Craven Street is a street in the City of Westminster, London, near Strand. A number of notable historical figures have lived in the street which was the home of Benjamin Franklin when he lived in London before the American Revolution.

History

The street was originally known as Spur Alley. It was rebuilt around 1730 when the land was owned by the Craven family and it received its current name then.

Location

Northumberland House on John Rocque's 1746 map of London edited

Craven Street runs from

Strand Strand may refer to: Topography *The flat area of land bordering a body of water, a: ** Beach ** Shoreline * Strand swamp, a type of swamp habitat in Florida Places Africa * Strand, Western Cape, a seaside town in South Africa * Strand Street ...

in the north to

Northumberland Avenue Northumberland Avenue is a street in the City of Westminster, Central London, running from Trafalgar Square in the west to the Thames Embankment in the east. The road was built on the site of Northumberland House, the London home of the Percy ...

in the south. Corner House Street and Hungerford Lane join Craven Street in the north and half way along Craven Street it is crossed by Craven Passage which is pedestrian only and joins Craven Street to

Northumberland Street Northumberland Street is a major shopping street in the city of Newcastle upon Tyne, in the North East of England. It is home to a wide range of different retailers, banks and cafes, and in terms of rental per square foot, Northumberland Stre ...

and Hungerford Lane. Hungerford Lane rejoins Craven Street at its southern end.

Residents

Mark Akenside Mark Akenside (9 November 1721 – 23 June 1770) was an English poet and physician. Biography Akenside was born at Newcastle upon Tyne, England, the son of a butcher. He was slightly lame all his life from a wound he received as a child ...

, author of '' The Pleasures of the Imagination'', lived at No. 33 from 1759 to 1761. Benjamin Franklin Museum-Craven Street

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the leading inte ...

lived at No. 36 for sixteen years before the

American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revoluti ...

. The house is a Grade I listed building with

Historic England Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked w ...

and now functions as a museum known as

Benjamin Franklin House Benjamin Franklin House is a museum in a terraced Georgian house at 36 Craven Street, London, close to Trafalgar Square. It is the last-standing former residence of Benjamin Franklin, one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. The hou ...

. Pioneer of

haematology Hematology ( always spelled haematology in British English) is the branch of medicine concerned with the study of the cause, prognosis, treatment, and prevention of diseases related to blood. It involves treating diseases that affect the produc ...

William Hewson, lived at No. 36 for two years from 1772 at the same time as Franklin. In 1998 workmen discovered the remains of six children and four adults underneath the house which may relate to medical experiments carried out by Hewson. Aaron Burr, 3rd

Vice President of the United States The vice president of the United States (VPOTUS) is the second-highest officer in the executive branch of the U.S. federal government, after the president of the United States, and ranks first in the presidential line of succession. The vice ...

lived abroad from 1808 to 1812, passing most of his time in England, where he occupied a house on Craven Street in London. German poet Heinrich Heine lived at No. 32 in 1827. A plaque marks the house. Herman Melville Craven Street

Herman Melville Herman Melville ( born Melvill; August 1, 1819 – September 28, 1891) was an American novelist, short story writer, and poet of the American Renaissance period. Among his best-known works are ''Moby-Dick'' (1851); ''Typee'' (1846), a rom ...

, author of ''

Moby Dick ''Moby-Dick; or, The Whale'' is an 1851 novel by American writer Herman Melville. The book is the sailor Ishmael's narrative of the obsessive quest of Ahab, captain of the whaling ship ''Pequod'', for revenge against Moby Dick, the giant whi ...

'', lived at No. 25 in 1849 when he visited London as a sailor during his youth. A blue plaque marks the house.

References

External links

Streets in the City of Westminster {{London-road-stub