10 DEAD BODIES FOUND UNDER BEN FRANKLINS HOME DATE TO TIME HE LIVED THERE

[link to healthandsurvival.com]





WORKMEN have dug up the remains of ten bodies hidden beneath the former London home of Benjamin Franklin, the founding father of American independence.

The remains of four adults and six children were discovered during the £1.9 million restoration of Franklin’s home at 36 Craven Street, close to Trafalgar Square. Researchers believe that there could be more bodies buried beneath the basement kitchens.

Initial estimates are that the bones are about 200 years old and were buried at the time Franklin was living in the house, which was his home from 1757 to 1762, and from 1764 to 1775. Most of the bones show signs of having been dissected, sawn or cut. One skull has been drilled with several holes. Paul Knapman, the Westminster Coroner, said yesterday: “I cannot totally discount the possibility of a crime. There is still a possibility that I may have to hold an inquest.”

The principal suspect in the mystery is William Hewson, like Franklin a Fellow of the Royal Society, and the husband of Polly Stevenson, the daughter of Franklin’s landlady, Mary Stevenson.

In the early 1770s Dr Hewson was in partnership with William Hunter, who, with his brother John, was one of the founders of British surgery. Dr Hunter and Dr Hewson ran a school of anatomy in Soho, but after an argument Dr Hewson left to live in Franklin’s house, where he is believed to have established a rival school and lecture theatre. Dr Knapman added yesterday: “It is most likely that these are anatomical specimens that Dr Hewson disposed of in his own house, but we are still not certain about the bones’ exact age or origin.”

Evangeline Hunter-Jones, deputy chairman of the Friends of Benjamin Franklin House, the charity concerned with restoring the property and opening it to the public, said: “The bones were quite deeply buried, probably to hide them because grave robbing was illegal. There could be more buried, and there probably are.” ….read more here..