Franklin House in Franklin Village, near
Launceston, Tasmania
Launceston () or () is a city in the north of Tasmania, Australia, at the confluence of the North Esk and South Esk rivers where they become the Tamar River (kanamaluka). As of 2021, Launceston has a population of 87,645. Material was copied ...
, is a historic house that is preserved by Tasmania's
National Trust
The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...
and is open to the public. Built in 1838 for Britton Jones, it later became a school for boys.
History
It is a
Georgian
Georgian may refer to:
Common meanings
* Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country)
** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group
** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians
**Georgian scripts, three scrip ...
style house that was built in 1838 for former convict Britton Jones, a Launceston brewer and innkeeper.
It was later a school for boys, between 1842 and 1866 when leased to schoolmaster William Keeler Hawkes. The house and gardens are located in
Youngtown, Tasmania
Youngtown is a residential locality in the local government areas (LGA) of Launceston and Northern Midlands in the Launceston and Central LGA regions of Tasmania. The locality is about south-east of the town of Launceston. The 2016 census ...
, and are available for public tours.
In 1960 Franklin house was the first heritage property taken over by the National Trust in Tasmania.
Review of haunting claims
In early 2013 the Tas Ghost Hunting society undertook an investigation into possible paranormal activity after staff members reported unusual experiences while working there. They visited twice and set up equipment in a number of rooms. In a sitting room they reportedly found higher levels of energy than normal using an electromagnetic sensor. In an upstairs bedroom they asked several times the question "'What is your name?'" Mr. Hull a member of the Tas Ghost Hunting society said "'It came back with the answer, Will'".
[
In response, members of the Launceston Skeptics group have challenged the Tas Ghost Hunting society's results by saying "'It has to be good, if it's an extraordinary claim, that is that there are ghosts there it needs very solid evidence'". According to skeptic member Jin-Oh Choi '"We want to make sure the way they're recording the information is actually correct.'"
According to investigator ]Benjamin Radford
Benjamin Radford (born October 2, 1970) is an American writer, investigator, and skeptic. He has authored, coauthored or contributed to over twenty books and written over a thousand articles and columns on a wide variety of topics including urba ...
most ghost hunting groups... make many methodological mistakes.... In his article for Skeptical Inquirer
''Skeptical Inquirer'' is a bimonthly American general-audience magazine published by the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSI) with the subtitle: ''The Magazine for Science and Reason''.
Mission statement and goals
Daniel Loxton, writing in ...
Radford concludes that ghost hunters should care about doing a truly scientific investigation "I believe that if ghosts exist, they are important and deserve to be taken seriously. Most of the efforts to investigate ghosts so far have been badly flawed and unscientific --- and, not surprisingly, fruitless."
Notes
External links
Franklin House website
{{Coord, 41, 29, 23, S, 147, 10, 8, E, type:landmark_region:AU, display=title
National Trust of Australia
Historic house museums in Tasmania
Buildings and structures in Launceston, Tasmania