Historical Franklin House sustained by talented volunteers

Charlotte was a prolific, and elegant, letter writer. Her words paint a picture for modern readers of colonial Tasmanian life, which she described over more than 100 pages of typed communications to a nephew living in New Zealand.  

Now, Sue Harrison and Lucille Gee have put their own words to the page. Harrison has written a fictional novel, Unforeseen, and Gee has published a research collation, Britton Jones: A convict who became a colonial entrepreneur.

According to Harrison, their extracurricular pursuits are typical of volunteers at the former schoolhouse. 

“While the house seems to be empty now, really it’s peopled by us, and we have our histories and we bring our stories to Franklin House as well,” she said. 

“We have painters, we have gardeners who have a passion for the house, we have people who clean, polish the timbers properly, people who make the curtains, maintenance people,” Gee said. 

“We have a range of people, and there’s a lot of really interesting things about the volunteers who give their time to the house,” Harrison said. 

Franklin House is a preserved convict-built house that has stood in Youngtown since 1838. National Trust Tasmania formed to save it in 1960, determined that its unpainted, unblemished NSW cedar wood and microcosmic snapshot of Tasmanian history should be saved.

It was built by the subject of Gee’s book: Britton Jones. This convict went on to own Franklin Village, before moving to San Francisco to try his luck in the goldfields. 

RELATED: Australian Heritage Festival Tasmania inspires booklet about convict Britton Jones

Since then it has been one of the colony’s leading schools as well as a private residence. Since it was taken on by the National Trust it has been open to the public to tour and to visit the cafe. 

It is staffed by 65 volunteers, and Harrison said newcomers are always welcome. 

“There’s a lot more to Franklin House than people realise, and we appreciate any amount of time that people can give,” she said.

For all its devoted volunteers, Gee and Harrison feel that Franklin House is an overlooked gem in the North. 

Staff there hold Devonshire teas as well as hosting functions and weddings, and there are always at least two of them there to explain the history of the house to visitors. 

“There’s a lot of Launceston people who don’t know that they can come and have a cup of tea and a sit in a quiet place,” Harrison said. “They are shocked at it.” 

“School children come and they love it, they play games of the times, and then their grandparents come,” Gee said. “We have many of the children say, “oh granny can you take me out?” And then they love it.”

Charlotte’s letters are still impacting people’s lives today. 

In recent years, a researcher with the house decided to investigate somebody Charlotte mentioned named Patrick, who worked as a gardener while she was still alive in the 1800s. 

“There was a gardener who had worked here for years and years and years, just as a volunteer, and it turned out he was a descendant of Patrick’s,” Gee said. “Just incredible.”

Hopefully, their own books will also still be creating history generations from now.