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Craven Street is one of the smaller streets in the Charing Cross area of Central London. It runs in one direction beginning at the Strand and ending at Northumberland Avenue. The street was named after Craven, a district in North Yorkshire.
Craven Street, London
Author: Stephen McKay (Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic)
Craven Street is associated with a few famous people, foremost of which being Benjamin Franklin, who lived at 36 Craven Street from 1757 to 1762 and from 1764 to 1775. The house is now the Benjamin Franklin House Museum.
Another famous occupant of 36 Craven Street was Dr William Hewson (1739-1774), a surgeon who often called the Father of Hematology. His work involved cutting up corpses to examine them. In 1998, while workmen were restoring Benjamin Franklin's home, they uncovered the remains of six children and four adults under the house, totalling 1,200 pieces. Medical instruments were also found. These came to be known as the Craven Street Bones.
The corpses were believed to have been dissected by Hewson who, unable to obtain corpses through legitimate sources, may have turned to Bodysnatchers - people who secretly dig up corpses from graveyards. It is not known whether Benjamin Franklin is aware of this, but the possibility is that he may have known of it, and allowed it for the purpose of advancement in the knowledge of human anatomy.
Craven Street is also the home of the College of Optometrist, which houses the British Optical Association Museum. The college was founded in 1980 when the British Optical Association, the Scottisth Association of Opticians and the Worshipful Company of Spectacle Makers surendered their examining function to the college. The British Optical Association and the Scottish Association of Opticians also disbanded.
A notable resident of Craven Street is German poet Heinrich Heine (1799-1856) who lived there in 1827.
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