robes, giving the piece a romantic air. We also sense the wit, wisdom and quiet energy of the man.

Plaster cast of the bust of Benjamin Franklin, 1770, by Jean-Jacques Caffieri. Benjamin Franklin Room, RSA @meetmrlondoner

Founding Father
Born in Boston, Massachusetts, to the son of Josiah Franklin, an English candle and soap-maker, and Abiah Folger, a native of colonial Massachusetts, Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) was one of 17 children. As child number ten, perhaps Benjamin always felt he had to compete. Ever one to spot an opportunity, Franklin first arrived in London in 1725, eventually becoming a successful businessman. He also went on to be a highly-influential RSA Fellow, living in nearby Craven Street. The house survives as a Grade I listed museum celebrating Franklin’s life and times.

Franklin, together with George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, was one of the co-signatories of the US constitution. His striking image has graced the $100 bill since 1914. Contemporary commentators describe Franklin as a polymath and the Leonardo da Vinci of his age. He was a journalist, philosopher and diplomat. But he liked to describe himself, perhaps with a touch of false modesty, simply as ‘Benjamin Franklin, Printer’.

Franklin invented the lightning rod in the 1750s. He famously flew a kite in a storm, believing electricity could be conducted from the heavens. Some call him the father of electricity. Although another famous RSA Fellow, Michael Faraday, might equally claim that mantle. Benjamin Franklin was clearly a man of vision. Especially pertinent to spec wearers, is the fact that he invented the bi-focal lens, today worn by millions of people across the globe.

Apprentice
The young Franklin wanted to go to sea. His father hoped the boy would enter the church. In the end, neither eventuality materialised. Benjamin was apprenticed to his brother James, a successful Boston printer. The elder brother’s treatment of his young charge could best be described as robust. The company published three newspapers. But the papers’ editors refused to publish anything in Franklin’s own name.

Keeping his identity secret, the mischievous young Benjamin began a 1722 letter-writing campaign in the New England Courant. Adopting the identity of an elderly woman, Silence Dogood, Franklin wrote powerfully of the poor treatment of elderly widows. The message quickly found its audience and the letters’ popularity boosted circulation. Despite all, Franklin’s brother was furious when he discovered the author’s true identity. The resultant fallout prompted the headstrong Benjamin to leave New York for Philadelphia. He then headed to London. Silence Dogood lives on – in the University of Chicago’s Silence Dogood Society.

Franklin eventually went on to apply his experience to build his own profitable print business, in Philadelphia, publishing almanacs. These were year-books full of just about everything – the Wikipedia of their day.

The entrance to the Lady Chapel at St Bartholomew the Great is where Franklin was apprenticed in London @meetmrlondoner

It was here in London however that Franklin really learnt his trade. He lived in the Square Mile (the City of London), at Little Britain, and was apprenticed to master printer Samuel Palmer in 1725. Palmer’s workshop was at the rear of the nearby church of St Bartholomew the Great, in Smithfield. The printing presses operated in what had once been the Lady Chapel. This was separated from the church during the reformation in the 1530s, eventually being re-united in 1897. St Bartholomew’s was founded by 12th century monk, Rahere. It gained worldwide fame as the setting of the final wedding scene in Four Weddings and a Funeral. It’s well worth a visit.

High society
From 1757 to 1774, Franklin lived mainly in London where he was the colonial representative for Pennsylvania, Georgia, New Jersey and Massachusetts. He ingratiated himself into high society, gravitating towards the notorious and somewhat decadent world of the coffee house. These fashionable establishments were a significant feature of Georgian England and Franklin loved being part of an exclusive set. As male-only bastions, coffee houses were hot-beds of ideas and, no doubt, of hot air too. However, they also generated debate, innovation and provided business opportunities.

Lloyd’s coffee house became Lloyds of London, the world’s leading insurance market. Jonathan’s coffee house evolved into the Stock Exchange. It is said that Isaac Newton and Edmund Halley performed the first public display of dissection in a coffee house – on a dolphin. Poke around the City of London’s labyrinth of alleyways, near the Royal Exchange, and you might chance across Pasqua Rosée’s Coffee House. Now a quirky pub, this was possibly London’s very first coffee house.

The former coffee house of Pasqua Rosée was London’s first coffee house @meetmrlondener

Visitors are often surprised to discover that coffee was the drink of Georgian Britain. For the upper classes, and for those aspiring to join their ranks, coffee focussed the mind. It also provided a sober and healthy alternative to working-class gin and beer. In the words of historian Dr Matthew Green, coffee provided: “A catalyst for pure thought, sophistication and wit. Rosée had triggered a coffee-house boom and his ‘bitter Mohammedan gruel’ would transform London forever.”

Coffee consumption fell out of favour when patriotic Brits switched to tea, following the upset of the Boston tea party. Ironically, the first tea leaves to be sold in London were imported by Garraway’s Coffee House, appropriately enough in Change Alley. We also see Franklin’s own world view evolve in changing times – especially towards both slavery and American loyalty to the British Crown.

Legacy
Franklin’s legacy is huge. What endears him to me is his favourite saying: “Three can keep a secret if two of them are dead.” He was the USA’s first ambassador to France but Franklin never served, as some believe, as US President. He founded the University of Pennsylvania and the American Philosophical Society. At a time when city planning was in its infancy, he helped provide Philadelphia with its first hospital and fire service.

Franklin was, from the very outset, a brilliant networker. While still a teenager, he met British Museum founder, Sir Hans Sloane. In 1725, the opportunistic Benjamin convinced Sloane to acquire his ‘asbestos stone’ purse. Franklin’s design aimed to safeguard valuables against fire – an ever-present threat in 18th century London. Through young Franklin’s powers of persuasion, he ensured this unusual item became one the earliest objects in the British Museum’s collection.

Although a founding father, a philosopher and man of letters, it’s perhaps his appeal as a restless inventor that makes Benjamin Franklin so special. RSA Fellow, designer, product-maker and entrepreneur, Charlie Paton, is Master of the Royal Designers for Industry (RDI). He runs Seawater Greenhouse, a successful and innovative research company linked to the Universities of Birmingham and Adelaide. Charlie’s team harvests seawater and sunlight to grow crops and boost food production in some of the most arid and inhospitable places on earth.

Charlie’s fundamental belief is in the power of design to solve the world’s problems.“We can grow trees and crops and mop-up carbon. We can address drought and deforestation. We might even be able to crack the migrant issue. There are few global challenges, including those of poverty, disease and famine, that can’t be solved by great design and big ideas,” he said. That’s a bold premise – and one that Benjamin Franklin would surely endorse.

The Benjamin Franklin Room was named for one its most famous Fellows in 1967. Another prominent Anglo-American, Sir Winston Churchill, received the RSA Albert Medal in this room in 1946 for ‘contributions to positive change in contemporary society’.

The atmospheric vaults at RSA House @meetmrlondoner

Find out more
You can learn more about Franklin and his world with a visit to his only surviving home. The Benjamin Franklin House, at 36 Craven Street, WC2. This is a vibrant museum and education centre within a Grade I-listed Georgian townhouse, close to Trafalgar Square.

The RSA, at 8 John Adam Street, is also a great resource to learn more about the founding father. It’s open to Fellows and visitors alike. The RSA continues to encourage the tradition of debate and the exchange of ideas. It has a lively programme of talks, events and open-mic nights. Events are now live-streamed. In the words of the RSA’s Head of Events Mairi Ryan this: “Helps ideas to travel”. RSA House is a glorious historic building. It’s also the perfect place to fire the imagination over a Fairtrade coffee or a light lunch. Alternatively, if the need is for something a little stronger, a cocktail in its elegant bar Muse at RSA House might just fit the bill.

 

About the Author

Mr Londoner is Antony Robbins – writer, broadcaster, former museum director and RSA Fellow @meetmrlondoner

Meet Mr Londoner here