Life

Francklin was the son of Richard Francklin, bookseller near the Piazza in Covent Garden

Covent Garden

Covent Garden is a district in London on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St. Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit and vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist site, and the Royal Opera House, which is also known as...

, London, who printed William Pulteney

William Pulteney, 1st Earl of Bath

William Pulteney, 1st Earl of Bath, PC was an English politician, a Whig, created the first Earl of Bath in 1742 by King George II; he is sometimes stated to have been Prime Minister, for the shortest term ever , though most modern sources reckon that he cannot be considered to have held the...

's paper ‘The Craftsman.’ He was admitted to Westminster School

Westminster School

The Royal College of St. Peter in Westminster, almost always known as Westminster School, is one of Britain's leading independent schools, with the highest Oxford and Cambridge acceptance rate of any secondary school or college in Britain...

 in 1735. On the advice of Pulteney he was educated for the church: but Pulteney gave him no subsequent help in life. In 1739 he went to Trinity College, Cambridge

Trinity College, Cambridge

Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Trinity has more members than any other college in Cambridge or Oxford, with around 700 undergraduates, 430 graduates, and over 170 Fellows...

, where he was admitted on 21 June 1739, and took the degrees of B.A. in 1742, M.A. 1746, and D.D. in 1770. In 1745 he was elected to a minor fellowship, was promoted in the next year to be ‘socius major,’ and resided in college until the end of 1758.

He was for some time an usher in his old school, and then on 27 June 1750 was elected as Regius Professor of Greek

Regius Professor of Greek (Cambridge)

The Regius Professorship of Greek is one of the oldest professorships at the University of Cambridge. The chair was founded by Henry VIII in 1540 with a stipend of £40 per year, subsequently increased in 1848 by a canonry of Ely Cathedral....

 at Cambridge. Later in the same year he was involved in a dispute with the heads of the university. Forty-six old boys of Westminster met between eight and nine o'clock on 17 November at the Tuns Tavern to commemorate, as was their custom, the accession of Queen Elizabeth, and Francklin was in the chair. The party was about to separate at eleven o'clock, when the senior proctor appeared and called on them to disperse: hot words ensued. Several pamphlets were published, and among them was one from Francklin entitled ‘An Authentic Narrative of the late Extraordinary Proceedings at Cambridge against the W … r Club,’ 1751.

He resigned his professorship in 1759, and that year was instituted, on the presentation of his college, to the vicarage of Ware, Hertfordshire, which he held in conjunction with the lectureship of St Paul's, Covent Garden

St Paul's, Covent Garden

St Paul's Church, also commonly known as the Actors' Church, is a church designed by Inigo Jones as part of a commission by Francis Russell, 4th Earl of Bedford in 1631 to create "houses and buildings fitt for the habitacons of Gentlemen and men of ability" in Covent Garden, London, England.As well...

, and a proprietary chapel in Queen Street, London. He was appointed king's chaplain in November 1767, and was selected to preach the commencement sermon at St. Mary's, Cambridge, on the installation of Augustus FitzRoy, 3rd Duke of Grafton

Augustus FitzRoy, 3rd Duke of Grafton

Augustus Henry FitzRoy, 3rd Duke of Grafton, KG, PC , styled Earl of Euston between 1747 and 1757, was a British Whig statesman of the Georgian era...

 as chancellor of the university in 1770. Through the favour of Archbishop Frederick Cornwallis

Frederick Cornwallis

Frederick Cornwallis was Archbishop of Canterbury, and the twin brother of Edward Cornwallis.Cornwallis was born in London, England, the seventh son of Charles Cornwallis, 4th Baron Cornwallis. He was educated at Eton College and graduated from Christ's College, Cambridge...

 he was appointed in 1777 to the rectory of Brasted

Brasted

Brasted is a village and civil parish in the Sevenoaks District of Kent, England. The parish is located to the west of Sevenoaks town. The parish includes the settlements of Brasted Chart and Toys Hill, and had a population of 1321 persons . The single slightly winding street of the village has a...

 in Kent

Kent

Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...

, and vacated the living of Ware.

Francklin died in Great Queen Street

Great Queen Street

Great Queen Street is a street in central London, England in the West End. It is a continuation of Long Acre from Drury Lane to Kingsway. It runs from 1 to 44 along the north side, east to west, and 45 to about 80 along the south side, west to east...

, London, 15 March 1784. He married, on 20 January 1759, Miss Venables, the daughter of a wine merchant; she died in Great Queen Street, 24 May 1796.

Works

For most of his life Francklin wrote for the press and for the stage. Two of his plays were succcessful through good acting. He brought out in 1757 a periodical paper of his own composition entitled ‘The Centinel,’ and he was one of the contributors to Tobias Smollett

Tobias Smollett

Tobias George Smollett was a Scottish poet and author. He was best known for his picaresque novels, such as The Adventures of Roderick Random and The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle , which influenced later novelists such as Charles Dickens.-Life:Smollett was born at Dalquhurn, now part of Renton,...

's ‘Critical Review.’ Samuel Johnson

Samuel Johnson

Samuel Johnson , often referred to as Dr. Johnson, was an English author who made lasting contributions to English literature as a poet, essayist, moralist, literary critic, biographer, editor and lexicographer...

 and Sir Joshua Reynolds were among his friends, and through their influence he became chaplain to the Royal Academy

Royal Academy

The Royal Academy of Arts is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly, London. The Royal Academy of Arts has a unique position in being an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects whose purpose is to promote the creation, enjoyment and...

 on its foundation, and on Oliver Goldsmith

Oliver Goldsmith

Oliver Goldsmith was an Irish writer, poet and physician known for his novel The Vicar of Wakefield , his pastoral poem The Deserted Village , and his plays The Good-Natur'd Man and She Stoops to Conquer...

's death in 1774 succeeded to the professorship of ancient history.

With other literary men he was unpopular. One of his victims in the ‘Critical Review’ was Arthur Murphy

Arthur Murphy

Arthur Murphy , also known by the pseudonym Charles Ranger, was an Irish writer.-Biography:He was born at Cloonyquin, County Roscommon, Ireland, the son of Richard Murphy and Jane French....

, who solaced his feelings of indignation in ‘A Poetical Epistle to Samuel Johnson, A.M.’ Charles Churchill, in the ‘Rosciad,’ sneeringly says that ‘he sicken'd at all triumphs but his own.’

Francklin's most solid works consisted of translations and tragedies. His first was an anonymous rendering of Cicero

Cicero

Marcus Tullius Cicero , was a Roman philosopher, statesman, lawyer, political theorist, and Roman constitutionalist. He came from a wealthy municipal family of the equestrian order, and is widely considered one of Rome's greatest orators and prose stylists.He introduced the Romans to the chief...

's treatise, Of the Nature of the Gods; it appeared in 1741, was reissued in 1775, and, after revision by Charles Duke Yonge

Charles Duke Yonge

Charles Duke Yonge was an English historian, classicist, and cricketer. He wrote numerous works of modern history, and translated several classical works.-Life:...

, formed a part of one of the volumes in Bohn's Classical Library. In 1749 he published ‘The Epistles of Phalaris translated from the Greek; to which are added some select epistles of the most eminent Greek writers.’ His translation of the tragedies of Sophocles

Sophocles

Sophocles is one of three ancient Greek tragedians whose plays have survived. His first plays were written later than those of Aeschylus, and earlier than or contemporary with those of Euripides...

 was long considered the best in the English language. It came out in 1759, and was reprinted in 1809 and 1832; large selections from it were included in Ezekiel Sanford's ‘British Poets,’ vol. l., and it was included in Henry Morley

Henry Morley

Henry Forster Morley was a writer on English literature and one of the earliest Professors of English Literature.-Life:...

's Universal Library

Universal library

A universal library is a library with universal collections. This may be expressed in terms of it containing all existing information, useful information, all books, all works or even all possible works. This ideal, although unrealizable, has influenced and continues to influence librarians and...

(vol. xliv.), while a separate impression of the Œdipus Tyrannus was made in 1806.

His version of ‘The Works of Lucian from the Greek,’ which was produced in 1780 in two volumes, and appeared in a second edition in 1781. The whole work was dedicated to Richard Rigby

Richard Rigby

Richard Rigby , was an English civil servant and politician. He served as Secretary of Ireland and Paymaster of the Forces...

, and parts were inscribed to other eminent men. His translation of Lucian

Lucian

Lucian of Samosata was a rhetorician and satirist who wrote in the Greek language. He is noted for his witty and scoffing nature.His ethnicity is disputed and is attributed as Assyrian according to Frye and Parpola, and Syrian according to Joseph....

's ‘Trips to the Moon’ formed vol. lxxi. of Cassell's ‘National Library,’ edited by Henry Morley.

Francklin's plays are:

• ‘The Earl of Warwick,’ which was produced at Drury Lane Theatre on 13 December 1766, and was often represented. On its first appearance Mary Ann Yates created a great impression in the part of Margaret of Anjou, and Sarah Siddons
  Sarah Siddons
  Sarah Siddons was a Welsh actress, the best-known tragedienne of the 18th century. She was the elder sister of John Philip Kemble, Charles Kemble, Stephen Kemble, Ann Hatton and Elizabeth Whitlock, and the aunt of Fanny Kemble. She was most famous for her portrayal of the Shakespearean character,...
  
   in later years made that character equally successful. The whole play, which is said to have been taken without acknowledgment from the French of Jean-François de La Harpe
  Jean-François de La Harpe
  Jean-François de La Harpe was a French playwright, writer and critic.-Life:La Harpe was born in Paris of poor parents. His father, who signed himself Delharpe, was a descendant of a noble family originally of Vaud...
  
  , was printed in 1766 and 1767, and was included in the collections of Bell, Elizabeth Inchbald
  Elizabeth Inchbald
  Elizabeth Inchbald was an English novelist, actress, and dramatist.- Life :Born on 15 October 1753 at Standingfield, near Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, Elizabeth was the eighth of the nine children of John Simpson , a farmer, and his wife Mary, née Rushbrook. The family, like several others in the...
  
  , Dibdin, and many others.
• ‘Matilda,’ first presented at Drury Lane on 21 January 1775, was also profitable to the author. It appeared in print in 1775, and was also included in theatrical collections.
• ‘The Contract,’ brought out at the Haymarket on 12 June 1776, and printed in the same year, was a failure. The chief characters were two persons who had made a contract of marriage, parted, and on meeting again after many years, wished the engagement broken off.
• ‘Mary Queen of Scots,’ which was several times announced but was never acted, and remained in manuscript until 1837, when it was edited by the author's eldest son, Lieutenant-colonel William Francklin
  William Francklin
  William Francklin , was an orientalist.Francklin was the eldest son of Thomas Francklin, by his wife Miss Venables. He was admitted on the foundation at Westminster in 1777, whence he was elected to Trinity College, Cambridge, in 1781...
  
  .

Francklin's other literary productions were numerous. Their titles were:

• ‘Translation,’ a poem, 1753, which condemned many previous attempts at translation, and appealed to abler men to undertake the task, ending with the preliminary puff of his proposal to print by subscription a version of Sophocles.
• ‘Enquiry into the Astronomy and Anatomy of the Ancients,’ 1749, and said to have been reprinted in 1775.
• ‘Truth and Falsehood, a Tale,’ 1755, issued anonymously, and panegyrising the then Duchess of Bedford.
• ‘The Centinel,’ 1757 fol., 1758 12mo, a periodical paper, one of the imitations of the ‘Tatler’ and ‘Spectator.’
• ‘A Dissertation on Ancient Tragedy,’ 1760, given gratis to the subscribers to his translation of Sophocles.
• ‘A Letter to a Bishop concerning Lectureships,’ humour on the manner of election to such posts, and the miserable pay attaching thereto.

Between 1748 and 1779 Francklin printed nine single sermons preached on special occasions, including that delivered at St George's, Bloomsbury, in May 1756, on the death of the Rev. John Sturges, from which it seems that he had hoped to succeed him. A volume of his sermons on ‘The Relative Duties’ was published in 1765, and passed to a fourth edition in 1788.

He died without leaving much provision for his family, and in 1785 there appeared for his widow's benefit two volumes of ‘Sermons on Various Subjects,’ followed by a third in 1787. Francklin lent his name, in conjunction with Smollett, to a translation of Voltaire

Voltaire

François-Marie Arouet , better known by the pen name Voltaire , was a French Enlightenment writer, historian and philosopher famous for his wit and for his advocacy of civil liberties, including freedom of religion, free trade and separation of church and state...

's works and letters, but the ‘Orestes’ (produced at Covent Garden Theatre 13 March 1769 for the benefit of Mrs. Yates) and the ‘Electra’ (brought out at Drury Lane 15 October 1774) are believed to have been his sole share in the publication.

Some of his fugitive pieces were embodied in the ‘Miscellaneous Pieces’ brought together by Tom Davies

Tom Davies

Thomas J. Davies was an American football player and coach. He played as a halfback at the University of Pittsburgh and was a consensus All-American in 1918 and 1920...

, and there are many of his letters in the ‘Garrick Correspondence.’